Focus on Maternal and Infant Hygiene and Safety: Experts Offer Tips to Guard Babies' Healthy Growth

Recently, with the popularization of scientific parenting concepts, the issue of maternal and infant hygiene and safety has attracted increasing attention from parents and all sectors of society. To help parents master scientific knowledge of maternal and infant hygiene care and effectively reduce the risk of infants and young children contracting diseases, the Department of Child Health Care of the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital, jointly with the Nursing Department, has released The Guidelines for Maternal and Infant Hygiene and Safety and provided practical advice to parents through expert interpretations.

The guidelines clearly state that daily care is the foundation of maternal and infant hygiene and safety. Before touching the baby, parents and caregivers must thoroughly wash their hands with running water and mild hand sanitizer, with rubbing time of no less than 20 seconds, to prevent the transmission of bacteria and viruses to the baby. For breastfeeding mothers, it is necessary to clean the nipples and surrounding skin with warm water before each feeding—there is no need to use soap or disinfectants, as this avoids damaging the skin barrier and increasing the risk of infection.

Babies have delicate skin, so skincare products should prioritize baby-specific products with simple ingredients, no fragrances, no alcohol, and no irritating preservatives. Before use, a small-scale test can be conducted on the inside of the baby's arm to check for allergic reactions such as redness and itching. Baby clothing should be made of soft, breathable pure cotton; it should be washed separately and not mixed with adult clothes. Baby-specific laundry detergent should be used for washing, and after cleaning, the clothes should be fully dried in the sun to achieve sterilization with the help of ultraviolet rays.

Hygienic protection should also be well implemented for items commonly used by babies, such as bottles, nipples, tableware, and toys. Bottles and nipples must be cleaned promptly after each use and sterilized at high temperatures using specialized bottle sterilizers; after sterilization, they should be placed in a clean, well-ventilated area to dry for later use. Tableware should be cleaned with warm water after use and sterilized regularly. Cleaning methods for toys should be selected based on their materials: plush toys need to be cleaned and dried regularly, while plastic and rubber toys can be wiped or soaked in warm water for disinfection—this prevents babies from ingesting bacteria when biting the toys.

Director Li Min of the Department of Child Health Care at the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital emphasized during the interpretation: "Maternal and infant hygiene and safety is not merely a matter of 'cleaning'; it is a systematic work covering various aspects such as daily care, product selection, and environmental management. Parents need to enhance their awareness of hygiene and safety and create a safe and hygienic growth environment for babies starting from the details. This is an important measure to prevent common diseases in infants and young children, such as respiratory infections and digestive tract diseases."

Furthermore, to further popularize knowledge on maternal and infant hygiene and safety, the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital will launch the "Maternal and Infant Hygiene and Safety Promotion Week" activity later this month. Through forms such as expert lectures, on-site consultations, and distribution of promotional materials, the hospital will provide one-on-one guidance services to parents to address practical issues in maternal and infant hygiene care. At the same time, the hospital will also launch an online consultation platform, inviting professional medical staff to answer parents' questions online, helping more families scientifically carry out maternal and infant hygiene care.