8 Things that will immediately be done to newborns

There are standard procedures performed for almost all newborns. This procedure is important to do to ensure that your little one is born healthy and that all of his organs are functioning properly. If you are a prospective new parent, you may not be experienced with this one. Don't worry, the article below will cover a variety of procedures and actions that are commonly performed when a new baby is born.

Immediate actions and procedures for newborns

1. Suction mucus

When a newborn is born, the doctor or medical team will immediately suck or suck his mouth and nose using a special tool to clean mucus and amniotic fluid so that he can breathe on his own.

After that, the baby's body will also be cleaned from the remnants of mucus that has stuck to the body and dried using a soft cloth. Newborn babies do not have the ability to properly control their body temperature, so it is very important to make sure your baby stays warm and dry.

2. APGAR test

Along with the process of sucking and drying the baby, an APGAR test is also carried out. This test is done to assess the condition of the baby in the first and fifth minutes after the umbilical cord is cut. Assessment is done based on heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, movement reflexes, and skin color.

APGAR scores range from 0 to 10. Babies who score above 7 are generally considered healthy. Most babies get an 8 or 9. If your baby is fine, the baby will be briefly shown to the mother and then the doctor will do follow-up care for her. However, if your baby gets a low APGAR test result, the doctor will immediately find out the cause and will immediately carry out further testing until the problem can be resolved.

3. Weighed and measured the length

Less than half an hour after birth, babies are generally weighed immediately. This is done to prevent inaccurate measurements due to the evaporation of fluids in the baby's body that occurs due to temperature changes.

Unlike the measurement of birth weight which must be done immediately, the measurement of height and head circumference does not have to be done at that time. So, a medical professional may be able to measure the baby's height and head circumference a few hours later.

4. Early initiation of breastfeeding

After making sure the baby is fine, the next process is early initiation of breastfeeding (IMD). IMD is breastfeeding immediately after the baby is born, usually within 30 minutes to an hour after the baby is born. This procedure is done by placing the baby on the mother's chest where the baby is left naked so that there is skin-to-skin interaction orskin to skin contact. Then, the baby is allowed to find itself and approach the mother's nipple for the first breastfeeding process.

During this process, it is advisable not to help the baby, or to deliberately push the baby closer to the mother's nipple. Let the whole process of interaction between mother and newborn run naturally. The process of early initiation of breastfeeding can take place as long as the baby is still sucking on the mother's nipple and will finish itself when the baby releases the suction from the mother's nipple.

5. Apply eye ointment

Your baby will also generally be given antibiotic eye ointment to prevent eye infections from the birth canal. This procedure can generally be delayed up to an hour, giving you the opportunity to breastfeed first. In the past, the eye ointment used contained silver nitrate. Unfortunately, eye ointments containing these compounds actually make baby's eyes hot.

Instead, doctors use erythromycin which is much safer than silver nitrate. Although to prevent infection in the birth canal, this procedure is also usually performed on babies born from cesarean section.

6. Giving vitamin K1 and hepatitis B vaccine

The blood clotting system of newborns is still immature, which increases the risk of bleeding after birth. So, to prevent this from happening, all newborns, especially babies with low body weight, will be given vitamin K1 injections. Usually this procedure is given after IMD or before receiving hepatitis B immunization.

7. Washed

After your baby's temperature has remained stable for at least a few hours, a nurse will bathe your baby using lukewarm water. Usually, the process of bathing this baby will take a little longer because the former layer of fat on the baby's skin is difficult to clean. Especially if the fat layer is thick enough. The baby will then be dried and dressed and swaddled to ensure that he is warm.

8. Cap the soles of the feet

Before your little one comes out of the delivery room, the nurse will stamp your feet as the identity of your baby, so that you don't get confused. Most hospitals and maternity clinics will make two copies of your footprint. One for hospital files and the other for personal family documents.