Golden Hour
After doing all the work of laboring and birthing baby, the Golden Hour should be the reward! Golden Hour refers to the first hour (or more) of immediate and uninterrupted skin to skin time with baby after birth. After baby is born we want to limit unnecessary interventions during this time to allow for baby to transition to life outside the womb, while also bonding with the parents. This concept is always talked about, but what is included in the golden hour and what are the actual benefits of it?
This webinar will discuss what to expect in the first few weeks in caring for your newborn, to include different options that are available to you, when to seek additional help, and guiding you in your initial feeding journey.
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What is the Golden Hour?
After the birth of the baby, both vaginal and c-section birth, the Golden hour consists of uninterrupted and immediate skin to skin contact, limited interventions that are not necessary, if possible and desired having delayed cord clamping, and having the first feeding of baby completed. Sometimes this all can take a little longer than 1 hour, especially for the feeding. Some babies take longer to want to feed after delivery, and thats totally normal!
The Golden Hour can look different for every birth. Especially for vaginal versus c-section birth, but the evidence supports the numerous benefits. It should be offered at every birth!
Vaginal Deliveries
Vaginal deliveries usually babies will be brought directly to the skin after birth. Baby is still covered in the fluids of birth when born. They will then dry baby gently while skin to skin. so if you prefer for baby to be dried off before being placed on your chest you can let the staff know to put down a towel and drying baby off a bit before placing them directly on your skin. (We want to at least dry baby off to keep their temperature from dropping because they can lose heat quicker when they are wet.) At this time if you wanted delayed cord clamping they will keep baby’s cord unclamped and intact until the agreed upon time (30-60secs, until stops pulsating, until placenta, or after golden hour is complete). As long as baby is not in any distress, baby will stay skin to skin until at least 1 hour as passed, but more preferably until after their first feeding is complete.
C-section Deliveries
For c-sections, the golden hour can look different depending on the hospital you deliver at. For most hospitals, baby will be born and brought to the warmer to be assessed by the pediatric provider, and then baby will be brought over for skin-to-skin. Sometimes they can do delayed cord clamping at birth, but typically it is only for around 30seconds.
The whole process typically takes around 5-10 mins, but can be less depending on the hospital. In some hospitals though they are doing different versions of immediate skin to skin for c-sections. Some have the birthing person “scrub in” so they can catch their own baby and pull them to their chest, where they stay. Some have the provider place the baby skin to skin directly after birth. So there are options for immediate skin to skin, discussing these options with your provider during prenatal visits can be helpful to developing your desires. Even if c-section isn’t your primary plan.
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The baby can stay skin to skin in the OR as long as they remain stable, especially their temperature. This will involve lots of warm blankets and skin to skin will hopefully keep them warm because the OR room are typically very cold.
Some hospitals may not be doing skin to skin in the OR, and their reasoning is usually because of the risk of baby’s temperature dropping because of the temperature in the ORs. In the OR it is usually colder to decrease the risk for infection, because bacteria grows in warm environments not cold. With the temperature of the room, along with a baby that is unable to stabilize their own temperature and is slightly wet still, this can cause their temperatures to drop and cause them to utilize energy that can cause their blood sugar to also drop. To avoid this risk, keeping baby covered and directly skin to skin, or even warming up the OR room only during the c-section, can hopefully avoid this outcome.
If at any point during the surgery the birthing person starts to feel ill from medication or the surgery itself, sometimes they do not want to do skin to skin, so this is a great time for the partner to do skin to skin! I have seen lots of benefits from doing the golden hour with partners when the birthing person is unable to do skin to skin. Most of those babies are content and more willing to feed when they are returned to skin to skin with the birthing person.
Top 3 Benefits of the Golden Hour
There are many benefits of the Golden Hour for both parents and baby, many of the benefits relate to skin to skin contact in general. Which can be done at anytime during the baby’s life and have benefits!
Below are just some of the benefits of the Golden Hour!
1. Transition of Baby
The Golden Hour allows baby to transition to life outside of the womb in a place that is familiar to them.
Baby being left skin to skin allows their world to have the same smells and sounds, and they are being kept warm in that familiar environment when their body isn’t able to regulate the temperature on their own. This allows them to be in a comfortable environment and feel safe while they transition to needing to sustain their life on their own. They aren’t being thrusted into an environment that is unfamiliar is sights, sound, and smell.
The skin to skin has been shown to help regulated baby’s heart rate and respiratory rate after birth to help these baby’s transition. Whenever I would attend a birth, if baby was having any respiratory distress signs, but their oxygen levels were normal and they were not blue. Most of the time it would resolve with some skin to skin!
I did this with my own baby’s as well. My son has some fast breathing after birth that stabilized within a few minutes of just being skin to skin with me! It’s amazing to watch them just relax and slow down their breathing while just being skin to skin!
Delaying the Cord Clamping also allows them extra seconds to minutes to adjust to life outside of the womb before having to start breathing on their own. The cord being left unclamped allows nutrients and oxygen from the placenta to still transfer to baby while they figure out life on the outside.
2. Breastfeeding
Research as proven and shown that when we allows for this uninterrupted time directly after birth (with the first breastfeeding session completed) before taking baby to do any tests or assessments, the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding passed the initial 6 weeks of life is higher than if this did not occur.
The more stimulation of the breast the more milk is made. If we can get baby to have a good first feed, this sets you up for success. This is because a lot of babies are extra sleepy during the first 24 hours after birth, so they may not feed every 2-3 hours like they normally would. This is because birth is a lot of work for them too! They need to rest and recover from birth, and this also give you a chance to rest and recover from birth.
Skin to skin also increase the amount of oxytocin flowing through your body which helps with milk production, so by doing skin to skin with baby this helps your milk production!
3. Bonding
Some feel that instant love with their baby as soon as they see baby being born, but not all feel this way! Some it can take some time for that connection to form. The uninterrupted Golden Hour gives them that time to talk to baby, smell baby, and physically hold baby to bond with them.
What if you don't get the golden hour??
All is not lost if you do not get this golden hour, whether if it was due to baby’s gestational age, or birth situations, you can still have a great breastfeeding relationship and bond with your baby in different ways.
Skin to skin at any time during the first 6 weeks of life is beneficial for both you and baby! This can help lower babies stress levels and bonding between you and baby! This can also increase milk production by doing skin to skin with baby! It does not need to be full on chest to chest contact, any amount of skin to skin contact is helpful, cheek to cheek, holding hands, or even kisses on the head or hand.
If they can delay the cord clamping any amount at birth, it’s still beneficial for babies! 30 seconds is still something!
Bonding with baby can be done in other ways if you don’t get this initial hour of uninterrupted time. Such as baby was in the NICU or baby had to be taken to the warmer for any reason after birth.
If baby is in the NICU talking to them and being there is soothing for baby as well as helpful for you. Your voice is a familiar sound to them that they heard often in the womb. Your smell is also still familiar so just you being there is beneficial.
Just a few minutes of a delay of starting skin to skin after birth can still be beneficial! You may not have had as much delayed cord clamping as you wanted, but the other aspects of the Golden Hour can still be achieved!