Transportation of the deceased neonate

[mollyaqua]

One of the sad truths of this job is that we are occasionally responsible for the transportation of fetal demises to the morgue. I would like to hear from you as to exactly how you do this. Is the baby wrapped in blankets? Chux? Do you carry the baby in your arms? Some other sort of carrying receptacle?

Our management team has created an "angel basket" that I personally am uncomfortable with. I have always carried babies in a very nonobtrusive way so that the occasional member of the public that I may meet would have no idea. This new tulle and ribbon festooned basket feels (very) wrong to me. Management members feel that carrying a baby in a small plastic utility crate or other unobtrusive container is "very disrespectful".

Opinions? Input or suggestions?

[rn2bnwi, BSN, RN]

sorry i kind of agree with your mgt.

[rn2bnwi, BSN, RN]

our infants who are large enough are transported by being swaddled and carried in the arms of a nurse. infants and fetuses who are too small to be transported this route or who's tissue is too fragile are carried or pushed by the RN in a bassinet or for very small ones are carried in a small moses-type basket.

I like this method

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I'm a student, and I have only been working during one fetal demise.

The way they did the transport is they used a regular newborn crib-cart (we have the wooden ones with the plastic guard that actually can enclose the entire baby.

The baby was wrapped in nursery blankets, and there was a large white sheet that is folded and placed over the crib-cart...but it's folded to where it comes so far down that you cannot tell that the "cart" comes from the nursery to the general public...it appears to outside to be a type of utility cart, but the respect is maintained because the infant is being transported in the same carrier as any other live newborn.

[StrwbryblndRN]

I like the previous post method. The general public does not get an "announcement" but the infant is transported like any newborn. Provides respect and privacy at the same time.

Out of all the ways for the infant to be moved the decorated basket seems like the worst.

My first thought was of a parade as everyone spots this "float" coming and stops to stare. Even worse will ask what the occasion is.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I'm not an OB or NICU nurse, so I thought about this from the prospective of a parent. If it were my child, I would prefer the fetus either carried or wheeled in a similar manner that a living baby would be transported. In either regard, I would expect the baby to be covered with blankets and the body treated with respect. The angel basket would offend me horribly, and I would throw a fit if they tried to take my dead baby away in a bag or plastic container! Remember that to someone, this is a child not simply the products of conception.

[j_audrey]

I like the previous post method. The general public does not get an "announcement" but the infant is transported like any newborn. Provides respect and privacy at the same time.

Out of all the ways for the infant to be moved the decorated basket seems like the worst.

My first thought was of a parade as everyone spots this "float" coming and stops to stare. Even worse will ask what the occasion is.

Agreed. Even worse may be the parents on the floor that may have had this same experience. They would know what it meant (the decorated basket) adn I can't see that being good for a Mom in labor who may be scared to death anyway.

[Atheos]

Not a NICU/OB nurse. Heck not even a nurse yet. As a parent whose baby has died I can tell you that the whole issue of how she was transported doesn't matter. It didn't matter, wasn't on the radar, heck wasn't even in the same universe. It really doesn't matter.

The only real consideration should be that the baby is transported in a manner that keeps other new, prospective or grieving parents from knowing that it is a/their dead baby. Seeing a baby fetus when you are going into labor could be stressful to say the least.

Anything else is mountain out a molehill.

[Sandwitch883RN]

I'm not an OB or NICU nurse, so I thought about this from the prospective of a parent. If it were my child, I would prefer the fetus either carried or wheeled in a similar manner that a living baby would be transported. In either regard, I would expect the baby to be covered with blankets and the body treated with respect. The angel basket would offend me horribly, and I would throw a fit if they tried to take my dead baby away in a bag or plastic container! Remember that to someone, this is a child not simply the products of conception.

To most L&D and nusery nurses this is a child also. I've cried when preparing a fetus for the morgue. We wrap them in a chux then wrap again in a blanket. They are carried to the morgue in the arms of a staff member. It always makes me sad to see them carried away completely wrapped up. I know very well the pain and grief of the family even from a bystanders point of view. It's very humbling to be part of that families time of grief.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

Your hospital should have a policy in place. We have specific morgue bags for the baby and it is either carried by the mortality services person or in a bassinett. We have to wrap the baby with three id tags on and in the wrapping.

[elanddeenrs]

We also have body bags. I think it is the most neutral, inoffensive way to transport

[DeadHead219]

I had started at the hospital as a transporter, and we were still in training when we had our first morgue visit. Two other women were standing outside with a picnic basket. Naturally being new, my partner exclaimed, "Wow, a picnic ... what are you doing here with a picnic basket?" I think at that moment, we both realized what the deal was.

So, in our hospital they use a picnic basket ... I'm not to keen on picnic baskets anymore. Really ... how often do you see nurses with picnic baskets??

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

i don't work OB but when i worked in the ER we were responsible for the hospital's morgue transport.

we had a bassinette (sp) like they have in the nursery that we put the baby in with wheels on the bottom. the L&D/OB nurse would prepare the body and wrap them in a little blanket and put a little hat on their heads, and then they would wrap them in a tiny tiny white shroud...