As soon as your baby's born he'll be checked from head to toe. Here’s what to expect…
Straight after the birth, the midwife will perform some initial checks.
She will be busy observing and scoring your baby using the Apgar test.
“We do a score after a minute and a score after five minutes," explains Kim Housham, clinical lead midwife at London’s University College Hospital (UCH).
"We look at the baby’s colour, muscle tone, respiratory effort, heart rate and how each one responds to a stimulus, giving the baby a maximum score of two for each thing and an overall score of 10," she says.
Most newborns score between seven and 10. "But if your baby scores lower, she may need a little help, such as oxygen to help her breathe," Kim adds.
