Recuerdo perfectamente cuando me trajeron a mi niña recién nacida, con el pelo para el lado, impregnada en colonia. Se me callo el alma a los pies, donde estaba el olor a vida del primer minuto de vida, donde estaba esa capa protectora de su piel. Antes de nacer ella, me había asesorado de la importancia de retrasar el baño, por muchisimos aspectos. Triste privar a los niños de su naturaleza, por ignorancia o simplemente por no querer saber mas. Aqui os dejo un articulo muy interesante sobre el tema, con los aspectos básicos, si profundizáis vereis que hay mucho mas. Pero solo hasta que las familias lo pidan no habrá cambios, y esto es solo la punta del iceberg del minuto cero de un niño.
Recordad que el traductor esta en la esquina izquierda superior, para aquellos que quieran leerlo en español.
Delaying Your Baby's Bath Has Benefits
- Babies are born with a natural skin protectant
In utero, babies are protected from their watery environment by a special substance called vernix,
found on their skin. You may notice some vernix on your just born baby,
it looks a bit like a white, waxy cream cheese, and some babies seem to
have a lot and others not so much. Babies tend to lose the vernix the
longer the mother is pregnant, so those babies born at 42 weeks might
not have a lot of it visible anymore, though usually there is still some
hidden in the folds of their skin and under their arms. Babies born
earlier often have a larger amount. Newer research indicates that vernix
has immune properties and leaving it on your baby's skin provides a
layer of protection while your new baby's immune system is getting
stronger. I think this is a great benefit especially for babies who are
born in the hospital, with lots of potential for exposure to
hospital-acquired infections. Vernix also is the best moisturizer ever
and helps to keep your baby's skin soft and supple. It's important to
note that the research is on the properties of the vernix but as of now
there is no clinical data to prove this connection.
Amniotic fluid, which bathed the baby before birth has the ability to provide some extra resistance to infection as well, so the longer it remains on the skin, the better for baby.
- Baby wants to be near mom
After birth, your newborn baby wants to be as close to you and your
breasts as he can get. Snuggling on your chest, close to the food
source, where he can hear you, smell you and feel you against his skin
is a source of comfort for your new little one. Being close to your
breasts can help encourage breastfeeding and support the baby making a
smooth transition to life on the outside. Taking your baby away from you
soon after birth for the purpose of a bath can disrupt the process of
your baby getting to know you, feeling safe and secure, and interfere
with those very important first feedings.
- Lowered body temperature
New babies are still figuring out how to maintain their own body
temperature. Taking a baby away from his mother for a bath, may result
in the baby working harder to keep their body temperature in the normal
range. I have seen babies who need to be placed under the heat lamp to
bring up their temperature after their bath. Mom's chest is the perfect
place to maintain baby's temperature. A mother's chest has the ability
to heat up or cool down to help the baby stay at just the right
temperature. Adding a bath into the mix just makes it harder for baby to
maintain their body temperature.
- Keep stress hormones low and blood sugar normal
Being separated from her mother can add an additional layer of
stress to a new baby just figuring out life on the outside. When your
baby is taken from you to be bathed, she may cry, feel uncomfortable and
upset. This causes her body to release stress hormones in response to
this new situation. Her heart rate and blood pressure may go up, she may
breathe a bit faster and become agitated. Working hard to respond to
this stressful situation may also lower her blood sugar temporarily. If
your baby's blood sugar is being monitored due to mother's gestational
diabetes, or her size at birth, the baby's health care providers may be
concerned and want to introduce formula to bring her blood sugar back up
to the normal range. When she remains closes to you, she is better able
to regulate all of her body systems and maintain her blood sugar where
it should be.
- A bath with mom or dad sounds nice
Since your baby feels most secure when she is close to a parent, you
might consider taking the first bath with your baby, when you are
ready. Getting in the tub with your baby and holding her in your arms is
a wonderful way to have that first bath. Your baby will feel secure and
loved, when she does not have to be separated from you in the first
days. She will enjoy the soothing water while being held, happily
splashing and giving little kicks. It might feel so good that she may
even fall asleep! Remember, little babies are very slippery when wet, so
you will need someone to hold the baby while you get in and out of the
tub. It creates special memories to take that first bath with your baby,
rather than having staff do it, shortly after birth, when mom is still
recovering herself and not really able to engage in the process.
- Handle with gloves
In many hospitals, it is policy for staff to handle all unbathed
babies with gloves on their hands, so as to protect staff from coming
into contact with any amniotic fluid, blood, or vernix that remain on
your newborn. Considering that the transmission of hospital-acquired infections
is on the rise, some consider it good practice to have all hospital
staff wear gloves when handling a newborn baby, even if a bath has
already occurred. Some studies show glove use in very low birth weight
babies have fewer infections when staff handle the baby with gloves on,
despite the bath status.
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