FYI
- Original Message -
From: Ishbel Kargar [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dear Overseas Friends
The Summer MIDWIFERY MATTERS is to be an Overseas issue. I have written
separately to ARM members overseas, asking for articles, reports etc., but
I
realise that we have many non-UK subscribers to
I have to agree there.
My memories of my husband and I being taught how to bath our first child (6
yrs ago) are embarassing. I hadn't ever bathed a baby before, but to be told
that today we will take you down and teach you how, it clearly was a messge
that we weren't capable. Then the
When i first went back to work 5 years ago i got in trouble for showing a
woman the wrong way to bath her baby. Instead of wrapping the baby and
washing his face and hair, soaping him up then putting him in the bath, i
(heaven forbid) put him straight in the bath. This was much to the horror
I agree.
I think that the benefit of educating a couple on bathing their baby is
actually just helping them feel comfortable with holding their baby,
rather than the bath technique head first etc etc, because they really
don't need much washing. Another benefit is advising that a bath is
I realise that this is not what you where asking for but I mentioned to our
group today that when thinking about their baby plan the bathing
policies that they could choose if they wanted to, to shower with the baby
maybe even partner. For me this was a wonderful experience. I was able to
clean
Our only 'rules' are that a baby must have 3 consecutive temps above
36.5 before a bath... on the other hand, what do you do on a cold night
when you can't get warm in bed? Jump in a hot shower. We had a baby
who couldn't get a temp above 36 with skin to skin, or under the heater,
so a
I totally agree with you Megan and Denise. For most of us up here (Cairns)
teaching the parents how to bath their baby is showing them that water
immersion is actually OK and they take it from there. Of course there are
the safety messages about hot water and not leaving baby alone in the bath
I agree with you Nicole. I usually say something like "there
is only two criteria for a successful bath, 1. baby ends up clean 2. baby
not drowned. Having bathed my babies in the past in the shower, under the hose
etc usually gets mentioned.
I focus on giving them confidence in holding the
FYI
There is a clinic 'Ita Wegman Klinic' in Switzerland that actually
follows the philosophy of not bathing newborns at all. When I asked
further questions about their logic of not bathing they got a bit cagey,
thinking I would then write in my questionaire that they were a bit
strange!! I
What about suggesting mum and baby take a bath
together, my two just loved/love a breastfeed in the bath. Giving mum a private,
relaxing environment in which to hold and cuddle baby ie a warm water bath would
I imagine go along way in terms of empowering, instiling confidence and bonding.
Re NB Bathing.
For midwives we need to bear in mind the baby is
covered in body fluids until after a bath. It is recommended that we observe
universal precautions unitil after the baby is bathed.
For parents. Safety first. Some parents do like a
'step through'. It is good to ask first.
I work in an area with policies on how to conduct a
normal birth. Even an inservice coming up on "How to conduct a normal
delivery!" This is hysterical, admittedly I will not be
attending. To make it even better the "midwife" conducting the inservice
believes that any babies born not on the
Megan said
Babies smell just beautiful all on their own, the Johnson and Johnson
smell just gets in the way of this, not to mention the sensitivity these
tiny new darlings are dealing with.
Providing women with an option and explaining that not bathing their baby
all the time is perfectly fine
This has been a really interesting discussion, and it's
prompted me to think about the kinds of information we give to women, and when
we start to assume the role of educator, overseer, teacher, one of authority, or
whether we maintain the role of facilitator, and how that has an effect on
I think the fact that
the baby is covered in body fluids until after a
bath.
Should mean that
It is recommended that we encourage the mother only
to handle herbaby.
Denise Hynd
"Let us support one another, not just in philosophy but in action, for the
sake of freedom for all women to
15 matches
Mail list logo
