When your baby is born vaginally, normal practice is to lift them onto the birthing person’s chest immediately. This has some benefits for the baby – it helps to regulate their temperature and breathing as they transition to the outside world. Usually, you will stay skin to skin with your baby for at least an hour and do the first breastfeed during this time, if you are planning to breastfeed.
Once skin to skin with the birthing person has ended, your midwife will do the first baby check (a top to toe check of your baby’s body to check for any issues at birth), and then baby can do skin to skin with your support person or be dressed in their first outfit and held while your midwife helps you clean yourself up.
Some people want the first skin to skin to be with someone other than the birthing person. If this is the case for your whanau, please let your midwife know so arrangements can be made.