I encourage my childbirth students and doula clients to refuse any baths while in the hospital.  One thing I suggest (and my IBCLC friends here on LACTNET who run into my students and clients better not "out" them on this! LOL) is to include one simple line in the birth plan:
   
  "It is a long and deeply-held spiritual tradition in our family that the baby's first bath MUST be given under very strict circumstances in a particular place in the home by the father and maternal grandmother.  Please honor our spiritual beliefs by not bathing our baby or offering to help us do it while we are in the hospital."
   
  Works like a charm.  If parents just say they'd "prefer" that the baby not get a bath, it leaves the door open for argument and debate... but NO ONE is going to trample on someone's deeply held spiritual beliefs.  ;-)
   
  I've heard nurses and other staff tell the parents they couldn't touch the baby without gloving up unless the baby has had a bath... I just tell them to say, "Good... we really want anyone here who touches our baby to be wearing gloves anyway."
   
  Cee

Winifred Mading <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  Aside from the debate on whether an initial bath is essential, I don't
understand why it has to lead to more separation. Are we talking about
removing baby from the room or from mom's chest? Once single room care
became the norm where I worked (and as pp stays got shorter) the practice
was that the initial bath was also the bath demo for the parents.
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