When your baby is born into this/her world, he/she experiences many changes concurrently.

​THE FIRST MOMENTS FOLLOWING BIRTH

 

When your baby is born into this/her world, he/she experiences many changes concurrently. Feeling of emptiness, (she was within a tight, closed and liquid environment in her mother’s womb) the contact of air on her skin, sound, light, breathing, hands touching her skin, and tubes inserted into her nose... These things she experiences are a major shock for her. Immediately take her into your lap and bundle her up in the first few minutes following birth, and establish eye contact with her and talk to her and start breastfeeding her. Because these first moments are very important: she knows you, you have a very strong bond between you, she knows your voice, smell, texture, and energy; so do you hers... You have given life to her in your body, and you have brought her into being by a contribution from your blood and soul...

Now is the time for you to come face to face, flesh to flesh, eye to eye and get acquainted, and your smell and voice will assure her, will help her feel that she is not in an alien place and calm her, will come eye to eye with loving eyes in this/her new world where she continues her existence and will relax in your lap, and will have the chance to meet her family and strengthen her ties.

 

Your baby’s head:

The baby’s cranium is of an elasticity that can adapt to the birth canal of the mother. Although the top of his/her head may look stretched due to the passage position through the birth canal, it will take its normal shape within a week or two. As the parietal bones have not yet bonded from the mid suture, and thanks to fontanels in a cartilage structure that are situated as one just over the forehead, and the other at the back (commonly called the soft spot), they ensure both adaptation to the birth canal as well as the post-natal growth of the brain and head and keep the symmetry of facial organs.

 

Your baby’s sense of hearing:

The sense of hearing of the baby within her mother’s womb is already developed in her fifth month. We recommend reading books and playing music to the baby. Hearing is extremely important with regards to the infant’s developing her communication, socializing and language learning skills. In Turkey, a hearing test is included among the screening tests performed for newborns. Early diagnosis has importance with regards to treatment.

 

The skin of your baby:

The skin of your newborn is very sensitive. Vernix, which has a fatty cheese appearance, can collect in the folds on the back and hips. Vernix, besides ensuring the skin stays moist, also increases the baby’s immunity. He/she has hair on his/her cheeks, the points of the shoulders and back. While in the mother’s womb, some of the lanugo hair on his/her skin falls off, and the rest a short while after birth. The wavy appearance of the skin (marble appearance) and the hands and feet being cold are due to the capillary vessels not being sufficiently developed. The baby’s room must at most be 24 degrees Celsius. You must check the temperature of your baby by touching his/her neck and back.