You may be onto something, Sheila.  There is a very distinctive smell in the birthing room, and the unbathed baby continues to smell that way.  It's very earthy and human at the same time.  Some people - not just nurses :-) - probably think babies are supposed to smell like baby shampoo instead.  ;-)
 
Cee
 
PS - Hi, Sheila!  I was just talking to someone today on Facebook about your book!  ;-)

--- On Wed, 5/27/09, sheila stubbs <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


From: sheila stubbs <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: newborn bathing
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 9:05 PM


I personally think the reason staff want to wash the baby off very quickly is that the goop makes them feel very uncomfortable for reasons other than germs: Without meaning to sound vulgar, it was when my slimy wet baby slid across my thigh and was placed naked on my belly and into my hands that I suddenly recognized how sexual childbirth was. That feeling of hot throbbing flesh against my skin made an immediate connection to the conception nine months earlier which surprised me - and thrilled me! I ask a lot of women if they were able to hold their baby as soon as it was born, and they usually reply "Yes! As soon as they wiped it off!" And then I know that they missed the most incredible moment.

I wonder if the sexuality of the moment is too intense for anyone other than the parents. Cleaning the baby simply makes US feel more comfortable.


Sheila Stubbs 

I learned the hard way to Birth the Easy Way! 
www.birthingtheeasyway.com




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