There truly is no manual with your new package, but the fundamental basics include keeping the baby warm, fed and nurtured. All newborns enter into a due protocol when born in a hospital setting. They are treated with erythromycin antibiotic ointment applied in the first hour to both eyes. This reduces any potential eye infection. Parents often ask me not to do this, as they are concerned that it will affect the baby.
The ointment does not sting or hurt the baby, and it does not cause any visual compromise in that the baby does not have normal vision in the first few weeks anyway.
The ointment prevents any eye infection that might require future application of the same ointment 4 to 6 times a day for seven days. Babies are fragile in the beginning and potentially have a tendency to bleed due to an insufficient clotting mechanism. For this reason vitamin K is injected into newborns within the first 6 hours of birth. Certain diseases can be present in apparently healthy newborns and if untreated can cause irreversible mental retardation.
Phenylketonuria hyperphenylalaninemia occurs in about 1 in 18,000 babies and is treated with a special diet. Congenital hypothyroidism occurs in 1 in 3,000 to 4,000 babies and is treated by giving the baby thyroid pills daily. Galactosemia occurs in 1 in 30,000 babies and is treated with a special diet. Medium Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase deficiency (MCAD) is seen in 1 in 12,000 babies and treated with diet. These four diseases are all tested for after 24 hours of birth.
