New clinical study highlights how different baby wipe products can impact skin integrity of infants .
The Baby Skin Integrity Comparison Survey ( BaSICS ) reveals babies cleansed with WaterWipes had a lower incidence and a shorter duration of nappy rash compared to other leading brands .
The BaSICS study of 698 mothers , showed babies cleansed with WaterWipes ( brand three in the study ; with the fewest ingredients ) are less likely to get moderate to severe nappy rash , and if they do , it lasts fewer days compared to other leading brands . The other brands in the study are marketed as mild and gentle enough for newborn skin but contain additional ingredients compared to WaterWipes .
Midwifery-led ‘ real-world ’ study
The clinical study , conducted by the University of Salford in Greater Manchester ( UK ) has been published in Pediatrics and Neonatology1 and is the first research of its kind to reveal that different formulations of baby wipes can impact the skin integrity of newborns .
The innovative midwifery-led ‘ realworld ’ study compares the incidence and duration of nappy rash on infants with different leading brands of baby wipes . The study showed that mothers using WaterWipes on their babies ’ skin had a lower incidence of nappy rash * ( 19 %), compared to those cleansed with brand one ( 25 %) or brand two ( 30 %). For each day of nappy rash * experienced by the WaterWipes babies , the rash would have lasted approximately 50 % longer had mothers used the other brands - 1.69 days with brand two ( p < 0.001 ) and 1.48 days with brand one ( p = 0.002 ).
“ The BaSICS study is the first research indicating that a baby wipe product may be a determinant of infant skin integrity in the first eight-weeks of life ,” says Professor Penny Cook , Professor in Public Health from the University of Salford . “ These findings indicate that the baby wipe with the fewest ingredients has the lowest incidence and shortest duration of moderate nappy rash *.”
Experimental study design
The mothers who completed the study were divided into three groups . Each group was allocated at random a different brand of baby wipe marketed specifically as being mild and gentle enough for newborn skin . All mothers received the same brand of disposable nappies and researchers involved in the analysis of the data were blind to the baby wipe brand . Skin integrity was graded from one ( no rash ) to five ( severe rash ) and moderate to severe nappy rash was identified as three or above .