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NEWBORN CARE

The birth of your baby is a joyous occasion. At the Women & Infants Center, you can feel confident that you and your newborn will receive advanced care and support.

Our physicians and nurses help moms and their healthy newborns with any type of postpartum support in the hospital, whether it’s circumcision, breastfeeding or umbilical cord care.

A woman receives a checkup while holding her newborn.

Experienced Team for Newborn Care

As soon your baby’s umbilical cord is clamped, our newborn care team is available to help you care for your child. Our supportive and experienced team includes board-certified and fellowship-trained neonatologists, board-certified pediatricians and specially trained nurses.

When necessary, we coordinate care with highly trained pediatric subspecialists at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to address anticipated and unanticipated problems for your baby. We provide the expert care your baby needs to be healthy and stay that way.

Newborn Care in the Women & Infants Center

From the minute your baby is delivered, our nurses begin immediate care and perform health assessments to make sure your baby is healthy. These newborn screenings take place during the first few minutes through up to several hours after birth and include:

  • Apgar test: At one minute and five minutes after birth, we evaluate your baby’s heart rate, breathing, activity, muscle tone, reflexes and skin color.
  • Physical exam: We perform a brief exam including a hearing test and take measurements such as temperature, weight, length and head and chest circumference.
  • Blood tests: With a heel prick, we take a few drops of your baby’s blood to test for more than 20 inherited conditions such as sickle cell disease, thyroid conditions and phenylketonuria (PKU).

Shortly after delivery, your baby receives:

  • Antibiotic eye drops or ointment to prevent bacterial infections
  • Vitamin K injection for proper blood clotting
  • Hepatitis B vaccine

To make sure your baby is off to a healthy start, our newborn care team provides daily care and monitoring while in the hospital, including:

  • Tracking breastfeeding and diaper changes
  • Checking vital signs and weight
  • Keeping the umbilical cord stump clean and dry

The Women & Infants Center is committed to promoting and supporting breastfeeding and mother/baby bonding. In an effort to help new mothers who choose to breastfeed, certified lactation consultants are available seven days a week. Certified lactation consultants have advanced training in breastfeeding education and offer help in the feeding of high-risk infants. Within an hour of birth our nurses will help you start and maintain breastfeeding, answer any questions and provide additional emotional support.

Newborn Medicine Services

If your baby requires any sort of special care after delivery, our top-rated Level IV Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides the highest level of care available. We offer a wide range of neonatal and pediatric specialists to ensure the proper care for your newborn. Learn more about our NICU and Newborn Medicine services for babies born with health issues.

Contact Us

To make an appointment with a Washington University obstetrician at the Women & Infants Center, call 855.925.0631.