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Discussion

Newborn Bath

Hello Everyone,

I am an Advanced Practice Nurse working in Labor and Delivery at a Level III Perinatal Center. As we prepare for our move to a new tower the subject of the newborn bath keeps resurfacing. I was wondering if anyone could share a policy, procedure or best practice with me regarding the timing of the bath.

Thanks so much!

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    • Featured Replies

    We bath our newborns when they have a temp of 98.0 f higher at 2 hours of life.

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    • Author

    Thanks for your response!:cat:

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    When I had my last baby (at the place I work at), they advised me to give him a bath the day after he was born *if I wanted to.* They said they prefer to leave the vernix on for the first day because according to the research it helps the newborn regulate his body temp. Yay for EBP! :up:

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    • Author

    Yay is right. Thats what we are all about!! Thanks:nurse:

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    The only time we did immediate bathing was with babies of HIV+ moms. Otherwise, we would wait about 2 hours (or longer if the mother preferred or if the baby was having a hard time with thermoregulation). Also, with late preterm babies who were in open cribs, we waited at least 6 hours, I think, per protocol.

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    • Expert

    What's all the rush to give the bath? There is an increasing amount research supporting the delay of the first bath for at least 6 hours, ideally longer. The decreases in thermoregulation and hypoglycemia issues are measurable as well as the improvement in early breastfeeding initiation and in-hospital breastfeeding rates. The vernix has also been shown to be an excellent antimicrobial particularly against E.Coli and Group B Strep. There are also substances (many different polypeptides) that have antifungal and antiparasitic properties.

    Boston Medical Center did a study back in 2010 about the impact of bathing time on early breastfeeding. Here is the link:Delaying the bath and in-hospital breastfeedi... [breastfeed Med. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

    The link with a lot of information regarding vernix properties is here: Vernix caseosa as a multi-component defence system based on polypeptides, lipids, and their interactions

    There is also this "Wait for eight" from JOGNN: []Wait for Eight[]: Improvement of Newborn Outcomes by the Implementation of Newborn Bath Delay - Lipka - 2012 - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing - Wiley Online Library

    Late preterms, for bathing my hospital waits 24 hours after birth. Different available guidelines(VUNEO, WHO, Guidelines.gov) suggest a minimum of 2-4 hours or most commonly 6. Personally, I'd have to have a darn good reason to bath a late preterm kiddo that early but I like to delay ALL babies baths as long as possible.

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    • Author

    This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you nicuguy!:)

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    • Expert

    We also wait at least 6 hrs to bathe. I can't remember the last time I bathed anyone younger than that unless mom had HepB or HIV.

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    I work on a postpartum unit, and we wait 8 hrs to give the first bath, as long as the baby is stable temp-wise. Gotta love that vernix!

    But like others have said, if baby was born to a mom w/ HIV or other bloodborne disease we bathe them right after birth

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    • Author

    Thanks everyone. This information is very helpful!

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