Baby’s first outing

When is it the right time to take your newborn out in public for the first time? Pearl Rantsekeng got some different cultural and medical views on the matter

IT IS FAIRLY COMMON to see babies of a few days old out and about at the mall, lovingly cradled in mom’s or dad’s arms. Perhaps you have noticed, though, that these newborns are mostly white and that you seldom see black babies out in public at such a young age? What’s going on here?

Dr Tiny Mhinga from Fourways jokes that “black parents must just have an extra layer of overprotectiveness...” before saying that it is a fallacy that newborns can’t go out within days of birth.

“All babies, irrespective of their skin colour, are born with some natural protection. They have yellow fat known as adipose tissue. This fat is there to help cushion and insulate the body and as the child grows older it disappears and becomes thinner and thinner,” explains Dr Mhinga.

He adds the reason babies are inoculated immediately after birth is to help strengthen their immune system in order for them to be able to fight germs.

However, retired cultural expert Professor Jabulani Maphalala from the University of Zululand holds a different view about when a baby can go out in the world. There are cultural reasons why many new black moms stay home with their little ones for up to three months. He wishes for people to understand why some cultures require things be done in a certain way, before just dismissing it out of hand.

FAMILIES HAVE THEIR OWN RITUALS

“In the past most births occurred at home, not in a hospital. In some areas this is still the case,” says Prof Maphalala.

“A woman would then give birth and stay home, mostly with her mom, for at least a month and in extreme cases for up to three months.

“In the first three months of the baby’s life the mom also would not have penetrative sex. Sex without penetration is called ukusoma. If sex happens earlier, it is said to be a bad omen for the newborn, as the newborn is still regarded as weak,” Prof Maphalala explains the traditional Zulu viewpoint.

During the time when the newborn is kept home, the family gets to perform its own rituals.

“There are ‘izintelezi’ and ‘izinyamazane zakubo’, traditional concoctions that the child is given to drink, also to remove ‘inyoni’. (Inyoni is a Zulu word that refers to the red mark on the back of a baby’s neck, sometimes called a ‘stork bite’. Traditionally the mark is believed to be dangerous, but doctors disagree and say it will disappear by itself without treatment.)

“By the time the baby goes out to meet the world the family is sure that his immune system is strong enough to withstand any kind of illness that he might be exposed to in public,” he explains.

While indoors, the child is exclusively breastfed. Prof Maphalala adds that this is an important component in helping to make and keep the newborn’s immune system strong.

ANOTHER VIEW

Dr Mhinga, on the other hand, believes it is only through exposure that one can develop immunity.

“Wrapping a small baby in layers of warm clothes, designed for a European winter, is just too much for our kind of weather. The little thing can’t breathe through the skin, or even move. And when they are being fed they can’t play and kick, and hence they end up being cranky, or worse, develop a temperature,” he adds.

He says the only time a child should be cooped up is when the child’s health is compromised, for example in the case of a premature baby or a baby that was born ill. Or, he adds, when there is an adult that has a contagious condition such as tuberculosis in the house.

MIDDLE GROUND? Many a paediatrician will advise new moms that fresh air is great for both baby and mom, and that going for a walk can be good for your circulation. But attempting this on day two of being home might be overdoing it.

If you’ve been home for a few days and are yearning to get out, stroll around the garden and if the weather is fine, your baby can join you. But don’t go on a fitness walk just yet.

Generally, the medical consensus is that for the first six to eight weeks of the baby’s arrival new parents should exercise caution about taking their newborn to crowded places like malls and supermarkets, or other siblings’ schools, or even church, as the chance of exposure to many germs increases the more people there are around. If you minimise your child’s exposure you give his immune system a chance to get up and running. YB