Reflections on the interactive newborn bath demonstration

E Amy1

  • 1Parent and Childbirth Education Department, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. eamy@partners.org

This article describes how a staff nurse changed the routine nature of her work on a mother/baby unit. Using patient education techniques and a newly acquired knowledge about newborn behavior enhanced how she completed the newborn bath demonstration for new parents. She applied her understanding of newborn reflexes, newborn states and state management, and consoling interventions to alter her practice and help parents explore the newborn together. This nurse's goal was to educate and simultaneously empower the parents to better read their baby's cues and respond to their baby. She recounts how this new interactive approach has benefitted the newborns and parents, and has enhanced her satisfaction with her everyday work.

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