Surely on more than one occasion you have seen videos of babies that at birth are taken by health professionals to aspirate mouth secretions and to pass probes through the nose and rectum as a method to diagnose permeability problems. I published one not long ago in which some of these maneuvers could be seen.
If you have not seen them, perhaps as mothers or fathers you have seen your children do (or perhaps they have done it and have not seen it), the fact is that nowadays they are practices that are in disuse and today I love you explain the reason: why it is no longer recommended to vacuum the mouth or pass probes through the nose and rectum of newborn babies.
Why it was done
Evidently it was not done to annoy babies or to annoy them, although it certainly happened (they were annoyed and bothered). The goal of aspirating the oral cavity and nose, for example, was to minimize respiratory complications. If for some reason the baby had been in contact with the meconium (the baby's first poop) and remains of it were in his mouth and nose there was a risk that when he began to breathe there would be an aspiration of the meconium.
However, some publications have shown that aspiration after birth does not prevent of the so-called meconial aspiration syndrome (it seems that it is a phenomenon that happens intrauterine and that can hardly be prevented), but, at best, can help reduce its severity a bit. As such aspiration it also carries some risks the need or not to carry it out was called into question.
Why it is now recommended not to test the permeability with probes
With regard to testing the permeability of the respiratory and digestive system with probes through the nose and rectum, it is still done in some centers because they consider that in this way they can know that the child can eat without problems (because the esophagus is open and the milk will be able to reach the stomach), it will be able to breathe without problems (because the choanas are permeable) and it will be able to poop without problems (because there are no obstacles between the exit of the rectum and the colon).
However, it is now recommended don't do it systematically, but only children suspected of having problems. If a baby is born healthy and there is nothing that can make you think that there may be a problem, the best place you are is with your mother, on your chest, in skin-to-skin contact, waiting for you to take your first shot. chest.
Altering that moment, separating them, introducing probes and elements through their mouth and nose, can make that from that moment the child starts to suck badly, that the link between mother and child is altered and that there may be subsequent problems for this reason (many of the children who start breastfeeding end up taking a bottle because a solution has not been found).
In addition, some research comparing some children with others shows that babies who are not aspirated at birth have a heart rate less than 3 to 6 minutes after birth (they are calmer), who obtain oxygen saturation levels higher than 92% before the others (at six minutes, compared to the eleven minutes of the others) and who obtain best results in the Apgar test at five minutes.
For all this, as I say, it is recommended not aspire to newborns if there is no real reason To do this, do not check the permeability of the nose, esophagus and rectum with probes, if there is no suspicion of a possible problem.
