Martha Houchin folded a receiving blanket at the corner, placed the doll on the cloth and wrapped it snugly before holding it up to show it off.
“It looks like a burrito, doesn’t it?” she said, laughing.
Houchin wasn’t giving cooking tips. She was demonstrating swaddling for participants of the Newborn Care and Safety Class on Thursday night at The Medical Center’s Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall.
“Swaddling mimics what’s in here,” she said, patting her belly. “If you’ve got fussy babies, swaddle them. It calms them down.”
Sponsored by The Medical Center and Kohl’s for Kids, the class is one of several “Preparing and Caring for Baby” classes offered by the hospital.
“We weren’t born with this skill. The more you know, the less anxious you will feel. We want you to know how to handle baby safely,” Houchin said. “We do this so you won’t be afraid of your baby. They sense how stressed you are and react to that by crying.”
Houchin stood in front of the group of expectant parents gently cradling the doll as if it were a real baby. Then, she encouraged the moms- and dads-to-be to play with their dolls, too.
“I know a lot of you dads feel silly holding a baby doll. I want you to feel comfortable with your baby,” she said. “You should walk around the house with a baby doll.”
The tips the expectant parents received included different ways to hold a baby, supporting the back and neck and sleeping positions.
“Don’t put baby in bed with you. They could suffocate. Always put babies to sleep on their backs, never on their stomachs or sides,” Houchin said. “They should have nothing in bed with them other than the swaddle blanket – no toys, no bumper pads, no big, fluffy comforters.”
The information about what to have in the crib was a surprise to some parents.
“I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to have anything else in the crib,” said Sherry Keown, of Brownsville.
Keown and her husband, Jarrod, are expecting their first child, a boy, on April 17.
“We felt like it would be something good,” Jarrod Keown said when asked why he and his wife decided to take the class. “You learn things you might not have known.”
Sherry Keown agreed.
“You want to make sure you’re doing everything right, like a lot of first-time parents,” she said.
Houchin encouraged the parents-to-be to consider having a fan in the baby’s room, but not blowing air directly on the baby, in an effort to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
“The fan moves the air constantly. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide,” she said. “(Research) is beginning to show that when babies have died of SIDS, they have gotten in a corner of the bed and were in a position to where they are breathing in their carbon dioxide.”
People should never shake a baby, Houchin said.
“It’s not always bad people who shake their babies. If you start to feel stressed about them crying, lay them in a crib, go outside for a little while and then come back,” she said. “It’s OK for them to cry some. When they cry it gets lots of oxygen in their lungs.”
Houchin also taught them about how to handle emergencies, such as choking and poisoning, and when to give CPR.
“Have the poison control number handy,” she said. “If a child eats or drinks something they shouldn’t, this is the first number you should call.”
Babies should be bathed once a week, and shouldn’t be immersed in water until the umbilical cord stump falls off, Houchin said.
“We used to recommend bathing every day, but it causes skin problems,” she said. “Clean from the cleanest part to the dirtiest part. Save the diaper for last because you never know what’s going to be in there.”
Tara and Timothy Bissell, of Bowling Green, are expecting their first child, a girl, on March 19. They said they were happy to be taking the class and that it would help them feel more confident about caring for their daughter.
“We thought it would be helpful,” Tara Bissell said.
Timothy Bissell agreed.
“It’s worth the time,” he said.
Houchin told the participants they were doing a good job in class.
“I’ve seen thousands of babies born, and it’s a miracle,” she said. “You fall in love with them.”
— The next class will be Feb. 11. For more information or to register, call 796-2495 or visit www.TheMedicalCenter.org.
