The First Moments After Birth

After the baby is born, most doctors, including myself, hold it in our lap momentarily, to allow baby blood in the placenta to pass by gravity through the umbilical cord back into the baby, and to wipe the baby as clean as possible with gauze squares. We feel this is a substitute for the animal mother's licking her baby. This probably has nothing to do with cleanliness but serves as a dermal reflex. It is amazing how many babies void or empty their bladders upon this stimulation. It has been ...