YuinYin.com

So after I spent years in medical school, I find out that every mum is naturally born to be very smart. What ever that mother did, somehow there is a reason behind it and it is scientifically proven good for her children. I guess it’s the maternal instinct; God created every mother with this. If you have newborn in the family, probably you will notice some specific things that mother does such as hold the baby when she feed him and then after feeding, she will… sort of massage his back until he burps. Then when she baths the baby, she will not put his whole body into the baby tub. And my ENT professor told us why.

In infants, the Eustachian tube is shorter and wider, and it is more horizontal placed than in adults. The horizontal course of the Eustachian tube permits easy transfer of bacteria from the nose to the middle ear space leading to infection of the middle ear (otitis media). Thus, we should feed the infant with the infant’s head elevated, in order to reduce the risk of milk entering the middle ear space. And infant’s gastrointestinal tract has not reach complete functional development; we must help him massage his back till he burps to ensure that the milk has completely emptied the oral cavity to avoid milk from entering the middle ear through Eustachian tube.

Since newborns will be always lying down and sleeping, it is very difficult to remove water that enters their ear during bath. Infant warm body temperature and moist condition of ear facilitates growth of bacteria and lead to infection. Be very careful when u bath infants, do not let any water get into their ears. Infants they are very vulnerable, their immune system are not well developed like in adults. It’s our job to protect them from those dangerous microorganisms.

Mums are so great~ don’t you think so? Even without any medical knowledge, they know exactly how to protect their babies.

[ Eustachian tube is a narrow tube that connects the middle ear to the nasopharynx. Normally, it opens with every swallow or yawn to act as a pressure-equalizing valve for the middle ear. It also serves to drain the mucus produced by the lining of the middle ear.]

Posted in Children's health