Pts paying for night nursery care??

PinkNBlue, BSN, RN · May 10, 2012

Personally I think it's ridiculous. The parents are making an informed choice when sending their baby to the nursery. It's not our place to deny them if they so choose to take advantage of this. Is the reasoning behind this possible decision because of staffing or because of bonding/baby friendly?

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 10, 2012

WHAT???? Really? UNBELEIVABLE! I wonder if they are going to be willing to deal with the lawsuits when an exhausted drugged Mom drops her baby because she couldn't afford to have the baby be safe in the nursery.

Things are going way wrong in healthcare......something needs to be done. :banghead:

mombabyRN96 · May 10, 2012

We currently do not have a nursery and are getting one....this is purely a profit issue because we will have a night nursery nurse.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 10, 2012

Still unbelievable. After what I paid to have my kids at the hospital if they wanted to charge extra for the nursery I would have a few choice words where they could place that offer and bill for that "service".

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · May 10, 2012

Y'all educate me...I've never worked in a Woman's specialty and never had a baby, but I am curious about this. I wouldn't have batted an eye about being charged for sending a newborn to the nursery, I almost would have expected it if I had a baby...sort of like paying for childcare. Can y'all explain why this is unreasonable? My thinking as a new mom would be that there is not going to be a night nurse when I get home, so me and hubby better get with it! From what little I know on the topic, isn't it generally considered better for the baby and mom to room together?

I swear I'm not being argumentative, but I know tone does not always translate online, so please do not take that this way. Like I said, I know nothing on this topic and I'm just looking to gain some insight into an area I have zero experience in! Teach me, OB gurus! :)

mombabyRN96 · May 10, 2012

That would make me feel like an overpaid childcare provider...both mom and baby are my patients and we have a nursery nurse so nobody is being overwhelmed if they have babies overnight in the nursery..it just is insulting and i do not want to tell my pts that i"ll need $200 to care for your baby so you can get some rest.

CompleteUnknown · May 10, 2012

This in NOT directed at you Purple Scrubs, because you asked and you really want to know, but I really hate the idea that new mothers should look after their baby all night because 'there won't be anyone to help you when you're home'. That seems like all the more reason to send her home as rested as possible!

A woman who has just laboured and given birth is generally exhausted! If she's had a c-section, she's probably going to be in pain and will find it very difficult to even move around too much initially. If she feels capable of looking after the baby all night, that's great but if she's too tired, that's perfectly normal too and I think it's cruel to tell a new mother 'well, you'd better used to it'.

What's wrong with letting a new mother sleep for two or three hours between feeds without worrying about who is looking after the baby??

Patti_RN · May 10, 2012

Wow! I wish I had the OPTION of having my newborn with me overnight--or when I wished. The woman's hospital had just done away with rooming-in, but hadn't yet started the mom/baby pods next to the nurse's station. My first morning as a mom I waited until 11AM to see my newborn daughter. They told me she'd be brought to me after the pediatrician saw her. It's impossible to make everyone happy, but charging the patient for overnight care is ridiculous; so is keeping an 8 hour old infant from her mom for four hours for the convenience of the nurses and pediatrician. Common sense is absent in many of these situations.

applewhitern, BSN, RN · May 10, 2012

Once upon a time, babies were kept in the nursery all the time, unless the mother wanted the baby brought to her room. Then someone, somewhere, decided the mothers weren't learning to care for the baby while they were still in the hospital. They started having the mothers keep the babies most of the time, so during their short hospital stay, they could learn to breastfeed, bond with the baby, learn to bottle-feed, learn about positioning for SIDS, etc. There were mothers who never wanted the baby, and expected the staff to do all the feedings, diapers, etc. This probably also was meant to cut down on abuse and neglect of infants, once they were home. I once had a nurse (back in 1980) literally throw my newborn at me, because there was a tornado on the ground, and the hospital policy was that all babies had to be with their mother during a disaster! I was terrified and thought the safest place for my newborn would be the nursery. I agree the new mothers need their rest.

rn/writer, RN · May 10, 2012

If the hospital is charging the insurance company or Medicaid for the baby and the child is considered a patient, then it's absolutely unconscionable (not to mention illegal!) to suggest parents pay a "babysitting fee" besides. Talk about double dipping.

As for the old saw, "You won't have a nurse at home so you'd better just get with the program now," why even bother to keep postpartum patients at all with that kind of reasoning? Maybe because 48 hours of meds and care and sleep can make a big difference in transitioning home and having both parents feel like capable human beings instead of sleep-starved zombies.

I have no doubt that some hospitals are intent on being baby-friendly because they truly have good intentions. But I'll bet there are a bunch of places that are equally, if not more, concerned with being budget-friendly and are positively giddy over being able to hide short staffing behind a nicer, more noble-sounding concept.

Any time baby-friendly turns out to be massively mom-unfriendly, I think you can pretty much assume that money is real "baby."

ixchel · May 10, 2012

After my cesarean, I wanted to be a trooper so I got my catheter out as immediately as possible to ambulate right away. I'd heard this was the route to a faster recovery, and even now I still believe it. That first night, I woke up at around 3 am to pee. By the time I made it to the toilet, I was convulsing and in tears from the pain and had 3 nurses there helping me. The babies that I'd just given birth to we're not mine, thank god, because I couldn't imagine having to care for them at the same time as experiencing that.

As I understand it, the hospital does charge for the baby's stay per night. That gets billed to insurance, right? At least it has been for my births. It makes sense to me that if baby is using hospital resources, they have to pay for it. It's unfortunate for those who have rocky recoveries like I did, but it makes sense. It can help promote breast feeding as well, as rooming in can help increase breastfeeding success. At my local hospital, if you send baby to the nursery, it could be hours after you ask someone for baby to come back. We're not very mother/baby friendly here. It's a shame.