LIVING THE DELIVERY AREA

If you've given birth in a birthing room or alternative birth center, you probably won't be moved right away. But if you delivered in a conventional delivery room, you'll be taken to a recovery area where you can be watched for problems such as excessive bleeding. Your baby may be taken to the nursery at that time, or he may receive his first physical examination by your side.

This exam will measure his vital signs: temperature, respiration, and pulse rate. The pediatrician or nurse will check his color, activity level, and breathing pattern. If he didn't receive his vitamin K and eye drops earlier, they will be administered now. And once he's warm, he'll be given his first bath and the stump of his cord may be painted with a blue antibacterial dye or other medication to prevent infection, Then he'll be wrapped in a blanket and, if you wish returned to you.

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WHAT IS APGAR SCORES

As soon as your baby is born, a delivery nurse will set one timer for one minute and another for five minutes. When each of these time period is up, a nurse of physician will give your baby her first "tests," called APGARS.

This scoring system helps the physician estimate your baby's general condition at birth. The test measures your baby's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response, and color. It cannot predict how healthy she will be as she grows up or how she will develop; nor does it indicate how bright she is or what her responsibility is like. But it does alert the hospital staff if she is sleepier or slower to respond than normal and may be in need of assistance as she adapts to her new world outside the womb.

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DELIVERY ROOM PROCEDURES

As your babies lies with you following a routine delivery, his umbilical cord will still be attached to the placenta. For several minutes the cord may continue to pulsate, supplying the baby with oxygen while he establishes his own breathing. Once pulsing stops, the cord will be clamped and cut.(Because there are no nerves in the cord, the baby feels no pain during this procedure.)

The clamp will remain in place for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, or until the cord is dry and no longer bleeds. The stump that remains after the clamp is removed will fall of sometime between ten days and three weeks after birth.

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BONDING

If you have a delivery without complications, you'll be able to spend the first hour or so after birth holding, stroking, and looking at your baby. Because babies are usually alert and very responsive during this time, researchers have labeled this the "SENSITIVE PERIOD."

The first exchange of eye contact, sounds, and touches between the two of you are all apart of process called bonding, which helps lay the foundation for your relationship as parent and child. While it will take months to learn your baby's basic temperament and personality, many of the core emotions you feel for him may begin to develop during this brief period immediately after birth.

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BIRTH AND THE FIRST MOMENTS AFTER

Giving birth is one of the most extraordinary experiences of a woman's life. Yet after all the months of careful preparation and anticipation, the moment of birth is almost never what you had expected. Labor may be easier or more physically demanding than you had imagined. 

You may end up in delivery room instead of the birthing room you'd wanted, or you could have a Cesarean section instead of a vaginal delivery. You health, the  condition of the fetus, and the policies of the hospital will all help determine what actually happens. But fortunately, despite what you may have thought when you were pregnant, these are not issues that will make your child's birth a "success" What counts is the baby, here at last and healthy.