The Bartlett Family Blog
  • About Us
  • Blog

Breast feeding class

6/17/2010

1 Comment

 
Now I know pretty much all my posts lately have been about baby, but when you are 37 weeks pregnant, that's pretty much all there is to talk about... and I imagine it will only get worse once baby actually gets here!  But everyone loves babies, right?

Anyway, last night I went to my second breast feeding class, and I learned some really interesting things that I wanted to share.  And don't worry, I'm not about to tell you all about boobies. :)

So obviously I've never had a baby, and have never had a baby/ been pregnant in the US.  But I'm finding there are some really cool things about having a baby in New Zealand (more specifically, giving birth in NZ).  Basically I assumed a lot of what happens after you give birth goes something like what you see on TV... baby gets cleaned, weighed, measured, examined, and given back to momma all cute in a blanket and little hat.  Then they bond, have visitors maybe, and sometimes the baby sleeps in the room with mom, sometimes she goes to the nursery.  Well, not so here.  This is what I learned is going to happen after baby is born (assuming a regular delivery and a healthy baby)...

  • Baby is born and placed immediately on mother's belly.  Midwife then places a warm towel on top of baby, and mom/dad dry her off and clean her up a bit.
  • While mom is delivering the placenta and/or getting any stitches (yuck), baby stays right where she is on mom's tummy.  This is also where she'll be when the umbilical cord is cut.  Mom should preferably be having skin-to-skin contact with baby (i.e. they aren't separated by layers of clothes or blankets/towels).
  • For the first hour of baby's life, she is with mom.  In this time she will breast feed for the first time.
  • After the first feed, the midwife will weigh and measure baby right next to mom.
  • They will most likely NOT bathe the baby for the first 24 hours, maybe even 48 hours.
  • Baby stays with the mom at all times (never taken out of the room unless medically necessary)
  • The hospital totally discourages giving baby any artificial teats (bottles or pacifiers).  So unless medically necessary, baby will never be given any sort of supplementary feeding.
  • Some point after baby has eaten, mom can take a shower and get cleaned up.  It is recommended NOT to use soap/body wash so that mom can retain her smell that baby is accustomed to.
  • While mom is showering, it's recommended that dad get some skin-to-skin time with baby (who will likely sleep for the next 6 hours)
  • They really encourage limiting visitors the first day so mom can recover/sleep while baby sleeps, since the next 2 days are going to be quite exhausting.
That's the basic summary of the first day, it just surprised me a little how everything that's done is centered around making breast feeding as successful as possible in those first days.  Pretty cool. :)  Maybe it's like this in US hospitals, I wouldn't really know, but from what I've heard I don't think it's quite the same.  Another big difference I've seemed to notice is that in the US, lots of doctors encourage inductions without real medical necessity.  Here, inductions are only done if there is a medical NEED to do so, and the midwives are very supportive of natural births (although don't disapprove of pain relief, so you don't feel pressured either way).  I'm liking this environment for giving birth!
1 Comment
Foxy
6/18/2010 06:05:49 am

All of this and the paid parental leave.... come on US catch up with the times before I'm ready to start popping out kiddos... or maybe I come join Mimi and Mark in NZ!!!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Check out
    Melissa Bartlett Photography

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2018
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009

    Categories

    All
    10 Months
    11 Months
    12 Months
    14 Months
    15 Months
    16 Months
    17 Months
    18 Months
    1st Trimester
    2nd Trimester
    2 Under 2
    2 Year Old
    3 Months
    3rd Trimester
    3 Year Old
    4 Months
    5 Months
    6 Months
    7 Months
    8 Months
    9 Months
    Allergies
    Babies
    Baby Riley
    Baby Sign
    Birthday
    Birth Story
    Breastfeeding
    Chemistry
    Cole
    Discipline
    Exercise
    Family
    First Birthday
    First Trimester
    Health
    Holidays
    Homeschool
    Iphoneography
    Jackson
    Job
    Landscaping
    Mark
    Milestones
    Monthdays
    Moving
    Newborn
    New House
    New Toy Tuesday
    November School
    Nursery
    October School
    One Year
    Our House
    P365
    Photobooth
    Photo Booth
    Photo Challenges
    Photography
    Photograpy
    Potty Training
    Pregnancy
    Pregnancy #2
    Preschool
    Project 365
    Riley
    Riley's First Birthday
    Scrapbooks
    Siblings
    Sleep
    Sleeping
    Soccer
    Solids
    Speech Therapy
    Swimming
    Tantrums
    Tot School
    Vacation
    Vacations
    Videos
    Vlogs
    Wedding

Proudly powered by Weebly