heather wrote:
>
> A question of mine got buried in the rest of my post - so I'll ask it again!
>
> Do you routinely bath babies after birth, and if so why?

Yes, we do routinely bath babies after birth.  They are "contaminated
with blood and amniotic fluid which might carry HIV" and are to be
handled with gloves on to "protect" the nurse until after the bathing is
done.

. . .
> I have never really thought of this as important, but I think it is
> relevant to bf.
>
. . .
> ii) a possible interference with the scents that draw mothers and babies together
>
Yes, it definitly does interfer, but very few nurses are aware of the
importance of these scents and most are worried mightily about the
"danger" of an unwashed baby to the staff.

Along this line--not long after I shared Klaus and Kennel's book "The
Amazing Newborn" with my family practice dh, he was called in to see a
newborn.  The baby was about 6 hrs old by the time Dave got there.  Baby
was vigorously working on his fists and DH told nurses the baby ought to
be encouraged to breastfed NOW.  They replied that baby had already been
at the breast 3 times like a champ.  Then the nurses proceeded to
apologize that they had been so busy that the baby had not been bathed
yet and doctor would have to use gloves while doing the exam.  DH
explained to them the mechanism of the scent of the amniotic fluid on
the baby's hand and his ability to locate the breast and attach so
easily.  It was the first time any of them had heard of this.

Maybe we could change the world if we could just get everyone "educated"

Melinda Hoskins, MS, RN, LC2B

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