• After your baby is delivered, your practitioner will hold her head at a downward angle to help drain the amniotic fluid and mucus from her lungs, nose, and mouth. She may suction the baby's nose and mouth with a bulb syringe.


• At birth, either your practitioner or your support person (if he or she would like) will cut the umbilical cord.


• If you request, many practitioners will immediately place your baby on your abdomen to start the bonding process. Your baby can be dried off while she is lying on you.


• At one minute after birth, the pediatrician or labor nurse will assign your baby an Apgar score. This score helps the medical team assess if the baby needs oxygen or other forms of medical support. Another Apgar score will be given at 5 minutes of age.


• It is very important to keep newborns warm. Your baby will be wrapped in blankets, or, if you want, you can place her next to your skin and lay blankets over the top of the two of you.


• This is your chance to meet the one who's been moving and kicking inside you for all of these months. You can hold her close, look into her eyes and get to know your little one. If you have chosen to breast feed, this would be an ideal time to nurse your baby.


• If a surgical clamp was used on her umbilical cord, it will be switched for a small plastic clamp, similar in appearance to a hair barrette, and the cord end will be trimmed. Within the first day of birth, the stump of the umbilical cord may be treated with a purple dye to prevent infection.

• The nurse or doctor will examine your baby and take her vital signs.


• She will be weighed, and her length and head circumference will be measured.


• Identification bands will be placed on your baby's wrist and ankle. You will receive an ID band that matches the baby's bands. The nurse may record your infant's footprints.


• State laws require that an antibiotic be placed in your baby's eyes. This is to prevent blindness from maternal vaginal infections. Most hospitals use Erythromycin ointment, but some still use silver nitrate, which can be more irritating.


• Your baby will receive an injection of Vitamin K in her thigh. This vitamin is needed by the liver to assist with blood clotting. In the adult, bacteria in the intestines manufacture vitamin K. Newborns have no bacteria in their intestines; consequently, they are not able to produce vitamin K on their own. Vitamin K injection prevents bleeding problems in the newborn.


• A blood sugar test might be necessary, if your baby is very large or very small, or if you had gestational diabetes. Usually, the nurse or phlebotomist pricks the baby's heel to get a drop of blood. If the baby's blood sugar (glucose) is too low, you may be asked to nurse your baby or give her some formula or sugar water.

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