How a Red Towel Can Help Your Baby During Birth
Expectant mothers are advised to pack a red towel in their hospital bag for the birth of their baby. Why a red towel can help your baby give birth?
Are you just eagerly waiting for your baby to set off and give birth? Is the clinic bag packed in the hallway? Then you must be dreaming of the moment when your baby is finally placed in your arms and you can hold him or her close to you, wrapped in warm towels, and watch him or her for the first time. At that moment your baby needs you as his mummy, his daddy and a lot of closeness, peace and love.
Your baby might also be happy if it is also wrapped in a red towel. A red towel? A red towel? On pregnancy portals on the Internet, expectant mothers are recommended to pack a red towel in their hospital bag, because the red tones remind the baby of the womb and are therefore calming. Is there really something to it? We asked a midwife and a pediatrician about this.
Red towel to give babies a feeling of security
The experienced midwife Kareen Dannhauer from Berlin confirms: “Yes, I know this tip, sure, and I think a red towel for the baby in the delivery room is a nice idea. There are even some hospitals that already use such towels to welcome the baby after birth. What exactly babies feel at the sight of special colours and whether it brings them directly back to the security of the womb will remain their secret. But babies generally like colours and contrasts. But a red towel is not a must right now. I consider tactile sensory stimulation to be much more important: Namely, physical contact, carrying, all that – and babies demand this with their healthy attachment behaviour.”
Babies need above all physical contact
Dr. Annette Lingenauber, a specialist in paediatrics and adolescent medicine from Hamburg, confirms this assessment: although there are no clear medical data to suggest that a certain colour can calm a baby, she says there is nothing wrong with trying it out. “A wide variety of influences, such as the feeling of satiety, the parents’ sense of security and a pleasant ambient temperature, are effective in calming the baby, so I don’t think it can be reduced to a single colour. But it is certainly not a mistake to try it out. But above all, a baby is happy about peace, soothing voices, maybe music and a lot of physical contact.
So a red towel in the hospital bag can’t hurt – and if it only ensures that the expectant mum feels well prepared and that the baby has a colourful place to cuddle when it is welcomed into the world. The first moments as a small family are magical. And the red towel will forever remind you of this special magic of birth!