>Anne, and others,
>        Would it be too radical to suggest that babies not be bathed at all
>in the hospital?  That a warm flannel blanket (or something similar) be used
>to cover them on the mother's abdomen/chest, and the family be left alone to
>wipe off any obvious goo that they don't like?  And that the family be told
>that cleaning the baby's hands, especially, is not a good idea for the first
>day or two?  And that the vernix should be rubbed in, not washed off, and
>that baby's skin is very fragile and needs to be treated gently (not
>scrubbed) in the first few days?  And that the baby needs to be kept warm on
>the mother's chest (explain how her body will automatically warm up to keep
>the baby warm) and that getting the baby cold with a water bath is an
>unnecessary stress on the baby's temperature-regulating system for the first
>day or two after birth?  And that getting the baby's umbilical cord wet will
>not hurt it?  And show them how to bathe the baby in the family tub on the
>lap of an adult instead of on the kitchen counter in one of those plastic
>baby tubs?

Kathy, thank you for your post.  I was just sitting here wondering if I
dared say that the next step in our journey toward health care, after the
experimental bath in the mother's room, is to do away with the bath
altogether, leaving the protective gift of the vernix on baby's tender
skin, avoiding the soaps which invite bacterial and yeast infections,
allowing the normal, healthy smells of a *her* newborn to penetrate mom's
nostrils. At least inviting consideration of this change is a beginning.

We had a thread last year on hospital baths for newborns. We really need to
discontinue the practice, but it will take years of "research" and studies
to "prove" the many harmful effects of that "first bath."  If anyone really
believes that washing an infant with antibacterial soaps will protect the
staff from HIV, she/he needs to re-examine the nature of viruses. I think
that this is just another bodily fluids issue.

Even the practice of alcohol on the umbilical cord is dying a hard death
here in Milwaukee.  A couple of hospitals are "up to date" on the latest
research that the cord comes off sooner, and with no untoward effects, when
it is left alone, that it is not germy, and that the alcohol ritual is one
fewer thing that a mother must get "right." Hopefully that instruction time
will be replaced by instructions on holding, stroking, feeding on cue,
baby's first-night adjustment to her "real" home, and the importance of
basic help in the home during the adjustment period.

If we do away with the bath, we will free up even more time for teaching
for health for this new baby and mother, including time for getting feeding
off to a good start.

Kathy, I like your gentle way of introducing this consideration. "Would it
be too radical to suggest..."

At least we are on the way...


Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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