Baby’s skin

Your baby may be blue-grey in colour immediately after the birth. This is because he hasn’t yet taken his first breath, which will oxygenate his blood, turning his skin pink. His skin may also appear white, particularly if he is premature. This is because he is covered with a substance called vernix, which protects a baby’s skin in the uterus. His skin will probably also be rather wrinkly, as your should be if you’d spent nine months floating in amniotic fluid!
Your baby’s skin colour will normalise within an hour of being born and the wrinkles will begin to go away.

Head

You may notice that your baby’s head is large and maybe moulded from the passage through the birth canal. You may notice that there are two soft spots on your baby’s head – a big one at the front of the head and a small one at the back of the head. These are called fontanelles where the bones have not yet amalgamated. However, the skin over these spots is strong. It takes about eight to 12 weeks for the smaller one to close and approximately 18 months for the bigger one. It may be tempting, but don’t touch the soft parts, as it can be harmful for the baby.

Hair

Many babies are born with a shock of hair, and some may be born with none at all. This hair usually falls out during the first weeks to be replaced by stronger hair, which is often a different colour.

Face

Your baby’s face may look swollen and puffy, but should settle in a few days. You may also notice stork marks (red blemishes). These should disappear quickly.
The nose and also the chin may have tiny white spots called milia. These are caused by overactive sebaceous glands and aren’t an issue to worry about. With time, they will become less obvious and eventually disappear.

Eyes

Your newborns eyes may be read and the eyelids puffy from the pressure of birth but this should settle in a few days. His eyes will probably look grey-blue ay birth, although they may change in colour during the first few months. Tears will not appear for almost the first six weeks.

Nose

The nose looks flat (from the pressure of birth) and breathing is often irregular, it is either fast or slow and deep. If your baby coughs and sneezes it doesn’t necessarily mean they have got a cold or cough, they do this to clear mucus.
The umbilical cord stump
The umbilical cord stump should dry and fall of on its own in 10 to 14 days. Just keep applying spirit so that it doesn’t get infected.

Genitals

Babies’ genitals are often somewhat enlarged at birth – some babies appear to have breasts and some baby girls bleed from the vagina. All this is due to the hormones your body produces before birth. As they leave your baby’s body their genitals will normalise and other symptoms will also disappear. If you are concerned don’t be afraid to ask your midwife.

Jaundice

This is the yellowing of the skin which appears to some degree in about half of all normal newborns in the first week. It’s usually mils and mostly fades away without treatment.

Standard Baby Checks

Hips

The midwife will check the baby’s hip for any signs of dislocation by bending the baby’s legs up and gently circling them.

Urine and stools

Both urine and stools should be passed within the first 24 hours. After this, urine will be passed frequently, about 10 to 12 times a day.

Weight

A loss of up 10 per cent of birth weight during the first five days is normal, with the weight normally being regained within 10 to 14 days.

PKU

On the baby’s third day of life the midwife will take a sample of blood from your baby’s heel for a routine test for phenylketonuria, cystic fibrosis, galactosemia and hypothyroidism.

Your newborn’s senses

Your newborn baby can see, hear and feel from the moment of birth – though you may not think so because the baby has no expressions to show you this. Their curiosity and ability to interact with people is a key to their development. With the help of touching and talking you will start to develop a bond with your baby and also give them a boost to grow up healthy and happy.

Touch

Your baby will enjoy you cuddling, stroking and a gentle massage. Because babies are very sensitive to touch, this is the first sign they will understand as a gesture of love and it will create a lasting bond between you and your baby.

Hearing

Babies will recognise both their parents, especially mothers voice from a very early stage. This is because when in the mother’s womb the baby will hear every single word she speaks (and also the fathers). Your baby will like it when you talk and sing to her – especially if you have a high pitched voice, which is most likely the mother.

Sight

Newborn babies are long-sighted and their eyes may not move together for some weeks – they tend to focus at a distance of about 20cm and also may have a preference for faces. Studies also have shown that babies cannot see colour and only have a blurry vision for the first few weeks of life.