Research on the practice of massaging the head of a baby with hot water and ointments in Ghana. By Dzamesi Yael (Ph.D. in Science Education)
The head of a newborn baby
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The succeeding two pages review the followings:
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The structure of a skull of a newborn baby.
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The functions of fontanelles and sutures.
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The importance of the circumference of the head of a newborn baby, and the rate of the growth of the head of a baby.
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The reason of the vibrating skin as it is seen on the anterior fontanelle (the soft spot).
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The medical importance of the appearance of the anterior fontanelle (the soft spot).
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Abstract.
The skull of a baby is not made of one bone but of many separated bones that are called the cranial bones. In many babies the mother can see or feel soft spots in the skull and delicate lines/cracks across the skull. The medical name of the soft spots is fontanelles. One, which is visible and distinct because of the vibration of the skin above it, is the anterior fontanelle in the front of the head of a baby. Under all soft spots or fontanelles there are no bones but connective membranes that connect between the bones bordering the fontanelles and cover the brain. Therefore, as the heart pushes the blood to the blood vessels and into the brain, the shaking or movement of the blood vessels also moves the membrane and the skin above the fontanelles. We can see it only in the anterior fontanelle because the gap under the skin is big while in the rest of the fontanelles the gaps are small. ​ ​
The name of the lines/cracks seeing in the head of a baby is sutures. The fontanelles and the sutures in the skull of a baby play two major functions.
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At birth, the spaces of the fontanelles and the sutures permit the movement of the cranial bones resulting in their overlapping each other under the pressure of a childbirth. This process reduces the diameter of the skull of a baby and enables it to pass through the narrow birth canal, which is encircled by the pelvis bones.
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After birth, fontanelles and sutures enable the skull to expand with the rapid growing of the brain inside the skull. The last of the sutures will be closed and fused when the baby is an adult and around 24 years old, while the fontanelles will be closed and fused generally around 18 to 24 months after birth.
The appearance of the anterior fontanelle indicates the health condition of a baby. A sunken anterior fontanelle or soft spot indicates that the baby dehydrates, and therefore, the baby should be given water or milk to drink. A projecting or protruding anterior fontanelle or soft spot indicates that the baby is very sick and therefore, he or she should be taken immediately to a hospital.