Timing of the Newborn First Bath: A Replication

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°C (97.7°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.