03/01/2026
Maddy had this beautiful home birth and I had the honor to be her doula. She has a way with words that I just love everything she writes. Do you know what vernix caseosa is? She explains it here, beautifully, as she always do. ❤️
Posted • ✨VERNIX CASEOSA✨
You may have heard of babies coming out looking like they’re covered in cottage cheese or heard someone say “look at that birthday frosting!” What is all of this cheesy/frosty cream?! It’s called vernix caseosa.
First off, vernix is completely normal and like pretty much all things birth, it’s really freaking cool. At around 19 weeks gestation, babies start to develop vernix, which is a coating that covers your baby’s skin during their time in utero. Can you imagine sitting in water constantly?! We sit in a bath for 10+ minutes and start to wrinkle so this substance is created to protect our little babies fragile skin from becoming damaged by amniotic fluid.
The vernix continues to thicken until around 34 weeks when it slowly starts to fall off and our babies eat it. By 40 weeks, the vernix is mostly gone.
However! Babies born early tend to still have the vernix on their skin. So what should you do? RUB IT IN! Don’t wash it off. Here are are the cool benefits of vernix:
✨contains antioxidant properties
✨may help regulate babies body temperature
✨contains antimicrobial properties
✨natural moisturizer to prevent cracking or dry skin
✨natural lubricant during labor
✨contains wound healing properties for mama
✨the scent may help babies latch
✨helps nourish babies gut bacteria
And honestly, there’s even more benefits. So don’t do it! Don’t rub it off and if possible, delay that first bath until it’s all gone. (Delaying a bath has other great benefits we can discuss later) for now, let’s try to bottle up some vernix right?! ❤️
Birth photos all from the best birth photographer: .hirsch ❤️
