At Bayview, we encouraged skin to skin contact between mother and baby especially in the first hour after baby‟s birth. This helps calm baby, keep him/her warm, and help adapt to life outside of the womb. This is also a great time to start breastfeeding. Right after birth most babies are alert and want to feed. Your midwife can help you with this.

Your baby will be happier if you keep him near you and feed whenever he is hungry. This will help you breast produce plenty of milk.

After the initial alert period some babies become very sleepy for the next 24 hours or so. This may be due to the birth experience and/or pain relieving drugs given to you during labour. If this happens colostrums may need to be expressed and given to baby if he/she is not feeding especially after the first 24 hours. The early use of teats and dummies are discouraged as this can interfere with breastfeeding.

By the second day after birth, babies have periods of wishing to feed very frequently, especially at night. This is normal and is how your baby is helping your milk supply establish by stimulating you breast regularly. A baby can breastfed between 8-12 times, or more in a day!

Get some rest during the day will help you manage these night time feeds. Reducing or limiting the number of visitors you have during the day may also help.