Elisheva wrote:
"I understand the principle of "universal precautions."  But is gloving in
fact safer all around than good scrubbing and using a finger without any
pre-existing cuts etc, given the possibility of sensitizing babies to
latex?"

According to Chele Marmet, gloving should be done indeed because of
"universal precautions" though she seems to think that with proper scrubbing
and intact skin, it is not necessarily safer.  She does not have the parents
glove when doing finger feeding; only the LC examining the baby.   She
washes her hands with the glove (or finger cot) on, to decrease that latex
smell/taste.
Regarding latex allergies, Chele says that if a baby is latex allergic, he
will so obviously reject, almost spit out  the finger as it comes near his
mouth, that it will not be possible to do a gentle oral exam.

Yael Wyshogrod IBCLC
Rechovot, Israel

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