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Timing of the newborn first bath: a replication
Anne Behring1, Toni M Vezeau, Regina Fink
1Women's and Infants Division, University of Colorado Hospital, Denver 80262, USA. anne.behring@uhcolorado.edu
Purpose:
To evaluate the effects on thermoregulation of bathing a healthy newborn within the first hour of life compared to bathing four to six hours after birth.
Design:
Quasi-experimental.
Setting:
Newborn nursery of a 30-bed obstetric unit in an urban university hospital.
Sample:
Fifty-one healthy term newborns with a minimum axillary temperature of 36.5 degrees C (97.7 degrees F).
Intervention:
Newborns in an experimental group were bathed within the first hour of birth; those in a control group were bathed at the standard four to six hours of age.
Main Outcome Variable:
Axillary temperatures were measured before the bath, immediately after the bath, one hour later, and two hours later.
Results:
Axillary temperatures as measured at four different times did not differ significantly between infants bathed within one hour of birth and those bathed four to six hours after birth.
Conclusions:
A flexible bathing time is recommended according to the characteristics and stability of the newborn and to family desires.