What newborns can do in their first hour is mindblowing!

The first hour after a baby is born is often a blur of emotion for parents. But what is your tiny newborn doing during this time? Researchers in Sweden videoed newborns for the first hour of their life and made the following timeline of how newborns instinctively behave. It made us all a bit misty-eyed thinking about those first few special moments...

Here are some key milestones in the first hour and 10 minutes of a newborn’s life.

Minute 0: Baby lets out a big, unmistakable cry. Could any mother forget that sound? The cry helps to wake up the baby's lungs.

Minute 2: After all that crying baby spends less than a minute relaxing, holding still on their mother's chest. It’s the first newborn cuddle between mother and baby. Researchers suggest that this quiet break might have evolved to keep babies hidden from predators.

Minute 2.5: As she starts to wake up, baby opens her eyes for the first time and gradually starts moving her head and mouth.

Minute 8: Baby become more active, keeping her eyes open for five minutes or longer at a time. Baby grows interested in the world around her, looking at her mother's face and breast, making sweet little “hungry” noises and moving her hands toward her mouth. 

Minute 18: All that activity has made baby tired and she has a nice rest.

Minute 36:  All rested and ready to go, the instinct to feed becomes strong and baby makes her way towards mother's breasts, relying on her sense of smell for direction.

Minute 62: Baby will feed, most likely getting small amounts of colostrum.

Minute 70: Baby falls asleep for a well-deserved break.

These are all median markers of time and each baby's first hour will be different. 

For the results of the study click here