Some recent threads have addressed the issue of infants leaving the mom's room for care. I know we have all had pts who insisted that a parent accompany baby out of the room for any reason. This is probably going to open a can of worms, but it's something that has always managed to make me feel a bit defensive - like they think I'm going to do something evil or stick a rubber nipple in the kid's mouth the minute I'm out of sight! It just always rattled my chain as a professional.
OF COURSE the parents have every right to go with their babies, and in my rational mind I know I'm being silly. But I'm curious - have you ever BEEN one of those parents? If so, what was your concern based on? Especially I would like to hear from those who are not OB nurses who read posts here.
And let's all assume that we realize most procedures can be done in the mom's room (PKU's, hearing screens, etc), but we all know that some hospitals do it differently. We will leave that discussion for another day!
My kids don't roam free either. I live in a pretty "safe" small town. We all know nowhere is really safe anymore. The idea that someone would push the baby out of the room w/o telling you is just awful That type of thing makes people very adamant about keeping the baby in the room and just destroys the trust and respect the pt. has for the nursing staff. I hope that person got into a lot of trouble. Poor You! As I said, I never had a problem w/ my baby going to the nursery, but that would give me a real problem. I think when I was in school, a lot of the nurses in the nursery which had a separate staff back then, still does at that hospital, had the idea that the babies belonged to them in the hopsital, not the parents! (sorry for the run-on sentence).
I am one of those parents. As a parent, all I know about a nurse when I walk through the doors of a hospital is his or her name, occupation, and place of employment. I don't know if she will supplement without my consent, give tests I refuse, etc. As a parent, my first and foremost repsonsibility is to my child, not to the feelings of the nurse in question. For me, it's a matter of priorities.
Also, as a parent, I am not away from my newborns for months, so why should I be asked to be separated from them when they are only hours old? I've had nurses kind of whine that they aren't able to rock my babies because I don't allow them into the nursery. Have your own baby if you need to rock someone! This one's mine!
Security isn't on my mind too much, but I think it is still an issue in many hospitals. I don't think parents who want to be sure their babies are switched or stolen are overreacting, especially in hospitals that run 300+ births per month.
Of course, this is all the more reason why I homebirth, lol.
imenid37
1,804 Posts
My kids don't roam free either. I live in a pretty "safe" small town. We all know nowhere is really safe anymore. The idea that someone would push the baby out of the room w/o telling you is just awful That type of thing makes people very adamant about keeping the baby in the room and just destroys the trust and respect the pt. has for the nursing staff. I hope that person got into a lot of trouble. Poor You! As I said, I never had a problem w/ my baby going to the nursery, but that would give me a real problem. I think when I was in school, a lot of the nurses in the nursery which had a separate staff back then, still does at that hospital, had the idea that the babies belonged to them in the hopsital, not the parents! (sorry for the run-on sentence).