Assalaamu alaykum. 1. When does a newborn's first bath need to be after birth? The hospital I am going to believes that the 'slimy stuff' (I think its called vernix caseosa) is medically good for the baby and the baby's skin. Because of this, the hospital only wipes the baby after birth and will only bathe the baby after 2 days. 2. Do I need to request for the babies to be bathed earlier? 3. Is this considered to be 'naji's' (filth)? 4. Also, if they have not yet bathed the baby, can anyone touch the baby or wait until the baby is pure/cleansed (bathed)? 5. If they do touch the baby before the baby was bathed, do they need to take a bath or ghusl. e.g. if my husband holds the baby, does he need to take a bath? Thank you in advance. Wassalaam.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

According to our knowledge, there is no religious text in the Quran or the Sunnah identifying a specific time for giving a newborn his first bath after birth. There is also no religious text forbidding giving a newborn a bath right after birth. Hence, there are no restrictions in this matter, and what should be considered is the best interest of the newborn. Ibn ʻAbbaas said, “The lawful is what Allaah made lawful, the unlawful is what Allaah made unlawful, and what He was silent about, then it is pardoned...” [Abu Daawood] The report means that the matters that are not addressed by the sharee'ah (Islamic law) and are neither declared prohibited or disliked are pardonable, i.e. you are not held accountable for them.

Shaykh Ibn ʻUthaymeen said:

“The matters left unaddressed by the sharee'ah are pardoned because if Allaah, The Exalted, had wanted to forbid such matters, then He would have deemed them as such and commanded us to avoid them; and if He had wanted to deem them obligatory, then He would have commanded us to observe them. Since such matters were not addressed by the sharee'ah and were not declared either obligatory or prohibited, they are pardoned; it is left for the individual to choose whether to observe or avoid such matters.”

The scholars advised that the newborn is ritually pure and it is not obligatory to wash him right after birth even if there is moisture on his skin. Al-Kharashi cited on the authority of Al-Qurtubi that he said, "They (scholars) unanimously agreed that the living believer is pure, even the newborn who is delivered covered with the moisture of the vagina. The scholarly difference of opinion regarding the moisture of the vagina does not apply in this case." [Sharh Mukhtasar Khaleel]

An-Najm Al-Wahhaaj fi Sharh Al-Minhaaj reads, “As for the newborn who is delivered covered with moisture, the scholars unanimously agreed that it is not obligatory to wash him, and there is no scholarly difference of opinion in this regard because it is established that the believer never becomes impure (as asserted in the hadeeth).”

Al-Ghurar Al-Bahiyyah fi Sharh Al-Bahjah Al-Wardiyyah reads, “The placenta around the fetus is ritually pure in humans and impure in non-human beings.”

Hence, if this substance, vernix caseosa, on the newborn's skin after birth touches anyone, then he is not obliged to wash it because it is pure. Also, there is no need for delaying touching the baby until he takes his first bath.

Allaah knows best.