What is the evidence for bathing babies in hospital at all?

I am excluding obvious needs - baby covered in mec, perhaps.

Can't the mothers bath the babies at home?

Is there really an infection risk if the babies are left unbathed?

I have a personal insight into this. My first baby was born 31 years 
ago  and because of some mix up or other, she missed the 
then-regulation bath. The routine was in those days that you were not 
'allowed' to bath the baby without seeing it done first and somehow 
or other, over the 8 days I was there, no one got round to finding 
time to demo bathing to me. Obviously I kept her clean with 'topping 
and tailing' with cotton wool balls and water. But no bathing. I can 
still recall the *delicious* smell she had on her - it was raw and 
earthy and she still had a little bit of my dried blood on her 
(sparse) hair which also smelled lovely to me!

Finally, on day 10, and by now at home, the community midwife offered 
to do a demo for me, and so out came the baby bath tub and she was 
dunked.

I remember feeling very sad when the lovely smell went :(

Of course it's only years and years later that I recognised the power 
of this. Babies 2 and 3 were bathed pretty soon after birth, and in 
the case of no 3, almst immediately, even though it was a home birth 
and I could have just said 'no'.

So - my question is: why bath new babies at all? Now we know more 
than ever the importance of skin to skin, of keeping mothers and 
babies together, and the way all the senses are stimulated, why not 
just leave them in all their birthy glory?!

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
-- 
http://www.heatherwelford.co.uk

http://heatherwelford.posterous.com

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