Nurse Moses Rebecca
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| Source: Sergio Vassio Photo. |
According to World Health Organization (WHO), PNC is the care given to the mother and her new born baby immediately after the birth of the placenta and for the first six weeks of life.
It may interest you to find out how well to care for yourself and your baby after delivery.
Delay cord clamping.
Delaying cord clamping allows more blood to flow from the placenta to your baby, thus increasing the volume of red blood cells (RBC) in your baby. Part of their birth plan is waiting for several minutes for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating before clamping and cutting it. Doing this will potentially reduce the incidence of iron deficiency in babies.
Ask for “kangaroo care”
This is having skin-to-skin contact with your baby by placing your baby on your chest immediately after birth. In the event that your health provider did not talk about this, you may politely request for it.
Benefit of KC
1. it will help your baby to have
2. stabilized heart rate
3. improved and more regular breathing pattern
4. improved oxygen saturation level
5. decreased crying
6. gain in sleep time.
Placenta issues.
You must ensure your wishes regarding your placenta are carried out. More importantly, you must request for your baby’s placenta immediately after delivery.
Vitamin K shot and eye ointment issues.
You need to confirm whether or not you want your baby to get the vitamin K shot and eye ointment. The reason it is necessary is that many babies are born with vitamin K deficiency, which rarely lead to extremely serious bleeding disorder called Hemorrhagic disease of the newborn. So, getting a shot of vitamin K in the delivery room is considered safe for your baby.It is also advisable you request for an eye ointment for your baby if you are infected with sexually transmitted disease (STD) during pregnancy, to protect your baby from being infected. An infected baby may come down with pink eye (i.e. conjunctivitis) infection from Syphilis, Gonorrhea or Chlamydia. However, you are free to decline if you are sure you have been treated for those sexually transmitted diseases during pregnancy.
Baby bathing.
Feel free to tell your health providers if you want your baby bathed or not. Your baby’s skin is coated with vernix, which is meant to soften, moisturize and protect against infections. It also helps in boosting your baby’s immunity against diseases. With the above benefits some mothers do not want their baby bathed.Get your baby vaccinated.
Vaccination is one of the most effective ways of protecting your baby against diseases. Vaccines help your baby’s immune system to recognize and fight against infections. You must therefore ensure your baby receives necessary vaccines at birth.
Such vaccines may include Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV), Oral Polio vaccine (OPV), and Bacillus Chalmette-Guerin vaccine (BCG) which must be given within two weeks of birth if not available at birth. Also do not forget to get your baby’s vaccine chart or card for continuous vaccination.
Exclusive breast feeding.
You must feed your baby with only breast milk, either directly or expressed, except you need to add drops or syrups consisting of vitamins, mineral supplements or medicine.
These
Eat adequate diet.
- contain antibodies that helps your baby fight off viruses and bacteria
- lowers your baby’s risk of having asthma and allergic respiratory illnesses, ear infections bouts of diarrhea.
Take more of portentous meal as it’s easy to skip a meal here and there when you are dealing with the demands of a new baby. Fill your freezer with double batches of meal that you can burst out when you are tired to cook. Also, increase your fluid intake as the breastfeeding process creates a hormonal reaction that can increase thirst. So always keep a bottle of water handy. You are advised to continue taking vitamins as your baby needs more of vitamins now than in pregnancy.
Rest and Sleep.
Get your Kegel exercise on.Considering the enormous stress of pregnancy and labor or Caesarean Section (CS), you need to have enough rest and sleep. Sleep is important for every aspect of recovery. Yet ironically, it’s a thing of the past once you have a newborn, as there will be more demand on your time. It’s therefore best for you to sleep when your baby sleeps, even if it’s just for a nap. At least, babies sleep for about three to four hours at a time.
Source: Flood G. Fake sleeping beauty.
KE also known as pelvic floor exercise involves repeated contracting and relaxing (by deeply breathing in and out) of muscles around your pelvic floor (bum). It is a simple and effective way to whip those muscles back into shape as child birth and pregnancy weakens your pelvic muscles resulting in uncomfortable pelvic pressure and unwanted leakage of urine.
Vagina care.
Care of your vagina is very essential after delivery especially following normal child birth. Chances are you’re dealing with lots of pains and discomfort. Best treatment is sitz baths – sitting on a bucket of hot/warm water for the vapor and heat to enter the vagina. Within 6-10weeks, you will be as good as new.Ask for help
Getting someone to watch the little one for a while might be your only hope of finding time to take a shower, catch up on sleep and to eat. Ask for help for laundry, making of meal and other necessary house chores and for child care. You are hereby advised to be very careful of who cares for your baby.
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