Common hospital birth procedures and your options

Watch Marni Ayers's video on Common hospital birth procedures and your options...
Common hospital birth procedures and your options | Kids in the House
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

Common hospital birth procedures and your options

Comment
43
Like
43
Transcription: 
When you give birth in a hospital, there are several newborn procedures that will happen after the birth. A lot of us spend a lot of time preparing for the birth that we want, but we don’t realize what’s going to happen to the baby right after he’s born or she’s born. There’s several tests and procedures that will occur. One is a vitamin K shot that’s given almost nationally, I believe. And the vitamin K shot is for helping the baby’s blood clot, because babies are sometimes born with the inability to clot properly. But usually, that’s if there was some sort of blunt trauma that occurred during the birth and that doesn’t happen as much as it used to when they used to do the forceps births and suctioning births, so there’s no need to do the vitamin K shot right away, unless you’ve had a traumatic birth. You can ask to have it a couple hours later or even to take it orally a few weeks later orally a few weeks later with your pediatrician. You also have the option to say no to the antibiotics that are given in the eyes right after birth. If you don’t think that you are passing anything onto your child that can harm her eyes, then you can say you don’t want that test at all, or again, you can ask for it to happen a couple hours later, so that you can bond with your child during that period.

Watch Marni Ayers's video on Common hospital birth procedures and your options...

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

Marni Ayers

Eco Mom

Marni Ayers is a green-living advocate, writer and mother. She writes frequently about eco-conscious living and is the founder of LusciousPlanet.com Marni is also an award-winning playwright. Her plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities across the U.S.

More Parenting Videos from Marni Ayers >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter