The First 48 Hours With Your Newborn

The first 48 hours with your baby are tender, tiring and often a blur, and that is completely normal. Your job is small and enormous at once: feed your baby, keep them warm and safe, and rest whenever you can. Everything else can wait. Skin-to-skin contact, with your baby bare against your chest under a blanket, helps with warmth, calming, bonding and feeding, and it's something both parents can do.

Feeding comes first, little and often. Newborn tummies are tiny, so babies feed frequently, often eight or more times in 24 hours, sometimes in clusters. If you're breastfeeding, the first milk (colostrum) is thick and golden and is all your baby needs; ask your midwife to watch a feed and check the latch, as good positioning prevents soreness. If you're bottle feeding, feed responsively, holding your baby close. However you feed, feeding your baby is feeding your baby, there is no wrong choice, only what works for your family.

Use nappies as your simplest sign that feeding is going well. In the first day or two expect at least one or two wet nappies, building up over the week. The first poos are a sticky black-green tar called meconium, which gradually changes to softer, lighter stools. A baby who is feeding, weeing, pooing and settling between feeds is usually a baby who is doing well, and your midwife will weigh and check them in these early days too.

Sleep will be unpredictable, and safer sleep keeps your baby protected during it. Always place your baby on their back to sleep, in a clear cot or Moses basket with no pillows, bumpers or loose bedding, in the same room as you for the first six months. Keep the room a comfortable temperature, don't let your baby get too hot, and keep them in a smoke-free environment. Never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair. These simple habits dramatically lower the risk of sudden infant death.

Now the signs to watch, including how they look on every skin tone, because spotting them early matters most. Jaundice, a yellow tinge, is very common from around day two or three and is usually harmless, but it needs checking. On brown and Black babies the yellow can be very hard to see in the skin, so look in the whites of the eyes, the gums, the inside of the lips and on the palms and soles; press gently and look as the colour returns. Always tell your midwife if your baby looks yellow, is very sleepy, is feeding poorly, or the jaundice appears in the first 24 hours, as early jaundice needs prompt attention.

Call your midwife, maternity unit or 111 without delay, and call 999 if your baby seems seriously unwell, if your baby is breathing fast, grunting or struggling for breath, is too hot or too cold, has a temperature, is floppy or unusually difficult to wake, is refusing feeds or has far fewer wet nappies, or has a bulging soft spot. A baby who looks unwell, mottled, or whose colour seems "off" should be seen. On darker skin, pallor and poor colour show most clearly in the lips, gums, tongue, palms and the inner lower eyelid rather than in the face, so look there, and trust yourself. You know your baby, and a worried parent's call is always the right call.

Finally, look after yourself, because you matter too. Expect afterpains, bleeding (lochia) like a heavy period, and big swings in emotion, feeling weepy around day three or four is so common it has a name, the "baby blues," and usually passes. But if low mood, anxiety or frightening thoughts deepen or don't lift, please tell your midwife or GP; perinatal mental health support is real and effective, and asking for it is a sign of strength. Keep your own water and snacks within reach, accept every offer of help, and let the washing wait. These 48 hours are for learning each other, be as gentle with yourself as you are with your baby.