The golden hour: why the first hour after birth matters

What is actually happening in that hour

When your baby is born skin to skin on your chest, a cascade begins. Birth itself floods both of you with oxytocin — the hormone of love and milk — while your baby's stress hormones are briefly high, keeping her alert and wakeful. That alertness is by design: it helps her find your breast, and it helps you fall in love.

Many healthy, alert newborns move through recognisable stages in unhurried skin to skin: crying, resting, becoming alert, mouthing and rooting, and sometimes moving towards the breast. Timing varies and not every baby self-attaches, so patient, skilled help should be available without forcing the feed.

Why it matters for feeding

Early skin to skin probably improves exclusive breastfeeding in the early weeks and months, although it does not guarantee an easy start. It gives your baby time to use their feeding reflexes while supporting closeness, warmth and early feeding cues.

If the golden hour doesn't go to plan, or feeding gets off to a shaky start, it is recoverable — but the easiest feeding journey is usually the one that starts here. See what to expect in the first 72 hours of breastfeeding.

Why it matters for your body and your heart

Skin to skin supports your baby's temperature, heart rate, breathing and blood sugar regulation. It also supports oxytocin release and early feeding. A warmer remains important when a baby needs clinical care or cannot maintain temperature safely.

The effects reach partners as well. A calm first hour, with you and your baby undisturbed, sets the emotional tone for the whole postnatal stay.

How to protect it in a UAE hospital

Hospitals have necessary routines: checks, warming, weighing, paperwork, and for some families a paediatrician who wants to see the baby promptly. None of these automatically cancel the golden hour — but you should ask for it, rather than hoping it happens by default.

Add it to your birth preferences in simple words: 'I would like immediate skin to skin, and routine checks and weighing done while I am holding my baby, unless there is a medical concern.' Talk to your consultant before the birth, and mention it again to the team when you arrive in labour. Most staff are glad to honour a clearly stated wish.

• Ask that weighing, measuring and vitamin K wait until after the first feed, or happen while baby is on you.
• Ask your partner to be the voice in the room so you can simply hold your baby.
• If you have a caesarean, ask whether skin to skin in theatre or recovery is possible and how the team supports it safely.
• If baby does need to be taken for checks, ask that your partner or support person goes along.

When the golden hour doesn't go to plan

Sometimes medical care comes first, and that is exactly what it is for. A baby who needs observation, or a mother who needs surgery, is not a failed golden hour. Skin to skin can begin later and is still valuable for closeness, warmth and feeding. Start whenever you are both medically ready, with help to position and observe the baby safely.

If the first hours felt rushed or taken away from you, it is worth talking it through. A gentle birth debrief with your doula can put the pieces together and help you plan differently next time.

One hour, planned in advance

The golden hour is free, it takes no extra equipment, and it asks only that someone in the room remembers it while you are busy meeting your baby. Put it in your birth preferences, tell your partner and your doula, and let biology do the rest. In prenatal classes, we rehearse exactly these conversations — so the words are ready when the moment comes.

Want help planning your first hour?

I support families through birth in UAE hospitals and offer prenatal classes that cover birth preferences, the golden hour and early feeding. Book a free discovery call and we can talk through what you want those first moments to look like.