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No significant differences in bathing infants with water vs. wash product

Researchers were unable to detect significant differences, including skin hydration loss, between using a wash product formulated for newborns and water, according to recent study results.

In a midwife blinded study in England, researchers studied 307 healthy infants, recruited within 48 hours of birth. The infants were randomly assigned to being washed with Johnson’s Baby Top-to-Toe Bath (n=159; 53% male) or with water alone (n=148; 50% male).

 

Tina Lavender

Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) at 14 days postbirth was the primary outcome. Researchers predetermined a TEWL difference of 1.2 as noncritical. Changes in stratum corneum hydration, skin surface PH, skin clinical observations and maternal views were secondary outcome measures.

At follow-up, 242 infants (78.8%) had complete TEWL data. Differences between wash product and water in intention-to-treat analysis (–0.08; 95% CI, –1.24 to 1.07) and per protocol analysis (–0.17; 95% CI, –1.42 to 1.09) were not significant when adjusted for family history of eczema, infant state at 2 weeks and baseline, and baseline TEWL.

“Wash was noninferior to water alone in terms of TEWL,” the researchers said.

Stratum corneum hydration was higher in the infants bathed in Top-to Toe Bath at 14 days; after adjustment, however, the difference was not considered significant and was reduced at 28 days. Other secondary outcomes also showed no significant differences.

The results challenged National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence postnatal care guidelines in the United Kingdom that recommend bathing with water alone in the early postnatal period.

“These results should provide health care professionals and parents with much needed evidence-based information giving them the option to support the skin care cleansing regimen chosen by individual parents for their newborn babies,” researcher Tina Lavender, DBE, PhD, MSC, RM, RGN, professor of midwifery at The University of Manchester, said in a news release.

Disclosure: Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies funded the study.