- Cleanliness
- Skin to skin care
- Exclusive Breastfeeding
- Jaundice
- Caring for the umbilical cord at home
- Immunization
- Eye hygiene at home
- Restriction of visitors to prevent infection
- Safe bath & prohibition of traditional home medications
The birth of a baby is a very special occasion and also for a newborn is becoming a medical emergency on these days. As a new parent, you have lots of questions about your newborn - how the baby looks, how to care for the baby, what stuff you need, etc… Our goal is to exceed your expectations in caring for your baby.
There are certain things to be followed after childbirth to make sure that the mom and baby are healthy.
Being clean is good for babies’ immunity. There are some essential hygiene rules that are worth following.
Newborn needs skin to skin contact of the mother as babies finds it strenuous to maintain their body temperature because of poor thermoregulation, larger body surface area to weight, etc.. Having the baby very close to mothers will help to recognize the signs of hunger and to stay at an ideal temperature.
The extremely important care for a newborn in the first hour of life is breastfeeding, as the colostrum secreted is rich in immunoglobulin, to boost the immunity of babies. Colostrum, the 1st milk, is very thick and sticky and may look like cloudy water, has millions of living cells that protect against infection. It has antibodies hence it is the 1st vaccination for Newborn (WHO).
Breastfeeding should be started within half an hour of birth and babies must be fed at least 8 to 12 times in each 24 hrs period.
Normally all babies have Jaundice which protects the babies against free radicals. If it is exaggerated, then further investigations are done and managed. We treat the newborns with phototherapy using LED, which prevents dehydration.
At home, you should keep the umbilical cord clean and dry. The drier the cord, the sooner it will fall off. This will normally take 7 to 10 days.
Consult with your health care provider if there is discharge/foul smell or redness around the cord.
Immunization for the baby begins in the delivery room itself. Colostrum, the 1st milk of the mother is the 1st vaccination for the newborn. All children in India are vaccinated against diseases such as,
Good eye care with normal saline in the first week to prevent neonatal conjunctivitis. Mother’s milk should not be instilled in the eye which was practiced rurally earlier.
The health of the mother and the baby is the primary concern of the Women and Children Foundation. Therefore it may become necessary for the number of babies’ visitors to be limited. Infection will increase if foot count is increased. Hence the strict restriction of visitors is practiced in our hospital.
New Born Screening tests are done in our hospital to diagnose genetic and metabolic disorders in the newborn babies. These tests are done shortly after birth and it helps to treat some rare diseases like hypothyroidism, G6PD deficiency, induced hemolytic anemia, storage disorders, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia before symptoms develop. The tests included are Hearing Test, Thyroid test, G6PD Deficiency, Galactosemia, Cystic Fibrosis, 17OHP Deficiency, Phenylalanine, TORCHS Screen etc.
Newborns need to have a hearing screening by one month of age. It helps ensure all babies who are deaf or hard of hearing are identified as soon as possible. Then they can receive early intervention services that can make a big difference in their communication and language development.
Infants, who are deaf or hard of hearing, need the right care and early intervention services to promote healthy development. If the hearing status is not identified, it may have negative effects on the baby’s communication and language skills. Longer term, a missed hearing loss can also impact the child’s academic achievement and social-emotional development.
This occurs due to inadequate secretion of thyroid hormone in newborn Infants. It can occur because of an atomic defect in the gland, an inborn error of thyroid metabolism or Iodine deficiency. Babies may present with prolonged physiological jaundice, poor feeding, constipation, difficulty in monitoring temperature. Later on may present with mental deficit.
This test measures the amount of 17OHP in the blood to detect or evaluate CAH (congenital adrenal hyperplasia), an inherited condition that results in decreased adrenal cortisol and aldosterone and increased male sex hormone.
New born metabolic screening programme by a single heel prick detects phenyl ketonuria (PKU), congenital hypothyroidism galactosemia, congenital adrenal hyperplasis, and cystic fibroids.
In this condition the red blood cells break down when the body is exposed to certain drugs or sterm of infection leading to hemolytic anemia. This enzyme helps to function the red blood cells. Early detection may help in preventing the attack of anemia.
This is carbohydrate metabolism disorder due to the deficiency of GALT leading to poor feeding, poor weight gain, vomiting, and jaundice.
This is an inherited genetic defect characterized by frequent respiratory infections failure to gain weight. It affects almost all organs such as pancreas, liver, kidney and intestine.
This blood test detects congenital infection such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, CMV (cytomegalovirus), herpes simplex, HIV and syphilis.
We have packages for NBS (Newborn Screening). You can gather the package details. For queries related to your baby’s health, WCF midwives are available 24x7 to assist you through whatsapp free service. For emergency please dial 8939957777.
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