Protecting
your baby’s skin
Coldwater and
ocean swimmers will often put fat or Vaseline on their
bodies to help retain heat, reduce chaffing from swimsuits, help prevent
salt burn and help them through the water.
Vernix, the white, creamy, vaseline-like substance that covers the newborn's skin, protects it from
amniotic fluid during pregnancy lubricates their little bodies during the
birth and helps to keep babies warm after birth.
We used to wash this valuable
natural cream off the baby soon after birth, but this practice is fading fast. The
WHO (World Health Organisation) and skin research institute no longer
recommend washing new-borns in warm water before the first 24 hours. They
recommend that excess amniotic fluid (that makes babies wet and cold) is dried off with
a warmed towel and babies are left skin-to-skin between their mother’s breasts
for the first ‘magic hour’ after birth.
Thanks to research, we know so much
more about the newborn's skin today. We know that the baby’s skin, although
fully formed, is still maturing during the first 28 days after birth and
that the skin of a premature baby has a few added disadvantages. This maturing
process continues throughout their first year. New-borns, in particular, can
lose valuable body fluids and heat through their skin, their skin is more
easily damaged and because they have less body fat, their natural moisturising
factor is missing.
Babies left skin-to-skin with their
mothers are more able to colonise microbes (these help to develop their immune
systems) and babies who have a natural birth have an advantage over babies who
are born by c-section.
What’s
‘magical’ about vernix?
Vernix helps to keep natural
moisture in, thereby helping to keep the skin hydrated.
Vernix helps to keep the baby warm
by retaining natural warmth. Babies with a temperature below 36°C
are considered ‘hypothermic’. Left untreated, hypothermia can deplete sugar
reserves and make the baby hypoglycaemic, sleepy and ‘floppy’. This, in turn, can
interfere with feeding and the domino effect is that this can increase the risk
of ‘baby jaundice’. Left, baby can end up in high-care, and the new mother
in tears.
What
can you do?
- Speak to your health-care provider before you go into labour about the possibility of skin-to-skin – even if a c-section is unavoidable.
- Wait 24 hours before bathing your baby for the first time. Ask your midwife to recommend the best hypoallergenic baby products.
- Weighing and measuring can wait until the baby’s temperature has stabilised.
- Cover baby’s head with a beanie to minimise heat-loss.
- Allow baby to breastfeed when s/he is ready.
