Week 35 of your Pregnancy
Baby’s first days: feeding
Soon after your baby is born—within minutes if you are breastfeeding—you will be feeding your baby. Right after birth, you will be given the baby to hold; whether or not you are nursing, holding the baby skin-to-skin can have benefits. You may try to nurse at this point, but don’t be surprised if your baby is too tired. Within a few hours, she will be ready to nurse or to take a little bit of a bottle if you are not breastfeeding.
Even if you have prepared for nursing by taking classes and reading books, you may have difficulty getting the baby to latch on at first. Our nurses will help you and your baby get started. If you’re still having a hard time getting your baby to latch on when you’re ready to leave the hospital, please ask us for additional support. We will give you the name of a lactation consultant to contact when you get home. As your milk comes in and your breasts become engorged, you may need some extra help. A supportive lactation expert can help you work through some of the early challenges as you and your baby learn to breastfeed.
Your care in the hospital
The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization that accredits and certifies healthcare organizations in the US. To be accredited or certified, a hospital must meet patient safety goals. One goal-goal 13-is to encourage you, as the patient, to understand the care you receive and speak up if you have a question or problem. The more you know, the better-and safer-your medical care will be.
Goal 13 tells the hospital they must “encourage patients’ active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy.” Actively participating in your and your new baby’s care while you are in the hospital will help the staff to get you both off to the best start possible. How do you participate? Just remember: Speak up! That’s the Joint Commission’s acronym to help you learn how to advocate for yourself in a medical setting:
Speak up if you have questions or concerns, and if you don’t understand, ask again. It’s your body and you have a right to know.
Pay attention to the care you are receiving. Make sure you’re getting the right treatments and medications by the right healthcare professionals. Don’t assume anything.
Educate yourself about your diagnosis, the medical tests you are undergoing, and your treatment plan.
Ask a trusted family member or friend to be your advocate.
Know what medications you take and why you take them. Medication errors are the most common healthcare errors.
Use a hospital, clinic, surgery center, or other type of healthcare organization that has undergone a rigorous on-site evaluation against established state-of-the-art quality and safety standards, such as that provided by Joint Commission.
Participate in all decisions about your treatment. You are the center of the healthcare team.
Your Baby’s Development
* As the mother’s abdomen stretches thinner, light is visible inside the womb, helping baby to develop sleep cycles, reactions, and responses to her surrounding environment.
* As he grows and the space gets tighter inside the uterus, his foot, elbow, or other little body part may protrude from the mother’s belly.
Parenting Q&A
Q:”What happens if my water breaks at home or in public? What is the fluid like? Will I be in terrible pain; do labor pains start right away? How quickly do I need to get to the hospital before my baby is in danger?”
A:The actual water breaking typically does not hurt. If contractions started before your water broke, however, they will become more intense. At full term there tends to be more fluid present than if your water broke before 37 weeks, but that can vary among patients. If the fluid is a greenish color, the baby’s bowels have already moved, which typically occurs after birth. Your baby may be in stress and require immediate attention. Once you believe your water has broken, call your doctor (or doctor on call) and provide all the details: the time, the color of the fluid, and if contractions have begun. Depending on the practice style of the doctor and your situation, your doctor may tell you to wait before coming to the hospital if the contractions have not started and the baby is full term.
Tags: breastfeeding