I understand skin to skin contact after birth but.....cant get head around this one.

Ok so Ive been to all my appointments with midwife at hospital & I went to the few antenatal classes they offered. It seems that its general practice as bub is delivered to throw him onto the mothers belly as is & then clean him up & cut the cord.

Now I understand the importance of skin to skin contact & getting them that first BF as soon as possible but........I cant seem to get past the thought of having bub thrown onto my stomach/chest before being cleaned or wrapped :redface:

Im not normally too squeemish but the thought just makes me cringe for some reason. I feel sooo bad for thinking like this but not sure what else I can do........

What were your experiences with this?

When I had my bubs, the midwife put a towel on me before she put the baby on me. I kinda didn't notice all of the muck. Now looking back at photos it looks gross, but then, I just wanted to meet and hold my baby.

Initially you feel the wetness and the sliminess, but after a short while, you don't notice it anymore. It also got cleaned up by the blanket that got thrown over the two of us as well.

If you want bub wiped down and wrapped first just ask your midwife to do this. There is no problem with that. I've done it before for women who prefer it this way. I've also handed the mum her wet slimmy bub and she has looked very uncomfortable about it so if your not comfortable and don't want it that way just say something before hand. The blankets should be warm under the heater and it only takes a few moments to clean bub up and wrap them. You might feel competely differently when the time comes however.

Part of it is to transfer some of the amniotic fluid onto you. Bub has been smelling, tasting amniotic fluid for months. Getting amniotic fluid onto your breasts helps bub find them. Later, after a feed, it's recommended that when you have your first shower, you dont wash the amniotic fluid off your breasts. Keeping it there helps bub find them again. After they've fed a few times, they know your smell and it's ok to fully wash, though it's not recommended that you use fragrance.

Bub and you should be covered with a blanket.

yea i can understand. its gross thinking about all the muck etc. but honestly i did not even care at the time. :)

TBH i wasn't sure how i would feel either but after both girls i def preferred the cuddles and experience with DD2 being a bit gooey :)
With DD1 being at home waiting for the ambulance she was wrapt tightly to keep her warm and we never got the chest to chest with DD2 she was born and basically handed straight to me and then we were both covered with a warm blanket.
In some of my pictures she doesn't look all the gooey but she was :)

Each to their own hun, it can't hurt to ask for a quick wipe down first ;)

I totally understand. The thought of all the gunk on me makes me want to gag.
When DD was born I got a cuddle, but they cleaned her up before I even saw her due to her having her bowels outside of her body.
She had to cleaned and glad-wrapped, and then I saw her after a few minutes and she was all wrapped up in a massive blanket with a beanie on.
And then they washed her nearly completely during her surgery.

I don't know how I'll feel with the next one, having a (hopefully!) normally bub and normal delivery.

When DS2 was born i thought the exact same thing. Because when he was born they just basically guided him out without to much touching and i was asked to pick my baby up and my first thought was that i was going to drop him because he was so slimely, i think once they are wiped a bit with the towel or blanket that covers you both you don't really give it a second thought.

Honestly I never even though about it. I had very pro-active midwives who delayed cord clamped, made me have skin to skin for at least an hour "now she has to stay on your chest for at least an hour and then you can breastfeed",were their exact words to me. Not that I minded at all, but it might be good to make your wishes known prior. ;-)

I can't even remember noticing the gunk...I delivered (with midwife present) my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th babies and pulled them straight onto my chest.
I was so anxious to meet the little person who had growing inside me I didn't think of it.
The midwife wiped them down while they where in my arms.
If you really think it will bother you just ask them to wipe them down first.

Having had dd1 as an emergency c sect at 34 weeks and all bundled up before I could hold her having dd2 and ds on my chest before the cord was cut was so beautiful. Both were there for an hour and we enjoyed the snuggles.

I know that my dad held me and my 3 brothers first when we were born. (26-16 years ago). Mum just didn't 'want' us after the labor.

DH thought I was weird when I said(before birth) that if he wanted first cuddle then it would be ok

Just explain what you would like to happen but be willing to change your mind

DD1 didn't have a bath until day 3. She had some blood caked in her hair but her skin was so soft and beautiful from the vernex. Even after the bath she had such supple skin. The gooeyness was the least of my worries after the birth, i just wanted my baby plus i had a pph so was out of it.

DD2 was different. We had immediate skin to skin but she pooed so the midwife gave her a wash down about 2 hour later while i had a shower cause i didn't want DD1 to see us all bloody and pooey :)

Just do what feels right for you at the time. Let the endorphins take over. It doesn't take much to wash off or use the warm blanket and give bub a little rub off if it's bothering you.

Oh, they're all lovely and squishy and gooey. It's wonderful!

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Oh, they're all lovely and squishy and gooey. It's wonderful!

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Are they really? I honestly can't remember.. I was too busy telling ds how adorable he was ^^;

At our antenatal classes a midwife said it's so out skin gets that familiar smell from the womb from them so baby feels comfortable when they suckle and knows where to go! We were also told not to wash our chest area with soap for the first few days too.
Honestly... You'll get past the goo :)

Eta Oh tashybabe beat me too it :) her explanation sounds way bettered then mine XD

Not only was my DS slimy, he pooed on me as I was holding him and we just wiped it off with it a little bit of a laugh. It was fabulous (not the poo, but the vernix/amniotic fluid), he smelt great! I didn't give him a bath until day four, I just enjoyed sniffing him and only gave him a bath after he had that awful smelly gel put on his head to do the hearing test. Nothing beats new baby smell, not the artificial smell of shampoo etc, but the real deal. I remember when I was pregnant watching a doco where one of the dads said he just wanted to lick his son after he was born and I was like all EWWWW!! But I kind of get the compulsion, I wouldn't do it mind you, but I understand what he means now.

When you are actually in the moment these kind of details tend to seem less important. After the relief of getting that baby out they could have handed her to me covered in boogers and I wouldn't have cared! But if you think it will cross you squeamish threshold I don't see why a midwife couldn't give him a bit of a wipe down first. I mean skin to skin is obviously very important but I don't think the time it takes for a wipe down is going to make much difference to that!