Tune into this episode to explore the significant benefits of delayed bathing for newborns.
In this recent Instagram live Trish shares insights on the importance of delayed bathing, how it can benefit both the baby and the mother, and how new mothers can make informed decisions during the postpartum period.
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Trish emphasizes the importance of skin-to-skin, and how vernix, a natural protective barrier, plays crucial roles in infection prevention, temperature regulation, and supporting breastfeeding.
She shares insights from her career and changes she has witnessed and advocated for in the practice of newborn care.
Trish gives tips and guidance on how to communicate with healthcare providers about delayed bathing and other interventions after birth to prioritize the wellbeing of the mother-baby.
From Trish:
So why am I recommending Delaying Newborn Bathing?
Delaying Newborns’ first bath is one of the critical components of protection that you can advocate for your child at birth.
Delayed Newborn Bathing Benefits
1 . Reduces the Risks of Infection/Exposure
Let’s face it; most of our babies are born in a hospital. Think sick people. So to leave the vernix on our little ones and let it protect them from bacteria and fungi. Studies show that vernix has over 41 proteins in it. 29% of those have antimicrobial components, and 39% lend to immunity.
2 . Improves Body Temperature Control
A baby cannot regulate its body temperature (thermoregulation). The newborn baby loses its body heat four times faster than adults. Staying warm is critical to a newborn’s well-being. Hence, we also promote immediate skin-to-skin (here are some skin tips and benefits) and eventually swaddling with a hat (after the golden hour, please and thank you!).
Did you know that immediate skin-to-skin reduces thermoregulation issues by 42%? WHAT???????
3. Stabilizes Newborn Blood Sugar Control
Low blood sugar in a newborn is a downright scary situation. It can quickly turn fatal. Guess what increases the risk of a baby’s blood sugar dropping? Stress (Like crying) which releases cortisol (stress hormone), causes blood sugar to drop. Guess what makes them cry more? A bath.
Hello, guess what makes a baby less stressed? Being on top of their mom and being warm and not crying.
A study states that babies bathed before 12 hours of birth doubled their chance of improper blood sugar control.
4. Improved Breastfeeding Success
Girl, if all the reasons I have listed so far are not enough, then perk up. Delaying Baby’s first bath protects them from a whole bunch of evils and increases the chance of successful breastfeeding. It’s known that when skin-to-skin happens during the immediate postpartum period, the baby smells the amniotic fluid on the breasts.
The same is said for the vernix. It smells like amniotic fluid and familiarizes the baby with the breasts, and boom a good latch. It is thus promoting breastfeeding success.
The evidence for delayed newborn bathing is overwhelming. Don’t ignore it. You are your little one’s first advocate. If your birthplace is not on board, print out the studies I have referenced and fight for change.
As always, education brings power! Stay educated, don’t let someone else tell you it’s policy!
-Trish
00:53 Introduction to Delayed Bathing: Why It Matters
01:51 The Evolution of Newborn Bathing Practices
05:07 The Science and Benefits of Delayed Bathing
06:37 Practical Tips for Delayed Bathing and Vernix Preservation
06:59 Addressing Common Concerns and Questions
12:27 Advocating for Your Baby’s Care: Delayed Weighing and Measurements
14:32 Empowering Parents: Making Informed Decisions
16:17 Closing Thoughts and Resources for Expectant Parents
More from this episode:
I have covered immediate skin to skin, breastfeeding and delayed cord clamping, in my blog which also protects the baby from the start. If you haven’t read up on those aspects of birth, read them now!
Also listen to the episode: Unlocking the Power of Skin-to-Skin: The Magic of the Golden Hour
Resources:
🎙 FREE Birth Workshop: 3 Secrets to a Confident Birth! 🎙
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Connect w/ Trish:
For more pregnancy & birth education, subscribe to The Birth Experience on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Next Steps with LNM:
If you are ready to invest in your pregnancy & postpartum journey, you are in the right place. I would love to take your hand and support you in your virtual labor room!
If you are ready to dive into a birth class and have your best and most powerful birth story, then Calm Labor Confident Birth or The VBAC Lab is your next step.
If you have a scheduled cesarean, take our Belly Birth Masterclass and own that experience.
If you are a newly pregnant mama or just had the babe, you want to join our private pregnancy and postpartum membership, Calm Mama Society.
Remember, my advice is not medical advice. Always discuss what you learn with your team. See my Disclaimer here! Also, We make a small commission from some of the links (you don’t pay any more for using our links); however some of the recommendations, we do not earn anything; we love ’em and want you to know about them.
Transcript
So you can make the choices that are right for you and your baby. Quick note, this podcast is for educational purposes only, and does not replace your medical advice. Check out our full disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. of the show notes.
And if you came to Fearless [:edside in the delivery room. [:That's more work for the labor and delivery staff too, but why were we interrupting this bond? If you guys came to the first 48 hour class, I love the name of it. First 48. It's all about what is going on with you, your body, your booty, your boobies, all that, and with the baby during the first 48 hours and a little bit beyond, which the delayed bathing we're going to talk about.
o postpartum, like it's mind [:Some of you guys were children then. And then I started taking my travel assignments in California. And they were so much more advanced than Tennessee. And so I'm like, wait a minute, they're not washing the baby right away. Now we were still washing the baby sooner than is necessary, but we hadn't gotten on this train yet.
ed to Tennessee, you guys, in:at is happening? This is like:Everything baby needs is right there with you And you're going to acclimate the baby. The things we're worried about with baby, like the heart rate and their temperature and their blood sugar, everything is controlled by you by being on top of you, skin to skin. So when we're talking about skin to skinning, yes, it is possible after C section, 100%.
this is so important is that [:So Vernix is this protective barrier, like the best lotion is In the universe on the baby to keep the baby in this wet environment and it keep, it's like a protective barrier on the baby's skin, which is why if a baby is born preterm, they're going to have a lot more vernix than if a baby's getting closer and closer to 42 weeks or past 42 weeks, they're going to have a lot less vernix because eventually it, the need is not there anymore.
ies that have done that have [:So it also is temperature regulating, promotes healthy skin growth, it protects the baby from bacterias and viruses, and it's just like the superpower the baby already has on top of them as they enter this new environment in this new world. And so we do not want to get rid of it. So one of the first things I'm going to say to you is tell your nurses, Don't wipe the Vernix off.
you. And that is Top notch. [:It really depends on the amount of meconium, but the meconium is still, your baby still needs to, we still want to delay the baby, the bathing. But there are some different things like with GBS positive and meconium that you want to do a little more research and talk to your provider. But Really, the baby does not need to be bathed.
You can wipe that meconium off. GBS positive babies, again, they're gonna want to more than likely do a bath, but you can also delay the bath at least 24 hours. Now, remember, if you were treated with antibiotics, I'd push back on that a little bit. But the benefits are so incredible when you delay the bath. If you are telling your providers that you want to do delayed bathing, because I know a lot of you guys are like what if they don't listen to us? They better listen to you. They should not bathe this baby.
them, no, this is your baby. [:You're in a hospital. Hospitals are not clean places. So it reduces infection. It improves the body temperature control. This is so important because when a baby is born, and I teach this in the first 48, so if you get a chance to watch that once we post it, it's not ready yet. But in that class, we talk about some of the biggest things that we worry about with a newborn is thermoregulation, regulating their temperature.
keep the hat on, Babies are [:This is again, why it's so important. They're smack dab on top of you, skin to skin. But the other thing is the vernix. also regulates and improves the body temperature control for the baby. So it's like it's their own little blanket. It stabilizes blood sugar. Another thing that we're really worried about with babies is that their blood sugar levels stay controlled and stress and it re it increases that risk of blood sugar levels being out of control.
stabilizes the blood sugar. [:If the stress of the bath, if removing their fur, their vernix is, going to affect your breastfeeding journey, why would we do that? And I've seen that some of you guys are saying that in Canada, they don't even bathe in the hospital. They seriously need to do away with it in the hospital.
hours we're going [:And usually what we do in the hospitals, we will wash their hair at the sink and then we wash them completely. And we don't need to do that. And as far as a sponge bath, you don't even really do that. A lot of my friends and fellow labor and delivery nurses, we don't wash our babies for a couple weeks because they really are not dirty.
And when, you can bathe their wash, wipe down their bottom if they poop or whatever. And you can spot clean, but they do not need a full bath. I know I've gotten a lot of DMs today from a lot of you guys saying that you waited for two to three weeks, and in a lot of European countries, that's what they do, which they are way more advanced than us in some of these areas, which is funny.
passing the baby around. The [:You can have a lot of stuff from birth. Then you can swaddle the baby nice and tight and just wash the baby's hair. Can we talk about delayed weighing and body measurements as well? Yes. And if you watch my first 48, I talk about this. Those things are not necessary at birth. This does not even come on.
The main reason, I'm just going to give you the insider track. The main reason your nurses want that is so that we can put in orders, because we need the weight and length. That's not important. What's important is what's happening with you and baby. That is the most important thing. And the weight can wait.
e going to release the first [:You guys have a lot of micro and macro decisions that you're going to be making for this new baby right off the bat. And I want you to know that you have every right to say, no, you cannot take my baby off me. Like we should normalize that, that stuff needs to wait. It's not important. And in fact, The studies are showing that even a baby, normally I would say, unless the baby needs to be resuscitated, which in most cases, if the baby needs resuscitation, that trumps everything.
But the studies are showing that it's even better for the baby to be resuscitated on top of mom. Yeah, someone said, I never gave my nurse a strict instructions, but I realized that all three of my deliveries, they grabbed the baby right away to weigh and measure. Yes, because they can't put their orders in or anything for the baby until they have that.
need to tell him, like, no. [:I would do it at home, and you are good to go for a couple weeks. So hopefully that helped you guys. Anybody else have any questions? I missed a bunch. Do we have to give the baby vitamin K at delivery? You don't have to do anything. Now, there are some states that it was state law. I don't know still if it is.
But you need to do your due diligence and do your research and then that is your decision to make. So I don't want to see anybody hating on anybody for vaccination decisions or vitamin K or any of the things. We talk a lot about this inside of our private community. I don't really broach it here. But you are, you do your research and you make the best decision for you and your family.
om and baby bonding and this [:This is why we make our classes so affordable. This is why we have our virtual access option, which is super affordable. It includes having access to doulas. And our labor bat signal, which we're very famous for, which is like a group text that you can create. If you're a virtual access member, plus a student, you can create your labor bat signal.
And it's a group DM with me and the doulas where we can help you navigate this BS. So it doesn't happen to you. I don't want this to happen to my daughters. I don't want my daughters to go through this. This better be changed by then. They better not just wipe our babies. They better not just take our babies.
guys want to watch it again [:As you heard, I decided to leave in some of the Q and a, because I wanted you to hear some of those answers. Cause I thought you might be wondering the same. If you have not taken a birth class, if you are not empowered to make these decisions and advocate for yourself, I strongly suggest that you click the link in our show notes and join Calm Labor Confident Birth Course or the VBAC Lab.
We would love to have you as always. We will have another episode next Friday. Bye for now