While you can’t fully prepare for a first baby, it is important to have a few basic things in check. The first babies are not called practice babies for no reason. It is a whole new thing that neither you nor your partner, in most instances, has experienced before, so no one is coming in as an expert. What to buy? What advice to take or not to take? And yes, be sure to get ‘expert’ baby advice from friends and relatives which, more often than not, may not be the right advice at all.
The Health of the Baby
The first thing you want to do is get to know where to get relevant and helpful tips. The internet, for instance, is full of so much information, and many times one would not know where to start. A piece of good advice would be to make your prenatal clinic your primary source of information. There is so much to learn from the prenatal clinic visits. The doctors or nurses have years of experience taking care of first-time mothers just like yourself (or your partner).
Visiting the clinic raises the chances for a successful pregnancy outcome. With these visits, the medical staff monitor the health of both mother and baby, advise on supplements to use, the foods to eat and frequency, what side to sleep on, and even how to prepare for the actual delivery. In the case of underlying medical conditions, the medical staff would also know what to do and how to take care of the pregnancy.
Here is a rundown on some of the reasons why clinical visits are quite crucial for pregnant women, and especially for first-time mothers:
- Learn on what foods to eat and how frequent – just so you know, when pregnant, you will be taking in nutrients for two. To ensure that your baby stays healthy, you might need some dietary adjustments to provide a balanced diet for the growing fetus.
- Learn on danger signs – pregnancy danger signs include vaginal bleeding and convulsions. The doctors or nurses will tell you in the clinic what to do, in case of any of the danger signs, that might pose a threat to the pregnancy
- Nutritional supplements – some of the supplements that you may need to take during pregnancy include folates and iron supplements. Such supplements are very important for the healthy development of the fetus and in preventing congenital abnormalities.
- Doctors and nurses monitor and manage a pregnancy of any mother with underlying conditions such as Hypertension, HIV, and all those with bad obstetric history to ensure that the pregnancy outcome is good.
- The clinic prepares you for the actual delivery – in this way you are prepared psychologically, financially, and socially for the event. From the clinic, you will learn the need for a delivery ready bag and what to put in it.
- Vaccination – all you need to know about important vaccines and the schedules
These and so many other reasons are why a first-time mother should make the prenatal clinic her friend. You get to meet other women and parents at the clinic who you get to share with, first-hand experiences.
The lessons do not end at the delivery, rather you move on to the postnatal classes and learn more on how to take care of your newborn baby – the vaccination routines, proper feeding of your baby, how to breastfeed and when to stop exclusive breastfeeding, using expressed breast milk and danger signs for the baby.
I guess you don’t need any more convincing on why you should be visiting the clinic. You do these and you will tackle most health concerns that come with carrying a first-time pregnancy and in the end, take care of the newborn’s health.
The Baby’s Social Life and Needs
However, this is not all that it takes when it comes to preparing for a newborn. The preparations include preparing for having the baby at home. What clothes should I buy? Where will the baby sleep? Will he/she need toys? These are just some of the questions that might be flying across your mind.
Newborns are known to be heavy sleepers – they could sleep for over 18 hours a day. That means that investment on baby cots, bassinets, beds, or cribs is a necessity. These are not just good to have but are a necessity, one because of the comfort they will provide to your boy or girl, two, because of safety precautions. Good quality sleep is a necessity for your little ones.
There are so many baby deaths that have been reported resulting from suffocation and entrapment resulting from sharing a bed with an adult. Having the cots and cribs ensure that such deaths are prevented by having the child sleep separately. Some of the baby cribs and cots come with fun and educational toys that help to help stimulate the baby’s growth.
The child’s room will also need storage facilities like cabinets, accessories like changing tables baby change mats online. The baby’s room should be fully functional to ease the process of looking after your baby. Remember, this is going to be a long life dedication, you need to prepare well for the process. Babies need to eat, shower, sleep, and play. Just think of all the items you will need to accomplish all these; toys, feeding items, bath and change equipment, potties, and, of course, clothes.
Keep in mind that you need to be moving around with the baby. You will need to think about nursery travel bags, baby slings, wraps, prams, and strollers. There is so much that comes with taking care of a baby. Think of how you will move with them in the car – you need a car seat for infants.
Conclusion
No one can be one hundred percent prepared for a first baby. Babies come in different shapes and sizes. You will not find advice that is one fits all – one thing will work for certain babies, others just won’t work. The one fact that remains is that, when it comes to health advice, get it from your doctors.
The rest of the things, you can learn as you go as long as you have the basics right. Get a checklist and ensure that all the boxes are checked, at least you will cover most, if not all, of what is needed of you as a first-time mom.
