Delayed Newborn First Bath and Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an evidence-based practice project to evaluate the effect of delaying a newborn's first bath on exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge. DESIGN: A pre- and post-implementation evaluation of the effect of delaying the first bath on exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge. SETTING: A postpartum unit in a southern California community hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Breastfeeding dyads of women and newborns (>37 weeks gestational age) who were admitted to the postpartum unit. INTERVENTION/MEASUREMENTS: Postpartum nurses involved in the unit practice council, in collaboration with unit leadership, changed the newborn's first bath practice through development of a bathing guideline, nurse education, and mother education. Measurements of the practice change included time of the first bath and exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge. RESULTS: We observed an increased time for the newborn's first bath from 6.88 hours to 13.71 hours (p ≤ .001). The number of times women chose not to bathe their newborns while in the hospital also increased by approximately seven times, from 0.16% to 1.1%. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge did not change significantly after implementation (p ≥ .05), regardless of when the first bath was given. CONCLUSION: Delaying a newborn's first bath was not associated with an increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates. More research is needed to determine the effect of bath times.

Preventing infant abductions: an infant security program transitioned into an interdisciplinary model.

Ensuring the safety of infants born in a hospital is a top priority and, therefore, requires a solid infant security plan. Using an interdisciplinary approach and a systematic change process, nursing leadership in collaboration with clinical nurses and security personnel analyzed the infant security program at this community hospital to identify vulnerabilities. By establishing an interdisciplinary approach to infant security, participants were able to unravel a complicated concept, systematically analyze the gaps, and agree to a plan of action. This resulted in improved communication and clarification of roles between the nursing and security divisions. Supply costs decreased by 17.4% after the first year of implementation. Most importantly, this project enhanced and strengthened the existing infant abduction prevention measures, hard wired the importance of infant security, and minimized vulnerabilities.