Your newborn, week 1
Week 1 with your newborn: placeholder title
Placeholder: a short summary of week 1 with your baby — feeding, sleep, your recovery and the checks that happen this week.
Placeholder: newborn week overviews can be added as a content collection, in the same way as the pregnancy weeks.
Checks and key dates this week
- Newborn physical examinationWithin 72 hours of birth
- Register the birthWithin 42 days in England and Wales
Day by day this week
- Day 1 with your newborn (day 281)Today everything changed. For months, your baby existed in scans, kicks, hopes, and imagination. Now they are here — and you do not need to know exactly what you are doing yet.
- Day 2 with your newborn (day 282)You have made it through the first day. That might sound small, but it is not. The first 24 hours after birth are enormous.
- Day 3 with your newborn (day 283)Your baby is not the only one learning. You are learning too — their noises, their face, their needs, and how life feels now they are here.
- Day 4 with your newborn (day 284)Feeding can feel like the whole world today. It is okay if it is not effortless. Many parents need support, adjustment, and reassurance.
- Day 5 with your newborn (day 285)Your body is doing quiet, important work: healing, contracting the uterus, regulating hormones, and producing milk or adapting after birth.
- Day 6 with your newborn (day 286)If you feel teary, overwhelmed, euphoric, frightened, grateful, or all of those in one hour, you are not strange. Post-birth emotions can arrive like weather.
- Day 7 with your newborn (day 287)One week ago, everything changed. You have already learned more than you realise: how your baby sounds, how they feed, how they like to be held, and how much you can do on very little sleep.
This is general information based on NHS guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your midwife, health visitor or GP about anything that worries you. If your baby has a high temperature, isn't feeding or is unusually sleepy, or you're worried about your own bleeding, pain or mood, get advice straight away from NHS 111 or your GP. In an emergency, call 999.