BethAnnG

Honestly I really hope she doesn't get it because from the way things look, she'll end up driving her car off a bridge or something before he'll let her take any Zoloft.

I do agree w/ Jamesdotter. I try to wear my baby scrubs only if I know I'm going to be in the nursery that night. We do a lot of fetal demises also and think it would look bad to waltz into a room w/ babies all over my shirt.

Many of my Hispanic pts do both successfully. I find that the success rate of br and bottle feeding goes up if mom has bf before. She knows how to get the baby to latch and tends to be less easily frustrated if there's not instant success. As always, there are exceptions but that is generally what I've found.

All I have to say is if Katie gets PP depression, she better use all the acting skills she has. I have been through it myself and wouldn't wish it on any woman, but I would wish it on Tom Cruise.

I've seen a couple cute ones w/ babies on it at jasco.com

Our checks are to assess wellbeing too, of course, but I think having them be hourly as opposed to q2 is for increased safety and security. At least that's what I was told. We have locked doors and security and all that too.

I went into OB nursing for a couple reasons. 1) I needed a change of scenery from working at a community health center. 2) I loved OB from the moment I stepped onto the floor in nursing school. Most days it is really happy and miraculous. The 3% of the time that it's bad, well, it's really bad and it breaks your heart and you can't sleep afterward. Very fortunately, that is not the norm, even in high risk pregnancies. It is really cool to see the formation of new families.

We do have the hugs and kisses monitoring system. We don't do narratives, just a couple boxes to fill in where we put our initials, where baby is, and is he sleeping, awake, or fussy. I agree, narratives every hour is too much, esp for a well baby. We don't do narratives unless something is abnormal or something goes wrong.

I don't think the rules are quite as tight for our NICU babies, though, fergus51. Most of the babies there (at least in our NICU and I'm guessing for others as well) are not as easily transported what with all the machinery.

I think it's so that we can say, for security purposes, should something happen, that yes, I saw this baby in room with Mom, he was sleeping and she was holding him. It's not an acuity issue in my mind I don't think it is for our hospital either. But since people do send their babies back and forth between their room and the nursery, and we have had cases where Dad wants to abduct the baby from Mom etc., we have to make sure we lay eyes on the baby at least every hour. Our hospital is pretty tight on infant security.

We chart on babies every hour as well, whether they are in room c mom or in the nursery. I think it is more of an infant security issue than anything because we only have to chart on moms every 2 hours.

Amen to that, RNmommy! I really enjoy my mother/baby job. (We also have high-risk antepartums, an occasional GYN) M/B is not for the disorganized! We normally have 4-5 couplets per nurse, but like was previously mentioned, sometimes you can spend 1 hour in one room with a first time breastfeeder. (Esp. if the baby weighs 10lbs! Anyone else notice that the bigger babies don't tend to have the greatest latch/sucking at first??) I really enjoy what I do, though. We get to meet all kinds of different families and customs, and we get to help them fall in love with their babies. I wish I could take my camera to work and capture all the sweet moments I see between my patients and their babies (dad included!).

Keep track of all your hours (or half hours, or whatever) spent helping moms breastfeed. Whether you're doing education, hands-on, or whatever, it all counts toward those needed hours. It may seem slow going at first but it really does add up. Keep a little logbook of each pt encounter and put pt initials, a quick significant hx (e.g. primip, breast augmentation, flat nipples etc.) and how long you spent c her, what you spent doing. Example: J.T. 26 yo G1P1. 30 min assisting with positioning & proper latch. Encouraged to watch for jaw movemt & listen for swallowing. Just something so you can remember what you did c that pt. Also, see if you can shadow an LC for a shift or two. Often they have tricks that are good to know. That should count toward your hours also. Good luck!

Also, had one pt tell me (this was 1 day p C/s) that after I'd left the room he asked her "so, you wanna do it?" What?! Needless to say, she said no. And not for a very long time afterward. Though we have walked in on people having sex on the PP floor....

I heard it's pretty rich in iron and protein. Also that it's pretty common in places that are known for having high malnutrition issues, such as some places in Africa.