Normal care after birth

Question 1

What should be done to newborn immediately after birth?

Answer 1

Skin to skin
Clamp the umbilical cord
Dry the baby
Keep the baby warm with a hat and blankets
Vitamin K
Label the baby
Measure the weight and length

Question 2

Why is vit K administered to newborns?

Answer 2

Babies are born with a deficiency of vitamin K. Vitamin K is an important part of normal blood clotting. Standard practice is to give all babies an intramuscular injection of vitamin K in the thigh shortly after birth. This can have the helpful side effect of stimulating the baby to cry, which helps expand the lungs. Vitamin K helps to prevent bleeding, particularly intracranial, umbilical stump and gastrointestinal bleeding. Alternatively, vitamin K can be given orally, however this takes longer to act and requires doses at birth, 7 days and 6 weeks.

Question 3

Benefits of skin to skin?

Answer 3

Skin to skin contact involves putting the baby against the mothers chest immediately after birth. This has several potential benefits:

Helps warm baby
Improves mother and baby interaction
Calms the baby
Improves breast feeding

Question 4

Once out of the delivery room, what should be done to newborn?

Answer 4

Once mum and the baby are out of the delivery room, there are a few things to consider:

Initiate breast feeding or bottle feeding as soon as the baby is alert enough
The first bath is usually delayed until this baby is warm and stable. It can wait days without any issues.
Newborn examination within 72 hours
Blood spot test
Newborn hearing test

Question 5

What is blood spot screening in the newborn?

Answer 5

This is a screening test for 9 congenital conditions. It is taken on day 5 (day 8 at the latest) after consent from the parent. A heel prick is used to provide drops of blood. The screening card requires four separate drops. This screens for nine congenital conditions:

Sickle cell disease
Cystic fibrosis
Congenital hypothyroidism
Phenylketonuria
Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD)
Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD)
Isovaleric acidaemia (IVA)
Glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1)
Homocystin

Results take 6-8 weeks to come back.