Health

• Wash the infant’s clothes separately, rather than together with adult clothing.
• Use coconut oil soap or other neutral soap with less acid; do not use bleaches, powdered soaps, softeners with perfume, or bleach solutions (these products have chemicals that contact the baby’s skin, causing allergies).
• After washing, rinse thoroughly so that there is no residue from the cleaning agent on the fabric.
• Hang to dry in the sun (if possible) and iron (to eliminate microorganisms).

• Choose a location for the bath without drafts, during the warmest part of the day.
• Have all necessary items ready in advance and close at hand: towel, soap, clothes, diaper, blanket.
• Bathe daily or more than once a day, if necessary (if the newborn is restless, crying, hot, feverish...).
• Do not use alcohol in bath water; it dries the skin and irritates the mucous membranes. and it is dangerous.
• Do not use lotions, perfumes, talcum powder, or ointments.
• Dry skinfolds thoroughly.

• Remove excess feces with the disposable diaper.
• Take the baby to water for a cleaning, removing all feces, or use a cloth diaper moistened with lukewarm water to clean, avoiding friction. When cleaning infant girls, it is important to wipe from the vagina toward the anus rather than the reverse (to prevent urinary infection).
• Dry thoroughly and put on a clean diaper. Use cornstarch but avoid talcum powders, which can cause allergies
• Avoid the use of premoistened wipes, which can cause allergic reactions in the child.

It is essential to ensure that all newborns are routinely monitored for the development of jaundice and that serum bilirubin should be measured in those at risk:
• in all babies if jaundice appears on day 1
• in preterm babies (<35 weeks) if jaundice appears on day 2
• in all babies if palms and soles are yellow at any age
Term and preterm newborns with hyperbilirubinaemia should be treated with phototherapy or exchange transfusion guided by the following cut-off levels of serum hyperbilirubinaemia shown in the table.

To reduce transmission of respiratory viruses during rooming-in and after hospital discharge, provide guidance to health professionals and family members on the following precautions:
• health professionals: disinfect hands before and after contact with patients.
• isolate patients hospitalized with suspicion of respiratory infection, with precautions that include:
· hand washing before and after contact with patients and their personal items;
· use of gloves and apron for contact with patients;

Mothers with normal babies (including those born by caesarean section) should stay with them in the same room day and night, from the moment they come to their room after delivery (or from when they were able to respond to their babies in the case of caesareans) except for periods of up to an hour for hospital procedures.
This practice rooming-in should start no later than one hour after normal vaginal deliveries. Normal postpartum mothers should have their babies with them or in cots by their bedside unless separation is indicated for medical reasons.

Immediately after birth, it is recommended to dry the baby with a clean, dry compress, check that he/she is breathing or crying and place him/her on the skin of the mother's abdomen while waiting for the delayed clamping of the umbilical cord.
Routine nasal or oral suction should not be done for newborns who start breathing on their own after birth, unless secretions are observed. Suctioning of mouth or nose is not recommended in neonates born through liquor with meconium who start breathing on their own, nor tracheal suctioning

All newborns should be given 1 mg of vitamin K intramuscularly after birth. Early administration of vitamin K prevents early bleeding due to vitamin K deficiency (hemorrhagic disease of the newborn) and prevents subsequent bleeding. Vitamin K should be applied immediately after the first postnatal hour during which skin-to-skin contact and the onset of breastfeeding should have occurred.

Responsive care encompasses both sensitivity and responsiveness with which a young infant is assisted. Sensitivity is awareness, from birth, of a young child’s acts and vocalizations as communicative signals to indicate needs and wants. Responsiveness is the capacity of parents and caregivers to respond appropriately to these signals. Caregivers enable infants to participate in human communication and exchanges by playing their own part in the interaction as well as helping the infant engage.

Breastfeeding provides both short- and long-term benefits to the child and the mother.

For the child, breastfeeding provides optimal nutrition and reduces incidence of disease and death. Breastfeeding, particularly exclusive breastfeeding, protects children from diarrhea and pneumonia, the two leading causes of death among children under age five. Other infections, including otitis media, Haemophilus influenzae meningitis, and urinary tract infections, are less common and less severe in infants who are breastfed.