While I haven't had the pleasure of having any of my children in water, I
have attended several births in water.  Some of them were in a very big
hurry to get baby to surface; others were quite casual and let baby "breathe
in the bath water" as long as cord was still pulsing (yes, this can be
nerve-racking).  In all cases though, the vernix provided a "turtle shell
wax" that left water beading and running off the body.  If no scrubbing or
soap is used, the vernix remains intact.  Remember that for 40 weeks give or
take, baby has been in an aqueous solution in which the vernix has protected
him/her.

I suspect that just as new cosmetics are promoting "colostrum" (bovine) to
enhance skin youthfulness, someday we may see vernix hand cream:)  There are
many practices, such as keeping placentas and making "placenta prints", that
many hospital staff and the women who birth there would cringe at.  However,
I find these ritualistic practices to be most fascinating from a cultural
perspective (maybe I should have been an anthropologist, Kathy?)
Warmly,

Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC    [log in to unmask]
mom, wife, educator, lactation consultant, researcher, scientist, author,
organic gardener, photographer, lapidary creator, lousy cleaner.

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