Often the newly released moms, who just gave birth just a few hours ago, are surprised when a pediatrician interrupts in the hospital room that is full of people and gifts, asks everyone to leave the room for a moment and Start doing "weird things" to your newborn.
Every newborn during the first hours of his life should be explored from top to bottom by a pediatrician. This exploration should not be too soon, since you have to let the child and the mother rest, and the baby must get warm and begin to adapt to his new life outside the womb. Ideally, it should be done in the first 24 hours.
Many parents worry a little when seeing their child explore, because it seems weak and fragile, but it is a careful exploration, that does not do any harm, and that is destined to rule out important pathologies that appear already in the first moments of life . Among the things to analyze are:
- aspect and color: it indicates many things and is the most important thing to value
- head and face: to see that there are no alterations in the form or consistency or wounds or bruises
- clavicles: to make sure there are no fractures, sometimes they occur during childbirth and have no repercussions
- Chest: Auscultate if you have heart murmurs (50% of newborns are still born with heart murmurs, it is normal and will disappear alone) and how they ventilate the baby's lungs
- abdomen: to see if there are enlarged masses or organs
- hips: discarding dislocations from them
- Genitals: to see that everything is in place
- reflexes: you have to give them a little scare, see if they suck, if they grab our finger ...
- pulses: to check that the circulatory system works well
These protopes will vary according to the hospital where we give birth. It is important to collaborate with the pediatrician and the nurses during the examinations and take the opportunity to ask them our questions. They will help us stay calmer and start caring for our baby in its first days of life.
