Washing newborns with a high gravity ale

[Blowmax10]

Here is something that I heard on my home brewing podcast that I thought might be relevant to this forum.

Apparently back in the middle ages there was a tradition of mothers-to-be brewing a high gravity beer for the purpose of using it to wash the newborn child after birth.

Beer was much cleaner than the local water source because it had been boiled and the alcohol served the double purpose of preserving the beer and also to disinfect the newborn child

What do you guys think about this??

Is it an old wives tale?

[Klayton]

bad bad mojo!!!

first baby does not need disinfecting unless mother defecated during child birth and house nurse/dr didnt prevent it from touch baby (it happens people, alot of pressure on the ladies down there during birth)

second any liquid being applied to baby would have to be exact temperature of baby to prevent putting baby in shock, too hard to measure at such a crucial time

last time I did this training, almost 8 years ago, the only thing we were directed to do was
1) first and most importantly open the baby's airway, normally through a mild suction bulb
2) dry off the baby , do this kind of vigorously (not too rough you big guys) to stimulate the baby to cry
3) tie off the umbilical cord in two places and cut between the knots
4) wrap baby in a new seperate DRY and clean towel/blanket and get the baby to feed with mother (this should all be done in under 10 minutes)

supposedly the 10 minute thing is crucial (???) for bonding of mother and child

**note I am not a licensed medical personnel, and this is just layman's training I received during my time in the military
**it does NOT handle or discuss issues that DO arise
**it does NOT discuss complications or medical emergencies

[Blowmax10]

That is really interesting

Maybe stuff like this is a small reason that the death rate was so high during birth for both mother and child??

[Mannlicher]

Is it an old wives tale?

Could be just an old wives ale. :)

[HLorfing]

hey guys i work for the houston fire dept and ive had the pleasure of delivering four babies in the field. all of what klayton said is correct, however i will tweak a little of what he said

1) first and most importantly open the baby's airway, normally through a mild suction bulb
( this is correct however suction the mouth first then the nose and hold the baby in your arms on his belly with head pointed downward a little. the reason for this action is to prevent the baby from breathing any fluid, mucous or anything into his lungs when he takes a breath to scream or cry. very easy for baby to get infection in his lungs this way. its actually very common.)

2) dry off the baby , do this kind of vigorously (not too rough you big guys) to stimulate the baby to cry
this is correct...this stimulates the aveoli (tiny air sacs) in the lungs to open

3) tie off the umbilical cord in two places and cut between the knots
this is true as well....however tie the cord in two places with the first one 10cm from the belly then the next one 5cm after the first one. remember guys the first part of the cord stays attached to baby for several days. if you cut the cord to far baby might have four or five inches of cord laying around that is easy to become infected.

4) wrap baby in a new seperate DRY and clean towel/blanket and get the baby to feed with mother (this should all be done in under 10 minutes)

supposedly the 10 minute thing is crucial (???) for bonding of mother and child

this is very true...keep the baby warm! it is very important. have baby feed from mother.. helps mother milk to come in and also releases hormone in mother than helps with pain.