Breastfeeding

Skin to Skin before BF

Just a quick question that I thought of while reading a "breastfed baby milestones" blog post -

Initial skin to skin contact is encouraged for mom and baby after birth.  If given uninterrupted time, baby may move toward the breast on their own.

My question is - When is the baby weighed in this time frame?  Do they allow skin to skin before weighing and then is the baby taken to be weighed sometime before BFing, or does this happen after the first feeding?

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Re: Skin to Skin before BF

  • I honestly cannot remember!  It all happened so fast!  I think that they did weigh him and check him (APGAR score) first.  Not 100% sure though.  He was definitely eating within 10 minutes of being born though.
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  • The midwife waited until after skin to skin and nursing to weigh, measure and clean the baby. She did check the heartbeat and take temps while the baby was on my chest. I had a home birth, so we could do what we wanted.
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  • I did skin to skin right away, and she face-planted on my boob immediately. She nursed for about 20-30 minutes, then I was given an additional 30 minutes or so to snuggle before the midwife weighed her.
  • DD was a late preemie so they took her and checked her out and weighed her. They stitched me up and then we did skin to skin. It was about 1520 minutes after birth. She nursed a little bit and I held her for a while. Then they took her off to do the rest of the stuff.
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  • I ended up with an unplanned c/s. They lifted him over the curtain for me to see then weighed, etc. wrapped him up and let me see him for a bit. Then they took him for bath and other stff while I got stitched up. We did skin to skin about 1.5 hours later. We are bf.
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  • My experience was, they did the weighing, bathing, ect. and when they were completely finished (30 min later) they handed him to me for skin to skin contact, so I could nurse him.
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  • They plopped him on my chest after he was born, and we did skin to skin for awhile (maybe 15 min to half hour??). I can't remember exactly how long, but I did tell the nurses they could take him if they needed to weigh him. As soon as they were done, he was back with me and doing skin to skin again. I'm pretty sure he was eating within the first hour he was born. He didn't move toward the breast, but he did start smacking his lips, if I remember right.
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  • It depends on the care provider and hospital.  Generally, it is thought to be best for baby to be placed skin-to-skin immediately.  The weighing and cleaning can happen after baby has had a chance to nurse and any physical examination can be done while baby is nursing.  If there is reason for concern (e.g., heavy meconium in the water), baby is often taken to be examined for a few moments before being given to mom.  Breastfeeding experts say that early, uninterrupted contact is a good first step towards creating a successful breastfeeding relationship.

    I would encourage you to talk to your midwife/OB and the hospital you are giving birth at to see what their policy is.

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  • imagetheresat858:

    It depends on the hospitals policies, but ideally if baby is healthy at birth, you should have skin to skin/breastfeeding time for about an hour prior to the weight/height etc portion of things.  

     

    This. And regardless of policy, you can always ask for something different.  

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  • My LO was put on my chest immediately, but she had a lot of gunk in her lungs and was gurgling, so they took her back twice to suction her out.  They weighed and measured while they were doing that, then I finally got her back.  We did skin to skin and BF for 4 hours before she was sent to the nursery for a bath and I was sent to my recovery room.  It probably helped that she was born on a Sunday, not a very busy day in L&D.
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  • I had an unplanned c-section.  They showed her to me and then she went to the nursery.  DH went with her.  DH did skin to skin with her while I was in recovery. I saw her when I got out of recovery, and I nursed her then.  After she ate she went back to the nursery because she was having trouble keeping her temp up, so they wanted to put her in the warmer again.
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  • Man it is hard to remember, I believe I delivered her they stepped a few feet away wiped her, weighted her, measures her, did apgar. Then she was brought to me and we nursed and did skin to skin, then later maybe a hour they came back and gave her a real bath / clean up and then she got a little shirt and hat. Whereas before she was just wrapped in a blanket.
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