2. Ask to “catch” your own baby. The best reward for all the hard work of childbirth can be lifting your baby up onto your chest by you.

3. Request optimal cord closure (or delayed cord clamping). You will see the cord physically pulsate, giving the baby blood rich in iron, stem cells and oxygen. Some teaching hospitals are purchasing resuscitation tables that allow the cord to stay intact if resuscitation is required because research is revealing the importance of oxygen-rich blood.

4. If your baby is pink and crying, stimulation and drying are not needed. Request that the hospital room be kept warmer before giving birth.

5. Allow baby to naturally “crawl” to the breast. Breastfeeding doesn’t need to be initiated immediately after birth. Research shows that babies process things seven times more slowly than we do. So give them time; they will usually head toward the breast within 30 minutes of birth.

6. No visitors the first hour. I promise Grandma and Grandpa will get all their baby cuddling in, but this first hour after birth is really about meeting your baby and nursing.

7. Delay all routine newborn procedures. Hospitals usually like to give eye ointment and vitamin K within two hours of birth, but you can delay the bath until you are home.

8. Don’t worry if you are having a cesarean section. You can still protect the golden hour. Just call it the golden two hours. Request to see and hold your baby in the operating room. Dad can sit skin to skin with baby in the recovery room while you are being wheeled in. Once you are settled in the recovery room, all of the above recommendations apply. Uncover your baby, remove that hat, and explore your child. Let him or her crawl toward your breast."