baby to the nursery please

[jennifers]

Do your parents send their newborns to the nursery for the entire night? Is this allowed by your facility? We understand if the mom had a c/s and has no one to stay and help her. but what about those intact svd's on their second night?

What about those boarding with their infnat on bili lights? Do they stay to board to spend time with the infant and come night want it to go to the nursery?

what is your nursery nurse to patient ratio?

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Of course, we do have those lower socio-economic people who send the baby to the nursery as soon as they can so they can go outside to smoke. They stay gone for hours and see their baby for very short intervals.

Wow- only lower socio-economic people do this?

[themoreyouknow]

Wow- only lower socio-economic people do this?

So far, it has been what I have seen. I can't vouch for this at other hospitals, but where I work - it is definitely the case. These moms want to go off the unit to get cigarettes (or whatever else they are after). We have no policy stating they have to remain on the unit. Sometimes, they stay gone for hours and come back reeking of cigarette smoke. Even though we are a non-smoking facility (and I tell them this), patients still go outside to smoke. I've had patients tell me "I know we cant smoke here, so my friend picked me up and we drove around town for a while so I could smoke."

We are in the process of getting liability waivers for people who want to leave the floor. If that mom leaves the hospital to "drive around" and hemorrhages, it's possible the hospital could be liable since she is still a patient.

All walks of life drop baby in the nursery at night. At my facility, it seems to be the lower socio-economic crowd that drops baby all day in the nursery. This may not ring out at every hospital, but it is true for ours.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Thanks for clarifying.

I have to admit, with my second son, he spent the nights in the nursery unless it was feeding time. He was with me the rest of the time. With my first I insisted he stay with me and by the time I was released I was a mess. I had terrible PPD and felt like I'd been hit by a train but was afraid to send him to the nursery because I didn't want to be one of "those" moms.. I struggled with breast feeding and didn't sleep most of the time I was there. It was not the beautiful experience I expected it to be. Expecting new moms to be super mom right out of the gate, imho, is ridiculous.

With #2, the nurse said to me on day 1, (I had c-sections with both) that I needed my rest as much as he did and that it would be best for him and me if I sent him to the nursery at night. I didn't argue, by that point I didn't really care if I was viewed as a "lazy" mom for trying to get some recovery time in for myself too. I think I even let them keep him for the whole night my last night there allowing them to feed him formula (gasp) that night. Do I feel bad? Not even a little. I had a one year old at home and major surgery to recover from.

Lazy mom, raising her hand.

[proudnurseRN]

After coming in early for induction, going through that, keeping the baby all night and the next day...that 2nd night I was exhausted. I may have had 3hrs of sleep in 48hrs, and even that was broken up. About 3am I called the nursery to take the baby because if I didn't get any sleep I was going to go crazy. They took him, my husband came in about 8am and got him, and I felt like a whole new person with my 5hrs of sleep.

Lazy mom, raising her hand her also.

[PedsAtHeart, LPN]

I have never worked OB but have had 2 children, at the same hospital, with VERY different experiences.

When my daughter was born they would not even let you keep your baby in the room with you. It was much a relief for me as I had a c-section and was very sick. Spent 2 weeks in the hospital. I was breastfeeding also and they refused to give a bottle at all. After a week and a half in the hospital, in the middle of the night, 3 nurses trying to restart an IV on me, they brought my daughter in crying to be fed... I begged them just to give her a bottle. They refused.

When my son was born via c-section, *same hospital* he roomed with me the whole 4 days I was there. There was one night that the nurse came and asked me if I would like for them to take him to the nursery for a couple of hours so I could get some rest. Thank goodness!!! Yeah... I was all alone, no help. His dad felt it more important to party while I was in the hospital... A whole other story though :)

So after all that... I guess what I was trying to say is it just depends on hospital policy.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

they brought my daughter in crying to be fed... I begged them just to give her a bottle. They refused.

They refused to give her a bottle?? What if you chose not to breastfeed? Was that even an option?

That does not sound like a very good experience.

[rn/writer, RN]

On the postpartum unit where I work (separate from L&D) we have babies in the nursery just about every night, and that's fine with me.

As others have mentioned, the moms are our patients, too. Some have labored on and off for several days. Some have labored on and off for several days and then had a section. Even the ones who have had relatively quick, complication-free deliveries may have slept poorly toward the end of the pregnancy. Many of them are just wiped out with fatigue, relief, drowsiness from medication, visitors, and the whole shebang.

We'll take care of babies who are "out on demand," so the mom can catch a few hours. Sometimes we'll give one bottle feeding and that's the only one in a 24-hour period. That 5-6 hour chunk of sleep can provide more rest and restoration than 8 hours with three interruptions. We'll also take formula-fed babies for the night.

We do keep an eye on women who leave their babies in the nursery for a good portion of the day and night. Or those who want us to do most of the feedings and changings. If we think there may be a bonding issue or some other problem, we nurses can call for a social service consult.

Many of our moms have other kids. If they want to sleep enough to feel human before going home, I'm all for it. I did it myself, and was grateful to have the chance.

There is one other reason I will gladly take a baby to the nursery if mom asks. I've had two scary incidents where mom fell asleep with the baby in the hospital bed with her. In one case, the child slid down beneath the blankets and ended up wedged under the large mom's hip. In the other incident, the baby was stuck between mom and the bedrail. Both of these women were in a heavy exhausted sleep and only woke up when I was working to find and free the babies.

These women were horrified at what they had done, and I was pretty shook up as well.

I was more than willing to take both babies to the nursery.

[themoreyouknow]

There is one other reason I will gladly take a baby to the nursery if mom asks. I've had two scary incidents where mom fell asleep with the baby in the hospital bed with her. In one case, the child slid down beneath the blankets and ended up wedged under the large mom's hip. In the other incident, the baby was stuck between mom and the bedrail. Both of these women were in a heavy exhausted sleep and only woke up when I was working to find and free the babies.

These women were horrified at what they had done, and I was pretty shook up as well.

I was more than willing to take both babies to the nursery.

:yeah:Your post was very well-written!

With my first two children, I had Normal SVD. I kept them at my bedside and never let them go to the nursery. I was so excited to see them. With my last child, my labor failed to progress and I ended up with a c-section. I was not an L&D nurse then. I was a nursing student. I wanted to breastfeed this baby as I had my 2nd child. The nurses came in every TWO hours and woke me up to breast feed. I was so exhausted. I woke up and Jack had slipped down and was hanging between the mattress and the bedrail. I started crying and called for the nurse. I asked if he could please go to the nursery for just a couple hours. I was so very tired. "Well then, we'll have to bottle feed him and you won't be able to breastfeed anymore." What? "You can't do both. Either you breastfeed and he stays in here with you or you bottle feed and we'll feed him for you if you feel you can't."

I cried and sent him to the nursery feeling like the crappiest mother in the world. "We'll feed him if you can't" was resonating in my ears. Wow.

I knew it was ok to bottle and breast feed (babies drink breast milk from a bottle all the time!) but I was too weary to argue with her. I just felt like a schmuck.

I have made sure to never, Never, NEVER make my moms feel this way.

Every one needs a rest.

[rn/writer, RN]

Either you breastfeed and he stays in here with you or you bottle feed and we'll feed him for you if you feel you can't."

Don't know if the nurse was trying to manipulate you into keeping your child with you or was badly educated or what, but there is a third option. It's called "out on demand."

We do this with lots of breastfed babies. The moms need sleep, and they're afraid they won't wake up in time to feed their babies (who may also need to be awakened after the four-hour maximum time). We'll either arrange to go into the room to make sure the feeding isn't missed, or we'll keep the baby in the nursery and take her back when it's time to feed.

I work with each mom to find whatever will work best for her and her child. If there is some kind of confusion or conflict, we'll talk it through, so that we have a good plan that takes care of everyone.

This bears repeating--Moms are our patients, too.

[kidsnstudyn]

I don't work OB, but I think that's a harsh comment. I don't think people don't take their newborns due to laziness (sure, maybe that's some people's motivation) but rather a chance to get some much needed rest or a mental break - especially first time moms.

I said and I quote "sometimes their lazy" - which I hate that I wrote because I used the wrong "their" oops correction *"they're".

But to the point... sometimes they ARE lazy! I didn't say everyone or all the time! And I'd like to see anyone who's worked with people say that people aren't ever lazy. There are some that do send their baby to the nursery so they can watch tv, and eat, and go out for "fresh air" every hour, and talk on their phone about how cute their baby is - when they've had it in their room for 15 minutes. Then the second they get a visitor they're pounding the call light wanting the baby... then the visitor leaves.. they pound the call light and say they need help putting the baby in the crib and it needs to go back to the nursery.... sometimes we're not the hospital, we're the Hilton.

Now are there people who are exhausted? YES! Need a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep? YES! Need to recuperate because they just had a repeat c/s after trying to VBAC for 15 hours? YES! Plenty of legit reasons for a baby to go to a nursery for a couple hours... but are there lazy people? YES!

And to be quite honest - I'm lazy sometimes too. Because I'm a "People" and like I said "people are people, and sometimes *they're lazy."

Have a good one!

[MassED, BSN, RN]

I'm not L&D, just my own experience, but I had 2 c-sect and had my babies go with the nurse for a few hours at a time during the night, then would come in to nurse, then go back. I'd get up and go get the baby later on. It was an open door policy. Trying to recoup after surgery and taking care of a newborn is hard, even if you have a sleeping husband next to you, doing nothing!

[hikernurse]

Don't know if the nurse was trying to manipulate you into keeping your child with you or was badly educated or what, but there is a third option. It's called "out on demand."

We do this with lots of breastfed babies. The moms need sleep, and they're afraid they won't wake up in time to feed their babies (who may also need to be awakened after the four-hour maximum time). We'll either arrange to go into the room to make sure the feeding isn't missed, or we'll keep the baby in the nursery and take her back when it's time to feed.

I work with each mom to find whatever will work best for her and her child. If there is some kind of confusion or conflict, we'll talk it through, so that we have a good plan that takes care of everyone.

This bears repeating--Moms are our patients, too.

With my babies, the hospital policy was that if mom was asleep and there wasn't another awake adult in the room, baby needed to go to the nursery. They were great about bringing baby out to nurse. DH always needed to be at home with our other children, so I spent a lot of time pretending to be awake when the nurses came in so that my baby could stay with me .

However, usually by the second night I was pretty willing to use the "out on demand" approach and grateful for the nurses who suggested it might be a good idea--and who promised up and down to bring baby out when s/he got hungry :). It is amazing how refreshing even a few hours of uninterrupted sleep can be.

Thanks for caring for both your patients enough to take the time to make a plan that is good for both mom and baby. I'm sure you have many patients who remember you fondly :heartbeat.