<h1>Meeting your baby for the first time</h1>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1147" src="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2.4.1.jpg" alt="New mother in a birthing pool holds her newborn baby for her birthing partner to hold" width="650" height="406" />

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Meeting your baby for the first time can cause many different emotions in new parents. After months of build up to the birth, you may feel elation and an instant rush of love but don’t be concerned if you initially feel dazed and disconnected, or have concerns over whether the baby is alright. Making an emotional connection with your baby can take time. It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to feel about your newborn and that for some parents it can take quite a while to adjust to the fact that labour is over and their new baby has arrived.</span>
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Meeting your baby for the first time

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Meeting your baby for the first time

<h1>You: straight after birth</h1>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1149" src="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2.4.2.2.jpg" alt="Close up of new mother sitting up in a hospital bed and holding her new born baby" width="650" height="406" />

<span style="font-weight: 400;">After your placenta has been delivered, your midwife or doctor will ask to check and see if you have any tears to the perineum and/or vagina that might require stitches. If you do need stitches, your midwife or doctor will explain this to you.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Before stitching your midwife or doctor will ensure the area is numbed with local anaesthetic, or if you have an epidural already, this will be topped up. Most tears will be repaired in your birthing room, more significant tears require repair in an operating theatre. Tears are repaired using dissolvable stitches and normally heal within a month of birth.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">All women will lose some blood after giving birth, this happens because the area of the womb where the placenta was attached takes time to heal. Bleeding may be heavy immediately after the birth, but will reduce significantly over the next few days and weeks. Bleeding will normally last between two and six weeks. Your midwife will check on your bleeding regularly straight after birth.</span>

<span>If there is significant bleeding this is called a postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Your midwife and doctor will take prompt action to stop ongoing blood loss.</span>

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<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/21/understanding-perineal-tears/">Understanding perineal tears</a>

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<a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/you-after-birth/" type="nhs">You after birth</a>

<a href="https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/third--or-fourth-degree-tear-during-childbirth/" type="rcog">Third and fourth degree tears</a>

<a href="https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/heavy-bleeding-after-birth-postpartum-haemorrhage/" type="rcog" >Heavy bleeding after birth (postpartum haemorrhage)</a>

<a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/961453/8348398-episode-53-tears-and-stitches">Perineal tears and stiches - The Obs Pod, Episode 53</a>

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You: straight after birth

<h1>What happens straight after birth</h1>
<img src="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2.4.2.jpg" alt="New mother holds her new born baby to her bare chest under a sheet" width="650" height="406" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1153" />

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Explore what will happen once your baby has arrived.</span>
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What will happen after my baby is born?

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<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/626/">Skin-to-skin contact</a>

<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/you-straight-after-birth/">You: straight after birth</a>

<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/your-baby-straight-after-birth/">Your baby: straight after birth</a>

<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/vitamin-k-for-newborn-babies/">Vitamin K for newborn babies</a>

<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/identification-for-your-newborn-baby/">Identification for your newborn baby</a>

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<a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/what-happens-straight-after-the-birth/" type="nhs">What happens straight after birth</a>

<a href="https://www.nct.org.uk/birth/after-your-baby-born" type="nct">More on after your baby is born</a>

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What happens straight after birth

<h1>Immediately after giving birth</h1>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1154" src="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2.4.jpg" alt="Mother in hospital bed holds her baby to her chest" width="650" height="406" />
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<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/meeting-your-baby-for-the-first-time/">Meeting your baby for the first time</a>

<a href="https://admin.mumandbaby.uk/2018/08/17/what-happens-straight-after-birth/">What happens straight after birth</a>

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