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Your baby’s first 48 hours

The transition from the womb to the outside world is a major change that marks our lives. With the cutting of the umbilical cord, the baby goes from receiving oxygen through the placenta to making its lungs work for the first time.
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The passage from the womb to the outside world is a big change that marks our lives and the beginning of the first stage of a baby’s development with the cutting of the umbilical cord, the baby goes from receiving oxygen through the placenta to making its lungs work for the first time. At the same time, the flow of nutrients that the fetus used to receive is interrupted, and the fetus becomes dependent on external nourishment and its reserves.

While in the uterus, the baby became accustomed to a temperature of 36.5º to 37ºC (79º to 104ºF). When you go out into the outside world, you encounter cooler temperatures. During the first few days, they will be helped to retain body heat better by vernix caseosa or sebaceous ointment, a whitish, greasy-looking substance that coats their skin at birth, which will disappear naturally.

The Sacred Hour (First Hour)

The baby’s first hour is called ‘the sacred hour’. Once it has been verified that the newborn is well, and once the umbilical cord has been cut, it is recommended to make ‘skin to skin’ with the mother. This simple act has many benefits: the baby will be able to hear his mother’s heartbeat, and the contact with her warm skin will soothe him, as well as help him warm up. On a hormonal and behavioral level, it is also important for both mother and child, as this first contact confirms an unbreakable bond. In these early moments, babies are very attentive to everything around them, and are able to recognize the voices they have heard for weeks through the amniotic fluid. If you talk to him and look closely, you will help to strengthen this bond even more.

After this first hour, the newborn enters a normal state of drowsiness after the adrenaline rush of childbirth.

During the first hours of life, babies appear pinker, with cold feet and hands. This is due to a they are learning to regulate their own temperature through circulation. With mittens and socks you can help keep them warm. It is called acrocyanosis when there is also a slight violet color in the skin.

Starting to feed your baby

One of the priorities at birth for babies is to start feeding, either with formula or breast milk. In both cases, newborn feedings must be on demand, i.e., respecting the baby’s hunger sensation and feeding him/her when he/she asks for it. This first shot is usually sometime in the first three hours, and from there to when you claim it again.

If you have decided to breastfeed, during the first days they will feed on colostrum, a secretion prior to breast milk with a more watery appearance but very rich in proteins and immunoprotective factors, i.e., defenses that reduce the risk of infections and allergies, in addition to helping the newborn’s intestine to mature. At the beginning, colostrum is scarce, and its production increases with suckling at the breast.
After four days, the colostrum is transformed into breast milk.

Through the placenta the fetuses were receiving antibodies, but when they leave the uterus they do so without any immunological experience and with a brand new immune system. So will the bowels, which will be set in motion along with the first feedings. Their first pee will be in the first 48 hours of life. As for the first stool, called meconium, it is very dark and sticky, resembling oil and will also be during the baby’s first hours.

It is normal to lose weight during the first few days. This is mainly water loss, and is usually recovered after 10 to 15 days of life. In these first days, weeks and months, your pediatrician will be your best advisor, and in the constant check-ups your baby will go through, he/she will be able to answer all those doubts and questions that may arise.

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