Timing of the newborn first bath: a replication

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.

Quasi-experimental.

Newborn nursery of a 30-bed obstetric unit in an urban university hospital.

Fifty-one healthy term newborns with a minimum axillary temperature of 36.5 degrees C (97.7 degrees F).

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.

Axillary temperatures were measured before the bath, immediately after the bath, one hour later, and two hours later.

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.

A flexible bathing time is recommended according to the characteristics and stability of the newborn and to family desires.