What is the purpose of vernix and should we be waiting to bathe our babies?

A question came up on a message board that I belong to as to why we would want to hold off baths for our babies after they are born. I had never really given this serious thought until now, so of course, I had to do some research. What I found was pretty interesting.

From a hospitals stand point, a baby is considered contamintated at birth and all hospital personel must wear gloves when they are holding a baby until after it's first bath. This makes sense since they are touching and handling a lot of babies in one day. But from a normal physiologic stand point, vernix(the white substance on the baby) could be more important to keep on than we thought.

I'll be discussing this in my next newsletter, so check it out. I'll be writing on Fri or Sat.