Please Support a Newborn's Head. . . and Other Myths

So, I was at delivery this week and it was a beautiful baby girl. My neighbor had her on Tuesday morning. By the time I arrived, the baby was not far from being born, but the mom was in labor -sitting on the dried cow dung/dirt floor (hello tetanus!) so I went home to get some plastic for her to sit on. By the time I returned, the baby was out, lying on a dirty cloth and with her tiny arms covered with dirt.

The dad had gone off to town to see if he could buy a razor blade to cut the cord with, but I decided not to wait and used my equipment instead. Then I grabbed her and suctioned out her nose and mouth and bundled her close to me so she would not get cold. (The Africans think I am just hysterical about how much I worry about cold stress with newborns. They just laugh and laugh at me – sorry, but there is too much pediatric nurse in me still. Africa has not sweated all of that out of me just yet.)

Anyway, I was cuddling her as they heated water on the fire to wash her and as we waited for the dad (who had returned with the razor blade but was now off looking for soap to buy so we could wash the baby…. Those nine months just pass so quickly and it just kind of sneaks up on you, even if your wife has been in labor for 3 days……) But I digress. The water was finally warm, but the dad was nowhere in sight, so off I went to my house to get some soap. We got the water in the tub and I began to scrub the baby.

The soap I had was not great – something we got from a hotel, I think – and was not doing a good job. Finally someone brought some other soap so the midwife and I worked on getting her clean. The midwife decided to finish so we could rinse her off. She scrubbed and scrubbed – and as she scrubbed each arm, she would pull it far behind the baby’s back – like she was getting ready to handcuff her. Then she did the other side. Finally she pronounced her clean, and rinsed her, and stood up.

I reached out with a clean cloth to take the baby so I could wrap her back up (all that cold and all) but alas, the midwife was not quite finished. She proceeded to take her by each arm and give her a few good shakes as she dangled over the tub. Then she grabbed her by the feet and shook a few times again. After putting some soap on her finger and cleaning out the baby’s mouth, I was allowed to grab her and swaddle her.

As I watched the process, two things came to mind. The first was an old commercial for (I think) ziplock bags where someone puts some kind of liquid inside a bag and then holds it upside down and sings, shake-a-shake-a –shake…… The other was that we are just WAY too paranoid in the US about holding babies and thinking that they might break. Invariably, when a baby is born and someone goes to hold it, everyone warns, SUPPORT THE HEAD. Wow, these babies are pretty hardy out here. I am used to seeing 1 week old babies being swung up by one arm to be gently tossed onto their mothers back, but this was the first time I had seen the shake treatment at birth.

Mind you, I am not a new advocate for that kind of action. It makes me wonder if it plays any part in the high infant mortality we see out here. But, I do have to say, that, with each passing week, I wonder more and more about the bubble we place around newborns in the US. However, don’t worry, if you wander into our village and see me cleaning a newborn – you will still see me cuddling it close and I can promise that I will not be reenacting any ziplock commercials.