After Delivery: Care That Helps Your Baby Have a Healthy Start
Your baby’s first moments are critical for their health, so it’s important that your little one receives the best possible postnatal care.
As the first birth center in southern Nevada to earn the prestigious Baby-Friendly USA designation (a global program launched by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to recognize hospitals that offer exceptional care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding), we’ll help your child have a healthy beginning from the moment they enter the world.
Exceptional Care for Baby’s Healthy Start
Skin-to-Skin Bonding
Skin-to-skin bonding occurs when your baby is held to your bare chest, and it’s particularly important during a newborn’s first hour of life. In addition, it provides many benefits to both babies and parents, such as:
- Development of strong emotional closeness between infants and parents
- Aiding a baby’s brain development
- Reduced stress for the baby after birth and for anxious parents
- Helping a baby feel more comfortable
- Decreased recovery time for premature and high-risk newborns
- Encouraging newborns to breastfeed
- Better sleep, weight gain, temperature regulation, and hormone levels for infants
Breastfeeding Support
While we encourage every mother to breastfeed because breast milk gives babies excellent nutrition and benefits moms, it can be challenging to get started. However, we have one of the most extensive breastfeeding programs in Nevada, and our lactation consultants will help you and your baby learn to breastfeed successfully.
Newborn Screening
Immediately after your baby is born, your delivery team performs newborn screenings to assess your baby’s health during their first day of life.
Newborn screening tests are completely safe and pose no risks to your baby. These screenings include a blood test to evaluate whether or not your baby needs additional tests, a hearing test to check for hearing loss, and a critical congenital heart defects test to identify any potential heart problems.
If a condition or abnormality is discovered, our specialists will treat the issue right away to reduce or prevent future health problems.
Compassionate Care in the NICU
A NICU is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which provides extra care and attention for premature or critically ill babies. Our Level II NICU is equipped to care for babies who are born early, but after at least 32 weeks or who are recovering from more serious conditions. We can also monitor for apnea spells, provide intravenous lines for special medications, offer feeding assistance, or use an incubator or other assistance to maintain body temperature. We use advanced monitoring equipment to ensure our smallest patients are safe at all times.
If more specialized care is needed, we are able to seamlessly transport our littlest patients to the Level III NICU at our Siena Hospital in Henderson, Nevada.
What to Expect From Postnatal Care
Postnatal care immediately after birth includes:
- Skin-to-skin contact
- Newborn screenings
- Vaccinations and special eye drops or ointment
- Attempting breastfeeding during the first hour
- Complete physical checkup
In the weeks following birth, postnatal care includes:
- Bonding with your baby (talking, singing, eye contact, and skin-to-skin)
- Sponge bathing until the umbilical cord falls off
- Frequent diaper changes, warm baths, and diaper cream for diaper rash
- Feeding every two to three hours
- Help from a lactation consultant
- Well-child exams at one week and one month after birth
Helping You Adjust to Post-Birth Life With Postpartum Care
Giving birth can have a huge effect on your body, mind, and life, so it’s important to get postpartum care that addresses your physical, mental, and emotional needs for months after birth.
Postpartum care can assist with:
- Bleeding after birth
- Breast health
- Problems going to the bathroom
- Vaginal and C-section healing
- Emotions, mood changes, and symptoms of postpartum depression
Whatever your needs may be, our care team will help you recover from childbirth and have a healthy transition to a post-birth body and lifestyle.
Compassionate Care in the NICU
Having a child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a difficult time for the entire family, but our highly experienced teams provide extra care and attention for premature or critically ill babies. With a Level II NICU at San Martín and Level III NICU at our Siena Hospital, you can be confident that your baby will receive the best care available.
Interested in Exploring Our San Martín Birth Center?
We understand that you have options when choosing a doctor and hospital for your pregnancy journey, so we’d love to show you around our San Martín Hospital and answer any of your questions. Together, we can help you figure out if we’re the right fit.
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