Linda said
 

<<My female doctor has never done a breast exam on me with  her bare
hands. >>
 
None of my female docs have ever worn gloves when doing a breast  exam.  
Vag exam, YES!  Breast exam, no.  Nor while palpating my  abdomen or listening 
to my heart or lungs.
 
As a postpartum nurse (admittedly, that was awhile ago), I didn't wear  
gloves while caring for my moms or my babies unless I was cleaning a  
particularly yukky item.  I didn't wear gloves in L&D unless I was  doing a vag exam 
or helping with the delivery.  After OSHA, we wore gloves  until the baby 
had a bath (to protect us, not them).
 
Our pediatricians wash their hands, but don't glove when they examine a  
baby.
 
When I am doing a consult, I only wear gloves to do an oral digital exam on 
 the baby, or if for some odd reason I am touching a mom's nipple itself 
that  might be traumatized.  But the skin of her breast is just like all the  
other parts of her body -- and no one else handles her baby with gloves 
unless  they are doing an invasive procedure of some type.
 
I don't think it demonstrates professionalism, and I think to the mom it  
looks as though you think she is unclean, not the other way around.
 
Do all NICU nurses wear gloves whenever they are touching babies?
 
Jan Barger RN, MA, IBCLC, FILCA
Lactation Education  Consultants
_www.lactationeducation.com_ (http://www.lactationeducation.com/)   
Wheaton IL

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