The disadvantage of hot water bath for babies

Hellen Bulu, a community health technician, says giving babies hot water bath and stretching their arms in an attempt to massage them is dangerous for them.

Bulu, who works with Family Health Clinic, gave the advice in a lecture to mothers at an immunisation programme on Thursday in Abuja.

She said that God, who put the baby in their womb, had already done the needful, adding that bathing newborn with hot water can cause high temperature.

She stated that the whites do not engage in such act yet their babies survived. The health technician noted that such attitude was only common to Africans.

Bulu also advised mothers to breastfeed newborns rather than apply hot water when the baby’s body experienced high temperature.

According to her, the more you breastfeed the baby, the more the temperature comes down.

“If the baby’s body swell up do not apply hot water or Robb, just keep looking at the baby’s body, it will come down after a while,” NAN quoted her as saying.

She said that if the high temperature persists the best thing to do was to visit the hospital, adding that it could be a sign of fever.

Besides, she advised that women should embark on family planning after six weeks of delivery, stressing that family planning after six month had no implications.

Bulu added that it would only help the husband to perform his conjugal obligation without any inhibition.

She advised mothers to breastfeed their babies for six months without water, explaining that six months was the most appropriate for their development.