Your Birth in a Baby-Friendly Hospital
Here's what to expect - and why your baby gets the best start.
You don't need to remember everything. Read what helps you right now. You'll find the rest here when you need it.
Key Points
- Your baby comes directly onto your chest right after birth - skin to skin. This strengthens your bond and helps with breastfeeding.
- You won't be left alone. The team supports you with skill and attention.
- Your baby stays with you - day and night. This way you learn to recognize their signals.
- Baby-friendly hospitals work according to the 10 steps of WHO and UNICEF. This is a global quality standard.
- Even if everything doesn't go according to plan: You get the support you need.
Welcome to Life
The first hours and days with your baby are unique. Everything is new, exciting, and maybe a little overwhelming.
In a baby-friendly hospital, everyone works to ensure you and your baby have a good start together. The team listens to you, informs you, and accompanies you - at your pace.
Studies show: Mothers who gave birth in baby-friendly hospitals are more satisfied, feel better informed, and can breastfeed more successfully.
Skin to Skin - Right After Birth
Right after birth, your baby comes onto your bare chest. This is called skin-to-skin contact, and it's one of the most valuable things that can happen in these first minutes.
Your baby feels your heartbeat, your warmth, your smell. They can calm down and arrive. Often babies in this situation begin to search for the breast all on their own.
This contact also works after a cesarean section. Your baby can lie at an angle on your belly so the incision isn't stressed. Or your partner can take over the skin-to-skin contact until you're ready.
Your Baby Stays with You
In a baby-friendly hospital, your baby is with you in your room day and night. This is called rooming-in.
Why is this so important? Because this way you can learn to recognize your baby's little signs - when they're hungry, when they're tired, when they simply need your closeness. And because your baby feels safest with you.
Don't worry: This doesn't mean you have to manage everything alone. The hospital team is there for you and helps you whenever you need support.
Starting Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is designed by nature. Your body prepares for it during pregnancy. Right after birth, the first milk is available for your baby: colostrum. It's especially valuable for the immune system.
In a baby-friendly hospital, you get support with breastfeeding - practical, patient, and without pressure. Even if you don't want to breastfeed, you'll be lovingly supported. For example, you can give colostrum and be shown how to give the bottle in a particularly close and cozy way.
What Baby-Friendly Means
Baby-friendly hospitals are certified according to a global standard by WHO and UNICEF. They work according to 10 proven steps that ensure families are supported in the best possible way from the start.
In Germany, there are over 100 certified hospitals. The teams there voluntarily commit to this standard - because they're convinced that the beginning matters.
The 10 Steps – The Poster
Even When Things Go Differently
Not every birth goes as planned. Maybe it was a cesarean section, maybe your baby came too early, maybe it was simply different than you imagined.
That's okay. In a baby-friendly hospital, you still get the support you need. Skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, closeness - all of this is possible even under special circumstances, and the team helps you with it.