D J Karl | PubMed Health

PubMedDate not supplied

The interactive newborn bath.

The interactive newborn bath is an innovative approach to the traditional baby bath. This article uses a Brazelton infant behavior perspective to describe a rationale and methodology for this family-centered nursing intervention. It offers the nurse detailed suggestions for observing and identifying infant states, interpreting infant behavior, calming and orienting newborns, and eliciting selected reflexes. In this approach, the nurse assumes an expanded role as a facilitator of infant-parent interaction. The baby's behavior and the bath experience are used to engage parents with their newborns. The nurse encourages parents to observe, touch, and respond to their infants in order to develop more responsive parenting skills and better enjoy their babies. The interactive approach can enrich nursing practice by transforming the standard newborn bath into an exploratory adventure in which the nurse joins with parents to better understand and respond to the newest member of their family.

Baths↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Healthy connections: a relational model to extend primary care into the perinatal period.

The need for quality models of primary health care is evident. This article describes one urban pediatric hospital initiative that has extended primary care to the perinatal period. Through this well-established newborn intervention program, nurse practitioners use a relational approach to provide comprehensive, family-focused services from the time of birth until the first primary care visit. The program has greatly improved compliance with primary care in the first 4 months of life, reduced newborn emergency department visits, and documented both consumer and provider satisfaction.

Adult↗