Chorevia

Day 277 of 280 · 39 weeks + 4 days

The first minute

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty-nine weeks and four days. Within a minute of birth, someone checks your baby five ways. Today you read what they look for, so the checks don't frighten you.

Size this week
about the size of a watermelon
Length this week
around 50.7 cm from head to heel
A white couple in their forties sit close on a bed reading one printed page together, her with a full bump in a soft cardigan, his arm around her, a bedside lamp glowing at dusk.

Thirty-nine weeks and four days. The first minute after birth is busy, and a lot of it happens around your baby rather than to you. Knowing what the people in the room are doing makes it much less frightening to watch.

Your baby

A single small watermelon on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 50.7cm long from head to heel, about the size of a watermelon (NHS). Within a minute of birth, and again at 5 minutes, your baby gets an Apgar check: heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, responsiveness, and skin colour (NHS). It's quick, and it's routine.

The NHS also warns about a few surprises. Boys can be born with large testicles, which is temporary and caused by hormones and water retention (NHS).

Your body

Back pain and more pressure low in your bump are common now as the baby moves down into the pelvis, and so are nesting urges (NHS).

After the baby comes the third stage: contractions start again 5 to 10 minutes after the birth, and the placenta usually comes out in less than 30 minutes (NICHD). Your provider may gently pull on the cord and massage your uterus, and some women are given medicine to prevent bleeding (NICHD). That's what's happening at your end while everyone admires the baby.

Try today

  1. The first-minute read

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. Read the five Apgar checks out loud together: heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, responsiveness, skin colour, at one minute and five (NHS).

    2. Read the things that look alarming and usually aren't: blue hands and feet, a few seconds before the first cry, breathing that's fast then slow (NHS).

    3. Read what happens next for you: the placenta, usually within 30 minutes (NICHD).

    4. Each of you write one wish for the first hour, and add both to your birth plan.

    Make it work:

    Decide now who stays beside the baby if the baby needs a moment of help, and who stays beside you. It's one less thing to work out in the room.

Watch for

  • Normal

    back pain and pressure low down (NHS).

    Call your provider

    if the pain does not get better (OWH); a lower backache can also be an early sign of labour (NHS).

  • Normal

    tired, heavy legs.

    Call your provider

    right away for severe swelling, redness, or pain in one leg or arm (CDC).

  • Normal

    tightenings that come and go.

    Call your provider

    right away for severe belly pain that doesn't go away (CDC).

  • Normal

    being tired at nearly 40 weeks.

    Call your provider

    for overwhelming tiredness, which is on the CDC's warning list (CDC).

For you

The WHO's position, in its fact sheet on preterm birth, is plain: "Mothers and newborns should remain together from birth and not be separated unless the baby is critically ill" (WHO). If that matters to you, say it to your provider before the day, not during it.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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