The golden hour.

The “golden hour” refers to the first hour after a baby’s birth. During this time, midwives tend to the immediate postpartum care for both mom and baby, including monitoring vitals and prioritizing family bonding.

Skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby is key to regulating baby’s body temperature and helping baby move through the following nine instinctive stages: relaxation, awakening, activity, rest, crawling, familiarization, suckling, and sleeping.

During this time, midwives look for signs of distress and perform assessments of the baby’s overall health, including breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, and skin color. We also help to initiate breastfeeding. We like to see babies latch within this first hour of life.

The golden hour is a lovely time of comprehensive care to focus on well-being, safety, and bonding as the baby adapts to life outside of the womb.