How to clean a newborn’s vagina

newborn-cleaningSome people recommend that parents ignore the whitish material that accumulates between the labia majora (outside vaginal lips) and labia minora (inside vaginal lips). I prefer that parents clean the area because otherwise poop can get mixed in with the discharge and irritate the baby’s skin.
However, cleaning this area often makes parents nervous. I recommend two things to make this easier. First, you don’t need to remove all of the goo at one time. Second, clean the area by gently wiping with a cotton washcloth in a downward direction. (I prefer washcloths to cotton balls because they have better traction.) Third, if you clean the area with each diaper change, less goo will accumulate and the whole process becomes simpler.

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