Hearing about the newborn baby girl, the second addition to the family of my friend, made me remember the days when my one year old son was a newborn. It felt just like yesterday.
38 hours before my waters broke and our son wrapped up in a blue ball was born. I had an antibiotic drip placed between the bend of my arm along with gas and oxytocin. They also gave me the epidural. Forceps were tried by the doctors but in the end they had to perform a caesarean. I felt like I was about to die any second then.
Just then my husband started posting everything on Facebook including my exhausted picture. All the visitors started coming in. I was still in my hospital uniform with a tube coming from between my legs but still people were allowed.
Everyone is excited to see the newborn baby and cuddle with him/her. Some people don’t even wash their hands before holding the baby which is totally not safe. Many people don’t even wash hands after using the washroom which is why washing hands before holding the baby is strictly required. So when you will keep the germs away there will be less chances for the baby of getting sick.
Coming as an uninvited guest seems to be a bit rude. Many people do that to surprise but tell you what sometimes these surprises just don’t work when you have just been discharged from the hospital after giving birth. So always call before you are coming to visit the newborn.
My friend was worried about the fact that everyone who will come might rush over the baby and leave behind her elder son. So she told everyone first to greet her first child and then come meet the newborn.
Don’t just rush over everyone and wait for your turn to hold the baby. Many new mothers are conscious of their baby protection and don’t let just anyone touch their baby. They also get annoyed how people hold the baby and how everyone is just up to seeing the baby. Always be patient for holding the baby and don’t fuss over him/her. Avoid inconvenience.
And once you get to hold the baby and cuddle with him/her, remember to give the baby back and not just walking around holding him/her. After holding the baby, give him/her back to the mother so that the baby doesn’t get restless.
Skip the flowers and bring food for the new mother as she won’t be doing the chores around the house much.
Don’t stay for long and burden the mother and father of the baby but just visit for an hour and help yourself around in getting anything you want with permission.
Don’t squeeze the person you are hugging but just gently pat and move along.
It is a very stressful period of which the mother is going through. Overloading of information comes from all sources. The most important thing is to keep your intentions to yourself and only utter nice things to the mother and the child.
These are the things one needs to consider while visiting a newborn baby.
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