11 topics

Birth and the First Days

Labor, cesarean, the golden hour, the hospital days, and the hard versions.

• The stages of labor, plainlyLabor has three stages: opening, pushing, and the placenta. How long labor takes varies a lot, and a first labor is usually the longest.
• What happens in a cesareanA c-section is surgery to birth the baby through the belly. You are usually awake with a spinal, and the baby is out within minutes.
• When birth didn't go to planBeing disappointed in your birth, or shaken by it, is common and allowed. A healthy baby and a hard birth can both be true.
• The hospital stay: what happens, what to askHow long in hospital is usually one to two nights after a vaginal birth and two to four after a cesarean. Nurses run it; here is what to ask them.
• The first 24 hoursThe first day with a newborn is quiet and the second night is loud. Both are normal, and neither means you are short on milk.
• When your baby is in the NICUA NICU stay means your baby needs more care than a regular nursery gives. You are still the parent, and your milk and your chest are part of the treatment.
• Very fast and very long laborsA fast labor is under three hours. A prolonged or stalled labor is one that slows past the usual range. Both are safe to get through with the right help.
• Heavy bleeding after birth (hemorrhage)Postpartum hemorrhage, or PPH, is bleeding too much after birth. It is an emergency teams train for constantly, and most mothers recover fully.
• Vacuum and forceps birthsAn assisted birth uses a vacuum cup or forceps to help the baby out in the last minutes of pushing. It is used in about 3 in 100 U.S. births.
• Telling your birth storyTelling your birth story, out loud and more than once, is how most mothers make sense of it. A birth debrief adds the facts to the feelings.
• Going home: the car ride and the first eveningComing home from the hospital is a short drive and a long evening. Set the bar low: a safe car seat, one meal, and everyone in bed early.