A new snack that will keep kids happy, without making parents feel guilty
Deodorants and breast cancer investigated
A chance to win £100 worth of shopping vouchers
Your baby, from week zero
Extracted from Your Baby Week By Week, by Simone Cave and Dr Caroine Fertleman (Vermillion - £12.99)
Your baby in week 0
Arriving home from hospital with your brand new baby is when reality kicks in for most new parents. For the past few days you've been cocooned by a safety net of medical staff, and now you're on your own it will probably dawn on you just how little you know about looking after a newborn baby.
Your midwife will still visit
But you're not quite on your own yet because the day after you leave hospital you'll get a visit from a community midwife. She will probably turn up unannounced, but don't worry about tidying the house or even getting dressed - she's there to help and won't judge you.
The midwife will feel your tummy to check that your womb is contracting, and then take your pulse, blood pressure and temperature to rule out infection and problems resulting from the birth. She will ask how you are feeling both physically and emotionally, and make sure there are no problems with your breasts, whether or not you are breastfeeding.
The midwife will also check your sanitary pad to make sure that any blood loss is normal and look at your legs to rule out blood clots, and finally she will check your stitches if you had them. She'll also answer all your questions and give any baby care help that she can - for example with breastfeeding.
As well as making sure that you are okay, your midwife will examine your baby. She'll weigh him, look at his cord stump, check the colour of his skin to rule out jaundice, and take his temperature. Your midwife will also give your baby a heel prick (Guthrie) test on his seventh day.
This involves taking a blood sample from his heel which may make him cry briefly. The blood is tested for phenylketonuria - a rare, serious metabolic disorder - and hypothyroidism, which happens when there are low levels of thyroid hormone.
Some health authorities check for other conditions such as cystic fibrosis but this varies across the country. Both of these conditions are straightforward to treat, but lead to serious developmental problems if treated late or left untreated. If you don't hear the results of this test within a couple of weeks don't worry, it means your baby is clear - some areas only notify mums if there is a problem.
1 | 2 | next
printer friendly
send to a friend
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
