What to expect after your baby is born

At our birthing centers, we won’t whisk your baby away after birth for newborn admission and physical assessment. It’s all done right at your bedside so you and your baby can rest together. We don’t want you to miss a moment of your newborn’s first few hours.

During this time, you will have the empowering experience of bonding with your baby. One way to bond is through skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care. Studies suggest placing your baby directly on your chest can help stabilize his or her heart rate, breathing patterns and blood oxygen level and may even improve the newborn’s sleep and increase breastfeeding success. Dads can give kangaroo care, too.

Many of our birthing centers offer Baby’s First Friend services. A BFF is a nurse who focuses just on you and your baby after delivery.

Your BFF will:

• Meet with you and your family during labor or the pre-op period to explain the plan of care for your baby as soon as he or she is born.
• Stay in your room throughout your birth and care for your newborn after delivery.
• Promote early bonding and breastfeeding to ease your baby’s breathing and help control his or her body temperature.
• Assist with skin-to-skin cuddling and breastfeeding.
• Perform a head-to-toe assessment and complete newborn procedures such as weight/length measurements and give medications if needed.
• Help you transfer to your post-delivery room.

What’s in it for your baby?

• Controls body temperature and blood sugar
• Breastfeeds better
• Sleeps longer
• Keeps calm and cries less
• Gains weight more easily
• Helps brain development

What’s in it for you?

• Lowers sense of pain
• Improves mother-baby bonding
• Provides a more satisfying birthing experience
• Develops confidence in caring for a newborn

Many of our birthing centers feature open visitation hours for your support person, the siblings of your baby and others. You and your loved ones can discuss times that work best for you to visit. Some of our centers require some visitors be 12 or older, and all visitors must be healthy.

After birth, don’t be so quick to have that layer of creamy, cheese-like, white substance washed off your baby. This coating, known as vernix, can have many health benefits, including helping a baby maintain body temperature, assisting with skin development and acting as a moisturizer and skin cleanser. We believe in delaying bathing between 12 and 24 hours after birth to promote those benefits. And when it’s time for that first bath, we encourage parents to help. Assisting with your baby’s first bath can be a special time for bonding.

You'll have access to our lactation experts who will teach you how to successfully feed your newborn. We offer 1-on-1 consultations during your hospital stay as well as outpatient services and resources after you and your baby go home. Learn more about our breastfeeding services.

Your baby may receive:

• A hearing screening 24 hours after birth.
• A blood test before discharge to screen for genetic and metabolic disorders. This assessment is required by Illinois. Learn more about metabolic screenings.
• A screening for critical congenital heart defects before discharge.

Back to sleep for every sleep. To reduce the risk of sleep-related death, infants should be placed on their backs by caregivers until they reach the age of 1.

Safe sleep tips:

• Use a firm mattress that fits snuggly in the crib or bassinet frame.
• A tightly fitted sheet should be used to cover the mattress.
• The head of the bed should be flat.
• There should be no other bedding, soft toys, positioning devices or soft objects in bed with baby.
• It’s recommended that infants sleep in the parents’ room and close to their bed – but on a separate surface designed for infants – ideally for at least the first 6 months.
• To cover the baby, appropriately sized sleep sacks are optimal, but if that is not available, a lightweight blanket or receiving blanket is sufficient.
• When swaddling, use a single blanket wrapped below the baby’s shoulder level.
• Avoid overheating and over-bundling.
• If the baby's temperature is normal, no hats or head coverings are required.
• Breastfeeding is also associated with a reduced risk of SIDS.
• Offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime is recommended after breastfeeding is well established.
• Avoid smoke exposure, alcohol, illicit drugs and marijuana during pregnancy and after birth.
• Avoid the use of commercial devices or home cardiorespiratory monitors inconsistent with safe sleep recommendations.
• Tummy time is encouraged for baby’s growth and development and should only occur when baby is awake and supervised.

Our birthing centers have extensive mechanisms to keep you and your newborn safe and secure during your stay.

Your birthing center's safeguards may include:

• ID bands that are placed on you, your baby and your support person immediately after your delivery. The numbers on those bands must be matched visually every time a baby is given to his or her parents.
• Hugs and Kisses bands that serve as an electronic alarm system monitoring your baby’s location. They will be placed on your wrist and your baby’s ankle before you leave the labor and delivery area. The bands are removed when you go home.
• Rolling cribs that transport your baby when outside your room or the nursery. Your baby will never be carried in arms in the corridors.
• A requirement that your baby cannot be left without the supervision of a responsible adult.
• Entry doors to nurseries, the postpartum unit and the labor and delivery area that are locked at all times.

Many of our birthing centers partner with Bella Baby Photography for newborn pictures. Typically, one of Bella Baby's professionals will visit each new mom's room and, if desired, stage a shoot for the new arrival and family. Purchase is optional. Learn more about Bella Baby Photography.