I was watching a movie the other day ("Night Nurse" with Barbara Stanwyck from 1931) and when a newborn baby was born, and I mean newborn, i.e., the baby was less than 2 minutes out of the womb/birth canal, The nurses in the move would take the baby, coat it with oil, and then do a curious thing which I am trying to figure out. They would take a large cue tip type device, like a little paintbrush dip it in a clear liquid and swab BOTH the new born baby's armpits, which is understandable (I guess if only to clean the oil /Vaseline off so it can sweat there) and then they would re-dip the brush in the liquid may have been alcohol) and swab the babies upper chest (right under where the chin touches the lower neck when the head is tucked in) from shoulder to shoulder. But it is not the neck, but was definitely the chest, 3 to 4 inches above the tits.
WHY in the world did they swab the newborn baby on the upper chest with the same liquid they swabbed them with on the armpits in 1931?
Do they still swab the newborn baby like this in 2014?
WHY did they coat the newborn baby with Vaseline or baby oil in 1931?
Do they still coat the newborn baby with Vaseline or baby oil in 2014?
