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October 2015 Moms
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"Clean-Up" Question for Experienced Mommas

altow1310altow1310 member
in October 2015 Moms
Assuming a vaginal birth, about how long after baby is born does it take to deliver the placenta and be cleaned up/stitched up by your doc? I know the baby will be having tests run and getting cleaned up as well, but just curious how long this process takes. Thanks in advance!
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Re: "Clean-Up" Question for Experienced Mommas

  • kstitt0830kstitt0830 member
    The baby should be placed directly on you after birth and while that's happening you will most likely deliver the placenta without knowing it...and then if you need stitches you will receive those and it will take as long as that takes (hard to predict because you might need 1 or 50) the baby will leave you only if you want and you're ok with that and ready...all tests can be done while they Are on you and they should be for at least an hour, that's important bonding time. Now all of this info is subject to yours and baby's health after delivery and your hospitals willingness to hear what YOU want to happen
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    My hospital does encourage immediate skin-to-skin contact, so he will be with me for a period of time after birth. I forgot to mention that above. :) I think he only lays with me for a few mins though before being taken to the other side of the room for a bath and a few tests. I'm glad the placenta delivery doesn't take long. I want to invite my mom into the room not long after he is born, so I was hoping the process of placenta birthing and clean-up doesn't take a long time.

    Was 1-50 an exaggeration for number of stitches? Sorry, FTM here, but 50 sounds like an insane amount. Has anyone really ever had that many? Maybe I don't want to know...
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  • kstitt0830kstitt0830 member
    I had 2 stitches and my sister had over 50...it's serious trauma down there sometimes!
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  • silly514silly514 member
    I was never told how many stitches I had but I know I had them (2nd degree tear) but I know you could have to have a lot... and my experience was exactly as above. Baby was on me and I was oblivious to all else. It was minutes... Not a very long time at all and I really didn't care at that point. I was excited to show her off but am honestly not sure how long it was before I was ready to see other people. For a while my husband and I just soaked her in. That time right after is what I'm most looking forward to right now for baby number 2!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker BabyFruit Ticker
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  • kstitt0830kstitt0830 member
    Honestly if you have your baby on your chest they can do all tests there and the bath is not needed till later, they do wipe them off while they are on your chest but that vernix is so good for their baby skin so the longer it's on them the better really! If you do delayed cord cutting that increases the time that you will have baby with you as well which is good!
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    Thanks for the input! Our hospital enforces a strict mom, dad, baby only bonding period not long after birth, but I would like for my mom and possibly dad (depending on where we're at in the clean-up process) to come in for a few minutes before that bonding time begins. I am hoping they can come between clean-up and bonding but guess I will just have to play it by ear and see how it goes. :)
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  • AldermanbabyAldermanbaby member
    Sorry to hijack the post but reading this I am confused. Ftm here ! So I know my hospital allows an hour for skin to skin bonding and its recommended that the baby lay on your chest at that time but does that mean you don't let your DH hold them for an hour? He will be in the room that just seems like a long time?
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    No worries at all! My DH and I actually just toured our hospital this weekend and I think the actual timeframe varies by hospital. Our hospital will place baby on my chest for skin-to-skin for a few mins after he is born. Then he will be taken to the other side of the room to be given a bath and have tests performed. After that I think it is up to us who holds him and what happens. I do know that they enforce a strict bonding time (called Golden Hour) for DH and I to be alone with baby without any visitors. During this time they encourage skin-to-skin between baby and daddy.
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    I would assume if they encourage an hour of skin-to-skin it will probably just be you holding the baby during that time, but maybe you can split it and have baby do 30 mins with you and 30 mins with your husband? Ultimately I believe it is up to you.
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  • jcrossman2015jcrossman2015 member
    My 1st was placed directly on me for an hour. In that hour they got everything cleaned and stitched up. After they finished I breast fed her and then right after that immediately family came in and she was weighed and cleaned up for all of them to see.
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  • komorebikomorebi member
    An hour will fly by and that time should include your first breastfeeding attempt, which is tricky. I'm sure your dh won't be excluded from any of the action. But immediate skin to skin helps control the baby's temperature and initiate the hormones for breastmilk production .
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  • 1stComesLove4211stComesLove421 member
    Unfortunately I never got to see my baby when she was first born. She had a little bit of stool when she was born so they immediately cut the cord and took her away. While they were suctioning her out they had me deliver the placenta within 10 minutes of giving birth. I didn't tear so no stitches were needed. It was painful because I felt like they forced the placenta before my body was ready.

    I'm upset because two of my friends recently gave birth and their babies swollowed stool too, but they still got to delay the cord and hold them for 10 minutes. She was crying when she was born so I think half a minute just to show me her would have been ok. Most babies don't make noise when they swallow stool from what I've been told.
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  • amberrmariee20amberrmariee20 member
    I had an episiotomy and a ton of stitches. It didn't take overly long for the placenta to be delivered and me stitched up.. Maybe 10-15 mins max. My son I didn't see for 4 hours because we had complications due to his large size of 9.7 lbs.
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    If you don't mind sharing @amberrmariee20 what kind of complications? My dr is expecting our baby to be close to 9 lbs, so just curious what risks there are to having a big baby. :) thanks
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  • lalenalalena member
    I think the skin to skin time varies by hospital. We have the golden hour at mine where you spend an hour with spouse and baby and try to breastfeed if you want for the first time, no other visitors are allowed at that time.

    As for placenta delivery and stiches, time will vary. I had two stitches and I would say the whole process took 20-30min.
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  • amberrmariee20amberrmariee20 member
    jadi1215 said:

    If you don't mind sharing @amberrmariee20 what kind of complications? My dr is expecting our baby to be close to 9 lbs, so just curious what risks there are to having a big baby. :) thanks

    Shoulder dystocia, broken left clavical(collar bone) and neuropathy(nerve) damage to his left side. He's a completely healthy happy 4 year old now. My OB told me today this baby is going to be another 9 lb baby and we will discuss options more after my 36 week ultrasound.
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  • midge519midge519 member
    I think it really varies. With my son while they were cleaning him up the doctor just tugged on the cord and the placenta came out. I don't remember if my stitches were before that or after. With my daughter I had a hard time passing the placenta. It didn't separate. We spent what felt like forever of me pushing, them pushing on my stomach, and eventually the doctor manually separating it. Tbh that was more painful than the birth was. But as soon as that was finished I had my daughter again and my son was in the room about 25 minutes after I was stitched up
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  • maiatenemaiatene member
    edited September 2015
    Clean-up for me was immediately after my son made his debut. To be honest I don't remember any of it because I was focused on snuggling with my baby. I also had an epidural so that may have contributed to me being oblivious to the goings on afterwards because I felt nothing.

    From what hubby told me right after baby came out they delivered the placenta, making sure everything that was supposed to come out did, and cleaning up everything else. I had a 2nd degree tear that was also being stitched up and the only reason I knew was I heard the attending physician tell the intern she was doing a great job and I would be happy with the results. All of this was going on while I was holding the baby. In my hospital "golden hour" starts after clean-up, and is just quiet time for you baby and hubby to promote bonding. I didn't have anyone else at the hospital so I'm not it sure if my mum or dad would have been asked to leave so check with your hospital.

    @jadi1215 just to give you another perspective - my son was 9lbs14oz when he was born and the birth was uneventful... he was just a butterball who enjoyed all of the Chipotle I ate the previous 9 months :-)
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  • altow1310altow1310 member
    @maiatene thank you for sharing your experience! Your hospital sounds a lot like mine. Our golden hour will start after all of the clean-up and after birth stuff is done. Hoping I can sneak my mom in while clean-up is taking place and my dad in as soon as it is over. Don't want my poor dad to experience clean-up. Can we say awkward?! Lol!

    Omg the Chipotle! Can't get enough of it.
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