

Women who have a planned or unplanned cesarean section may need to wait a few moments to be able to hold the baby. If a baby needs medical attention or extra stimulation to start breathing, the child can be moved from the exam table to the mother’s chest as soon as the baby is stabilized. Schimelpfenig.Įven in cases where medical emergencies may change a family’s birth plan, it is possible to take advantage of bonding time in the first few minutes. Finding ways to bondĬonventional procedures such as weighing, measuring, bathing, injections or blood tests should wait until after the first feeding, according to Dr. Research shows these infants also have a history of better sleep quality, growth and breastfeeding rates. “And then for mom, it helps mom produce hormones that help her to breastfeed and produce milk, as well as decrease stress and anxiety and depression for her.”Īs a certified nurse midwife, Choal said she also sees less crying and fussiness with infants that have experienced the golden hour. “For baby, it helps for thermal regulation, or a fancy term for helping baby regulate temperature, as well as stabilizing blood sugar,” said Choal. Skin-to-skin contact and the baby’s suckling at the breast brings benefits to mom and baby. Instead, they encourage mother and baby to stay together and, if desired, focus on giving the newborn a chance to breastfeed. Many hospitals and birthing centers now encourage parents to wait at least an hour before introducing baby to family and friends.


“Every situation is a little bit different, but in the perfect situation where everything has gone well, baby would be delivered and then immediately baby would go onto mom’s chest and they would do skin-to-skin,” said Dr. Health care providers now know there’s a better way to spend the first 60 minutes of life. After all the waiting, the new parents would finally get to hold their baby. New moms watched their babies being handed to a nurse for examination, cleaning and other details. In the past, bonding with baby often took a back seat to medical procedures. It’s super helpful to stabilize the newborn coming out of utero, as well as bonding,” said Tenelle Choal, a certified nurse-midwife at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. “The golden hour is very beneficial and critical for even years down the road between both mom and baby. Research has shown that what happens during the first 60 minutes of a baby’s life, which is often referred to as the golden hour, can maximize the bonding between mother and child. Michelle Schimelpfenig, a pediatrician at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “I think for a lot of moms, it’s finally that moment where they can just breathe, and at least for me, when I held our first, it was like, you know, this was nine months of not knowing what this child looked like, what they felt like, and finally I can feel that,” said Dr. The first few minutes after birth are a magical time for bonding with baby.
