Delaying the newborn bath

[PinkNBlue]

Can I get some information on what you do at your facility regarding bathing the newborn? How did staff react? I know majority of the research states to delay the newborn bath 12-24 hours. We are looking into delaying the bath as well (currently we bathe approximately 2 hours after delivery, unless parents request to wait). I'm already seeing (and hearing) pushback and it hasn't even been instituted or really talked about much yet. The culture on this unit is very "this is what we've always done". Thanks! I appreciate any info!!

[BrandNewBabyNurse]

I'm a NICU nurse but can occasionally float to newborn nursery if they're short. Our policy is to wait a minimum of 6 hours for the bath, and to guarantee a minimum of one hour completely uninterrupted (except for quick vitals assessments on mom's chest) skin to skin immediately after birth. Only if baby is showing signs of distress do we separate mom and baby, and we don't get any weights/measurements/etc... until baby is at least two hours old and has fed, again unless baby is potentially in distress. I wasn't at my hospital when they made the change so I can't comment on how it was received, but I haven't really seen anyone give much pushback. If there is any, it's almost always from the parents who don't understand why we won't just weigh the baby right at birth!

[Gennaver, MSN]

I've been at my facility for 9 months and was surprised they delayed the bath until the 24 hour of life care. I bought right in soon.

Jen

[iPink, BSN, RN]

My facility started delayed bathing about a year ago and I would say there was some push back from nurses, not suprising with any change comes the initial lack of support and complaints. We delay baths from 6-24hrs, depending on parent's preference. A small few have actually decided to have their baby's first bath at home. A few reasons we tell our parents why we delay the bath are: 1. promotes bonding and 2. helps regulate temperature. Our babies are bathed at the bedside when mom have decided on time they would like their baby bathed. We promote rooming-in, so we don't give mom's the option of having baby bathed in the nursery. The only babies that are bathed immediately are Zika exposed, HIV, and Hep B/C positive babies.

We identify the babies who aren't bathed yet by placing an identification marker in their bassinet. We just make sure we are gloved up and if there's a spitty/choking baby to be saved, we especially scrub down even more in case we couldn't put on gloves fast enough. We made it work and it's no longer a big deal or at the top of converstion since the rollout has long passed.