I went to the hospital the other day to pre-register for my upcoming stay. I was given a tour of the mother's ward, looked in on rooms and had some questions answered. Upon leaving the nurse handed me a booklet on what to expect with my hopsital stay, and some other reading on what to expect with a new born, etc... it was a great review.
I came across one subject that I found quite interesting. It mentioned that after the baby is born it is important to hold the baby, skin to skin, against your chest so bonding can take place - I agree with that and did that with my two boys. The one thing I read, which I have NEVER heard before is that they believe it very important to leave the baby unbathed until breastfeeding has been established. WHY?? , WHAT?? I could see doing the inital feeding, but after that my boys were always bathed and then handed back to me. I decided to look around on the web about this and came across an article by some OB's stating that vernix helps ward off infection and protects the babies skin from the elements. They stated not to wash it off but better yet rub it into the baby and refrain from bathing for a few days.
Who knew? I mean honestly I thought that vernix was there to protect them while in the womb, but wouldn't you know God, in all his wisdom, had multiple uses for that protective coating.... makes me shake my head and smile. Needless to say I won't insist on a bath for her for a few days.
4 comments:
I remember something about rubbing the vernix into the skin, but um, not to be gross....isn't there a lot of blood that needs to be washed off?
Cocotte- I was thinking the same thing.. I would assume they would get all the 'other' fluids off...
to comment on the comments...all 4 of my babies "clean" and nothing like what one would think. It's not as gross as it might sound....go for it, girl. Smell that sweet newborn breath for me...I'm having sadness knowing my newborn days are over!
Jennifer- :O) Thanks for the comment, I will go for it!! It will be interesting to see if they end up having all the chapped skin when the vernix isn't worn off.
Post a Comment