Is it a common practice to give newly delivered sick babies an initial bath before they are stable?

no , we only swab them and when they stabilsed then take first bath.

I agree--don't bathe until stable.

sick babies are not given bath in our nursery till they are stable, Only they are cleanes with swabs or wer sqeezed towel . At times even after morning routine in nursery with swabbing even a stable babies become unstable ,this is more often in morning shift , then even swabbing is with helsd for that baby.

We dont bathe sick newborns. They are cleaned with gauze and warm water after stabilization. Even the normal newborn bath is postponded for 4-6 hours until their body temperature is stabilized.

The daily bath also is not recommended