crunchy moms who is questioning swaddle + hat at birth

leyla10 · February 2015

I've been doing some research on swaddle and the newborn hat once the baby is born. I'm thinking after my son is born, delayed cord clamp, no hat and immediate skin to skin, diaper only. He can regulate his temp better in my skin. Anyone done this or know of any discussions about it? I think the hospital will urge me to let him go for apgar/footprints, but is it really that urgent? This will be my 5th but most natural birth in hospital against traditional
practice.
Thanks!

erinita5 · February 2015

I had my baby at a hospital that promotes skin to skin right after birth. They even did the Apgar right there on top of me. It's definitely possible in a hospital.

pixieprincss · February 2015

I've done s-t-2 after both of my births, which was great. The hospital only delayed clamping for a minute or two, but at my birth with a CPM we waited for 30 minutes, I think. It's hazy, but I think I delivered the placenta first, then cut. As for hats, I didn't think about it with DS1 and he wore one. With DS2, I had read some about not using one which I went with. For us, it ended up not being the right choice. DS2 had awesome APGARs but had concerningly low blood sugar a few hours after birth which can turn troublesome quickly. For his unique situation, having the extra warmth probably would've been beneficial. If you have a healthy delivery, I can't think why a hospital would push for APGARs away from you. Even if they are big on getting weight in, we're just talking about a few minutes.

Chichigo · February 2015

My son was on my chest for apgar assessment. I'll skip swaddling and the hat for he next baby.

perfectlove09 · February 2015

I never thought about that. I think if you just take the hat off and do it again if they put it on, they'll get the point.

ejb23 · March 2015

Can you explain the benefit of no hat- or issue with hat? I get the no swaddle for max skin to skin but curious about hat issue.

Bigboobsmcgee · March 2015

You need to talk to the hospital, doc or whomever is going to deliver your baby and make your wishes known.

No hat? Why? People have way too much time on their hands....

nublet · March 2015

No hat? Why? People have way too much time on their hands....

Hahaha. This.

rilgrl1 · March 2015

It is always your right to decline anything. If you want to keep your baby skin to skin and have no hat, they cannot make you give baby up or put a hat on.

As for why no hat - babies don't actually need a hat to stay warm if they're skin to skin and the smell of baby's head causes mom's body to release a ton of oxytocin, which is helpful in getting the uterus to contract efficiently thus expelling the placenta quickly and minimizing the risk of bleeding afterward. It's also helpful for bonding.

Bigboobsmcgee · March 2015

rilgrl1 said:
It is always your right to decline anything. If you want to keep your baby skin to skin and have no hat, they cannot make you give baby up or put a hat on.

As for why no hat - babies don't actually need a hat to stay warm if they're skin to skin and the smell of baby's head causes mom's body to release a ton of oxytocin, which is helpful in getting the uterus to contract efficiently thus expelling the placenta quickly and minimizing the risk of bleeding afterward. It's also helpful for bonding.

Some things are just so over the top. Whatever though.

LilyGR · April 2015

I had my baby at home, and did immediate skin to skin. I didn't want the hat, but my midwife was like, "Oh the baby needs a hat!" And I was all happy from just having my baby that I was like, whateve's. So I think it is fine to go with out a hat.

skibunny59 · April 2015

erinita5 said:
I had my baby at a hospital that promotes skin to skin right after birth. They even did the Apgar right there on top of me. It's definitely possible in a hospital.

This. Honestly, I thought most hospitals now a days do immediate skin to skin.

morninglory530 · May 2015

I had a c-section and he was still skin to skin right away. In fact, once I let him get wrapped up and held by my husband and mom for a bit, the nurses unwrapped him and insisted that he go back skin to skin for a half hour because his temperature was low (that meant no one else could try to take him from me). We had an awesome hospital with great doctors and nurses...is your hospital "baby friendly?" My mother in law is a dietician who works with hospitals on their policy to make them more friendly to breastfeeding, etc. Our experience was fabulous and I think that more and more competitive urban hospitals are adopting "baby friendly" policies...it will eventually trickle out to less current rural hospitals with less local competition.

mhwood · June 2015

I had a c-section and my LO had complications, so when she went to the other room to be worked on, my husband went with her and did skin to skin there. After that, she spent the first 4-5 hours skin to skin with me once I was in my room.

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