Northside Pre-Admission Packet

The Hospital Experience

What is the Golden Hour? The Golden Hour is the first hour you and your baby have together as a family. It is a time for introductions – for you and your baby to meet each other for the very first time. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that needs to be celebrated! During the Golden Hour we place your baby directly on your chest to benefit from skin-to-skin contact. This special contact and closeness after birth is one of the best ways for you to begin the important process of bonding and connecting with your newborn. We want you and your baby to have this time together with as few interruptions as possible. To respect this time, we will wait until after the Golden Hour is over to weigh, measure and bathe your new baby. We know you want to introduce your baby to your family and friends and we encourage you to welcome them after you have this time alone. uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact with your baby which helps to develop the parent-child bond. This special time is critical for your baby’s ongoing growth and development. Skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth helps calm your baby and build up his/her resistance to infections. It also presents the perfect opportunity for your baby to begin to breastfeed, if that is what you choose to do. The Golden Hour and skin-to-skin contact during this time are important for everyone, no matter how you choose to feed your baby. Why is the Golden Hour So Important? The quiet time during the Golden Hour promotes

Why is Skin-to-Skin Contact So Important? Skin-to-skin contact with your baby is encouraged throughout your hospital stay and even after you go home. You and your baby receive valuable benefits each time.

Skin-to-skin contact helps babies: • Adjust to life outside the womb. • Steady their heart rate and breathing. • Stay warm and maintain normal blood sugars. • Be more alert and feed better. • Be calmer so they cry less. • Bond with mother. Skin-to-skin contact helps mothers: • Experience less pain after delivery. • Bleed less. • Feel more confident in caring for their baby. • Be less anxious and rest better.

• Breastfeed easier. • Bond with baby.

As the nation’s leader in maternity and newborn services, Northside Hospital Women’s Services continuously ensures that our best practices coincide and evolve with others throughout the industry. The focus on the Golden Hour, skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are in line with evidence-based recommendations from organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. Breastfeeding is the gold standard for infant health and has many benefits that last a lifetime. At Northside Hospital, we want to support your decision to breastfeed. We encourage it during your hospital stay, so your baby can get the important benefits of your first breast milk, called colostrum. It is important to establish your milk supply in the early days of breastfeeding. There are many breastfeeding benefits for both babies and mothers: Benefits for babies: • Decreased chance of developing ear and stomach infections • Decreased chance of developing childhood diseases like asthma and diabetes • Decreased chance of developing childhood cancers like leukemia • Decreased chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Benefits for mothers: • Decreased chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer • Decreased chance of developing diabetes • Reduction in postpartum bleeding • Quicker return to prepregnancy weight Why Should I Focus on Breastfeeding in the Hospital?

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