Does baby get washed at birth?

[laetitia85]

I cant beleive some of you said babies smelt fishy.... my parts have never smelt fishy before, during or after pregnancy.... thats a personal hygene issue there.

trust me, the one whose head i kissed smelt very fishy!!
but you're right it must be a personal hygiene issue

 

[Kazz]

Iain got wiped down wi a towel n i bathed the nxt morning ( i had him at 9.34pm) b4 we were goin home. but then we werent allowed out til Iains temp picked up as his temp dipped below wot he should hav been.

 

[lozzi]

When Ellouise was born they just "wiped" the excess gunk off her but DIDNT bath her, We bathed her the following day.


But can i just say, you wont give a crap, if your baby is covered head to toe in blood guts etc you'll kiss it and love so much it wont matter.



The smell isnt fishy at all though, i think someone needs to see a doc if it smelt fishy


I cant describe the smell, it was just my daughter, you'll love it trust me

 

[beanie]

completely agree with minxy and lozzi, loved the newborn smell of seren.

Its actually thought to be more beneficial not to bath baby after the birth. Babies have a layer of vernix on their skin,and leaving it on for as long as possible reduces skin infections. It absorbs fully in 48 hours, which was when Seren had her first bath. She certainly wasn't dirtyor smelly or at any riskof illness. The incidence of infection in British hospitals is not down to unwashed babies (which unless there is an underlying infection or they are covered in meconium are clean) but more to do with the lack of general hygiene on the ward which has come about due to a cut in finance to cleaning services.

 

[mummykay]

Jam was wiped over and given to us in a blankie after the birth then we bathed him when we went home 2days later, i couldnt have cared less if he was covered in gunk lol

 

[kimmumof2]

mine were both bathed by me the next day at the hospital. i was shown how to do it. i was only 16 tho and the mws sed to me that i had to show a good amount of self care for baby before i could be discharged so i had to do 2 nappies in front of them, bath her and they made sure i was feedin her one girl on the ward was told she couldnt leave the next day becus she hadnt done enough self care whereas i was allowed to leave after 6 hours. with my second i chose to giv her a bath and wasnt watched or shown etc. they usually come around the wards asking if you want to bath baby and show you where the room is and stuff etc

xxxx

 

[mary70]

Hannah was washed when she was about 2 hours old when i was on high dependancy.

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Hi ya, when my daughter was born they didnt bath her until we had gotton up to the ward then they left me with her for a few hours of kip then they asked if i would like her bathed. I had no problem wth it and let them do it - i was shattered and glad of the help and got too take loads of pictures.

But with my son they didnt do it because they wanted him to stay warm etc.

 

[Urchin]

I thought everyone's babies got bathed in the delivery room like mine did

I wonder if I should ask them not to do it next time.

 

[tuck]

they dont bathe them in Greece either so it's not just an 'english hospital' thing, they get a wipe down and then are put straight in an incubator for a couple of hours (wether they need it or not!), also their 1st feed is camomile tea!!!!?????? The nurses took Matilda the next day to give her a wash etc.

 

[beanie]

I thought everyone's babies got bathed in the delivery room like mine did

I wonder if I should ask them not to do it next time.

you can do,put it in your birth plan. Though if I remember wasn't Brody covered in meconium, that might have had something to do with him being bathed

 

[KJ]

there are no bacteria in the womb!! It's a sterile environment!

Agree with the ladies who said the vernix needs to remain on their skin to protect it.

You'll be doing better for your baby if you don't insist on them being bathed as soon as they're born. They need a day or so for their skin to get used to not being surrounded by amnoitic fliud before you bath them

K.x

 

[skairdykat]

I bathed mine the day after, but that blood is a bugger to get off the hair and was on there for about a week!! LOL

 

[laetitia85]

there are no bacteria in the womb!! It's a sterile environment!

i didn't know that. amazing

 

[Red_Fairy]

hannah wasnt washed for a few days. Its better for them apparently.
9even tho i bled alot during labour, she came out complety clean anyway. (except for the white stuff)

She smelt beautiful too.

 

[muppetmummy]

James was bathed the day after he was born, when the midwife showed me how to do it before I took him home.
I only used to bath him once a week for the first few weeks, they only really need top and tailing after their initial bath.

 

[Krystal]

oh my god... you cannot beat the smell of your newborn baby .. gunk and all!! JT was put straight on my chest and I kissed his gunky little head and everything.. he was cleaned up a little bit but not bathed.

Also midwife told me not to bath him propery until his cord fell off so until then he just got top and tailed. You can't possibly think a newborn baby is dirty

Before I had JT i was thinking.. erghh i dont even wanna touch him till he's all cleaned up and dressed cos i hate blood and stuff but honestly i couldn't care less once he arrived, i just wanted to cuddle him, also he had his first poo all over me and i didn't care about that either

 

[Eblinx]

Damon was wiped down after the birth and they did come round that day to take me and show me how to bath him, but i wasnt well enough so they decided it would be better to wait to the next day, i was so nervous bathing him!

 

[roxanne]

My baby wasn't bathed, just wiped over then wrapped up because his temperature was really low.

He had blood in his hair too but i was told not wash it for a few days coz it was a forceps delivery and he had a really nasty bruise on his head, he was in pain if anything touched it.

I didn't care whether he'd had a wash or not, was just pleased that he was ok!

 

[paradysso]

Alana was bathed about an hour after being born as she was covered meconium and rather green in colour

If you want to bath your baby just ask for a bath, they bring them to you on wheels.