Rubbing newborns with salt is one of the oldest recorded birth rituals in human history, practiced across the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East for a mix of medical, religious, and superstitious reasons. The practice dates back at least to biblical times and persisted for millennia, with versions of it still occurring in parts of Turkey and other regions today.
The Biblical Record
The earliest well-known reference appears in the Book of Ezekiel (16:4), where salting is listed alongside cutting the umbilical cord and swaddling as a standard part of newborn care. Biblical commentators have long interpreted the ritual as both practical and symbolic. Salt was associated with purification, preservation, and covenant-making in ancient Israelite culture. Rubbing it on a newborn expressed a hope for vigorous health and spiritual protection, much the way salt preserved food from decay.
The symbolism ran deep. Salt’s ability to prevent putrefaction made it a natural metaphor for longevity and purity. Parents weren’t just cleaning a baby; they were ritually dedicating the child and warding off corruption, both physical and spiritual.
What Ancient Doctors Believed
Greek and Roman physicians gave the practice a medical framework. Galen, one of the most influential doctors in antiquity, recommended salting newborns to harden the skin and improve hygiene. Dioscorides, a contemporary pharmacologist, emphasized salt’s cleansing properties. Soranus of Ephesus described a routine in which newborns were sprinkled with water and salt before being swaddled.
The logic made intuitive sense at the time. A newborn emerges covered in fluids, and salt is a natural desiccant. Ancient practitioners believed it would dry, firm, and strengthen delicate skin, essentially toughening the baby for life outside the womb. Without germ theory, the drying and mildly antiseptic qualities of salt seemed like sound medicine.
Folk Traditions That Kept It Alive
Long after ancient medicine faded, the practice survived as folk tradition, particularly in Turkey, the Middle East, and parts of the broader Mediterranean. A study of 263 mothers in Sivas, Turkey, found that salting was among the most common traditional newborn care practices, alongside swaddling and a ritual bath on the 40th day after birth. Mothers with lower levels of education applied these practices more frequently.
The reasons families gave were often practical-sounding but rooted in folk belief. A more recent qualitative study in southeastern Turkey found that the primary reason mothers salted their babies was to prevent the child from developing body odor or excessive sweating later in life. Some mothers applied a mixture of salt and olive oil for 30 minutes; others left it on for one to two hours.
The practice was often driven by older family members, particularly mothers-in-law. One mother in the study described the dynamic bluntly: “I applied salt to prevent the baby from developing a smell when they grow up, as advised by my mother-in-law. Personally, I doubt its effectiveness. Being bedridden after giving birth, I couldn’t argue with them.” The pressure to follow tradition, backed by the logic of “we did it this way and everything turned out fine,” made it difficult for new mothers to refuse.
Why It’s Medically Dangerous
Modern medicine has made clear that rubbing salt on a newborn is not just unnecessary but genuinely harmful. A newborn’s skin barrier is not fully formed, which means salt can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream, driving sodium levels to dangerous heights.
A clinical study tracking ten severely affected newborns found that 40% had been salted shortly after birth. Among these infants, half developed dehydration. Twenty percent experienced seizures. Another 20% developed severe jaundice with a complication called kernicterus, which damages the brain. Two of the ten babies died. Among the survivors, at least two showed lasting neurological damage: one had spasticity and developmental disability at three months, another had developmental disability at six months.
The broader medical literature paints a consistent picture. Excessive salt exposure through a newborn’s skin can cause hypernatremia (dangerously high blood sodium), kidney failure, skin that appears dry or burned, skin lesions, intracranial bleeding, and in extreme cases, gangrene. Any of these can be fatal in an infant only days old.
How the Practice Persists
Despite these risks, salting hasn’t disappeared entirely. It tends to survive in rural communities where hospital births are less common and where grandmothers and traditional birth attendants play a central role in newborn care. The tradition carries the weight of generations, and the reasoning sounds harmless on its surface: cleanliness, good smell, healthy skin. Healthcare professionals working in these regions have identified it as a specific target for education, but changing deeply rooted family practices takes time, especially when the older generation sees their own healthy children as proof that the practice works.
The gap between ancient intention and modern understanding is striking. For thousands of years, salting a baby was an act of love and protection, grounded in the best knowledge available. The symbolic power of salt (purity, preservation, strength) aligned neatly with what early physicians believed about its physical effects. It’s only with modern neonatology that the real danger became visible: the very thing meant to strengthen a newborn’s body can overwhelm it.