Dorothy's hands shook as she prepared each item for her newborn's bath. The list of needed articles and instructions she received from the hospital was as long as her sleeve. After reading the paper five times, she was still nervous. What would she do if she forgot something? I can't do this, she thought to herself. Looking around the room, she recounted in a whisper everything on the list as she saw it on the counter: vaseline, paper-mache bathtub, two large towels, two sponges, bath water thermometer, olive oil soap (she smiled when she saw the soap, she had made it herself), pure talcum powder, alcohol, toothpicks and cotton, and the large flannel bathing apron that lay on her lap ready for baby.
Hearing a coo from Robert in the bassinet, Dorothy almost dropped the thermometer on the floor. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she tested the water. 98.8 degrees, that was just the right temperature. Picking her newborn up from the bassinet, she put him on her lap on top of the flannel blanket to undress him. Once he was stripped, his eyes widened and his legs began kicking with force that she remembered fondly. After wrapping him in the flannel, she gently soaped his face and then his hair. Glancing at her instructions, she read, " after washing the scalp and hair, place the baby in the tub for one to three minutes to finish washing".
Feeling the ache in her back, Dorothy leaned over Robert to sponge his body down. After wrapping him back up in the flannel, she brought him over to the bed to dry him. Just as she was instructed she dried every nook and cranny. Robert flailed his tiny arms and legs in his newfound freedom making Dorothy giggle in spite of her nerves.
Reaching for the glass bottle, Dorothy began rubbing alcohol on Robert followed by talcum powder. She was careful not to put too much talcum powder behind his knees and especially around private area just as her instructions said because she surely didn't want him to get irritated skin. Everyone knew that if he began scratching his private it would lead to masturbation and she couldn't let her son begin such a bad habit at such an early age.
Once Robert was dressed and swaddled in his blanket, Dorothy took great care to wrap a toothpick end with cotton. Ever so gently she inserted it into his ears and twisted it to clean the ear canal. He turned his head in the direction of the ear she was swabbing then began to whimper. Pulling out the swab, she gasped at the site of the blood on the end of it, the sharp end exposed. Picking up another toothpick, she swabbed the ear again, then each nostril. She was determined to do everything correctly.
A mother's intentions over the years have remained the same; to love and care for their child to the best of our ability. Modern techniques and improved baby supplies have revolutionized the safety and health of babies. Once again we look to Louis Fischer and his book, The Healthcare of the Baby to help us see how far we have come in such a short time. He adamantly instructs nurses to teach new mothers to avoid any drafts in the room when bathing a baby. It was thought that the baby would catch a cold or some other illness from circulating air.
Rubbing alcohol nowadays is used for rubbing tired feet of an adult, but Fischer recommended it after every bath. Seems like the infant would lose a lot of heat, much needed heat directly after a bath. Powder may still be used but not to the degree it used to due to respiratory problems from the powder.
During this era, there was a lot of misconceptions about human nature as you may have noticed that Dorothy was supposed to prevent the baby from touching himself. It was thought of as a "bad habit" to masturbate, something that was looked at as unhealthy. It seems silly to us that a baby touching their genitals would be called masturbation rather than a natural progression of a baby recognizing their own body.
Let us not forget the horror (I felt horror) when Dorothy reaches for the toothpick! Wrapped in cotton or not, even if the toothpick was blunt ended, sticking a piece of wood up an infant's nose or in their ear is not a good idea. If that wasn't bad enough, he instructs new moms to pour talcum powder in the naval area, put several layers of cheesecloth over that and wrap their abdomen in a binder. That was 1930 navel cord care, to wrap it up because it could "rupture". When the baby coughs, sneezes or pushes with a bowel movement, a hernia could appear at the navel area.
In this "Era Gone By", we have looked at newborn bath care. Some of the techniques seem absurd to us, even dangerous. What will they say one hundred years from now about our baby care? What are your thoughts?
References
Fischer, Louis. The Healthcare Of the Baby. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1929. Print.
Read my other "Era Gone By" articles:
Prenatal Care Practices: An Era Gone By
Nursemaids and Common Medical Conditions: An Era Gone By
Disease Transmission and Treatment: An Era Gone By
Red Kryptonite
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Exactly what point did I miss?