Respecting the "GOLDEN HOUR"

(HeHe's article is published for Birch Baby HERE in its entirety.)

The time immediately following your birth is crucial to the well being of your child. Research says that respecting what is called “The Golden Hour” can help give your child the best possible start.

If it is possible, requesting that your medical staff and birth team respect this time can help your baby adjust to life on the outside before they are poked and prodded with newborn test and passed from person to person for birth stats.

The way in which the golden hour mentality is carried out varies from culture to culture. In some cultures an extended golden hour called “lying in” is a practice in which women are waited upon and only allowed to do minimal tasks such as getting up to use the bathroom, but not to shower.

It is said to be supportive of postpartum healing and mother-child attachment. However, in some cultures, parents aren’t afforded any paid time off of work to recover from birth and bond with their baby.

Visitors are no exception to the rule. It varies widely from culture to culture and family to family. Some parents choose not to have visitors for at least a few days after the birth and some parents prefer to be surrounded by family and friends immediately following.

Whatever your preference, respecting The Golden Hour can be done in a quiet, intimate room or a room that looks like birth after party!

(Click HERE to continue reading 'Respecting the 'Golden Hour'' on Birch Baby.)

Don’t forget to check out our newest adventure The Birth Lounge, listen in to The Birth Lounge Podcast, and follow us on Instagram at @tranquilitybyhehe!

Comments

And then she said, "Don't Push."

Why You May Not Need to Push So Hard During Birth I was recently explaining to a lady on an airplane about Fetal Ejection Reflex (also known as FER). She had asked me what the most fascinating thing about being a doula is and I told her "being able to watch the human body at work." It truly is fascinating to watch everything play out from head to toe, headspace to physical environment to partner support and the undeniable influence of a broken medical system; it's all just fascinating (and sometimes frustrating). This conversation led to us talking about the fascinating things that the body can do that most people don't know. The problem with this is that out of all of the people who don't know about FER, so many of them will be directly impact (birthing parent) by this lack of understanding & knowledge. To add salt to the wound, many more will be impacted in a secondary type of way (non-birthing parent) so i...

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays?

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays? As long as I can remember in my doula career, I have been told, both seriously and sarcastically, that inductions rise around the holidays because doctors want to control the births they will have to deliver on..let’s say Thanksgiving day or Christmas Day. I have to be honest in that I never really paid much attention to it because our team typically takes off the end of the year! It has been an intentional decision in years past to not take births in the months of December and January. This provided us with the time to disconnect, visit family and friends, and wrap up one year + dive into the next with a solid foundation. As you well know, 2020 has changed so much of what we knew and, for us, this meant not having the space to disconnect without leaving birthing people vulnerable in a global crisis and not traveling for this holidays. With this, we decided to work straight through 2020 into the start of 2021. And in this moment, the ...

A Survival Guide: Holidays After a Loss

(HeHe's article is published for Birch Baby HERE in its entirety.) The holiday season can be hard for those who have experienced a loss this year. At a time of year that people are expected to automatically be happy and be cheery and bright-eyed, it can be painful to have to pretend to be enjoying yourself while you are dying inside. One mother described it as “a dark place of heartbreak and anger.” Through my work with Mothers’ who have experienced loss (or any kind of trauma), I have found that having a structure of mindsets to help you survive in high-stress situations is helpful. I was considering a survival guide for the holidays for expectant parents who have experienced loss, but then I thought why not just a general survival guide to help when you are coping with loss, no matter what time of year it is. Know your limits (It’s people's’ job to respect that boundary). You have the right to pick and choose which events you attend and which events wi...

The Birth Lounge Blog

Search This Blog