New-born Care
New-born care, especially for first time parents is a daunting challenge. The baby is both precious and fragile, with parents extra cautious in handling them. Just as the child is adjusting to the new environs, you are also adjusting to your new role. From nurturing the baby, sustaining it and planning for the great future beyond.
For a just born baby, the outside environment is in complete contrast to the security of the mother’s womb it has inhibited thus far. A post-natal provides the immediate attention required for the baby to adjust to its new-found surroundings, help fight infections and attain the expected growth curve at the earliest.
The new-born baby is both fragile and unaccustomed to the outside world, having been ensconced in the mother’s womb, the little one is having to make a rapid and unprecedented level of adjustment to the world outside. Just about everything is new, potentially dangerous, definitely unknown and will definitely require some level of learning & adjustment on the part of the little one.
New-born care therefore involves, helping both the child & the parents cope with the physiological and emotional changes as well as the possible health challenges that arise from dealing with these changes. This also involves immunization schedule, regular health check-ups and detection of any post-partum health complications for the child.
For the parents’ new-born care would also involve – identifying the child’s signs & symptoms, dealing with simple and routine conditions, administering medicines (if any). Also, parents need to learn about making their homes child-safe, giving up habits that may be detrimental to the health of the child and adjust to the routine of the child’s wake-sleep cycles.
