What a newborn looks like right after birth

The moment of your child's birth is both magical and stressful. Often your baby looks or behaves differently than you expected. Most often, these are temporary or harmless problems, or there is no reason to worry at all.

Skin

Important changes occur when a child suddenly arrives from a protected, quiet and warm environment in the outside world. That is why it is common for a newborn to be blue or purple in the first minutes after birth ; if he/she breathes well, is warm and dry, the skin will gradually turn pink in the next 7 to 10 minutes. The blue color of the hands and feet can last up to 24 hours. 

Before birth, the baby's skin is covered in white, greasy substance called vernix caseosa or just vernix. Preterm babies usually have a thick layer of vernix, especially in skin folds. It is not recommended to remove the vernix after birth, because it has a protective role.

The newborn's face may be blue, sometimes with swollen eyelids. This usually occurs if the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck, leading to the rupture of tiny capillaries in the skin; it slowly recedes in the following days, but may cause more intense jaundice.

Newborn skin may flake or even peel; this usually happens to babies born after the expected due date. The skin and nails may be green, if the amniotic fluid was green (which means that the baby passed stool - meconium before birth).

Head shape

Newborn children have a proportionately larger head in relation to the body than older children and adults. This disproportion is especially pronounced in preterm and thin babies.

It is normal for the head to be elongated immediately after birth; the newborn's skull bones are soft, which is necessary in order to pass through the birth canal as easily as possible. Caput succedaneum is often present, most often on the back part of the crown of the head, sometimes more to the left or right. It can sometimes be very large, like a hat on a baby's head (especially if the baby was born with vacuum), but it recedes extremely fast, after only a few hours. From the second day of life, some babies may notice a cephalohematoma, a "nodule" that is located laterally on the crown of the head, on one or both sides. Cephalohematoma is considered a birth injury, but it is also a harmless problem and gradually recedes over the next few weeks, depending on the size.

The head shape at birth can be influenced by numerous other factors, such as preterm birth, twin or multiple pregnancy, lack of amniotic fluid. Babies who were in the pelvic position during pregnancy have a specific head shape at birth and all look alike. The face is round, the crown of the head is flattened, and the head elongated in the direction of the occiput.

In any case, the head shape will change in the first few weeks - it will become more regular and slowly take the shape that is "set" by the genes.

Don't forget for a moment that your baby is unique and the most beautiful in the world !!!