We currently have a well baby nursery at night for our postpartum patients if they want to use it. We offer both in for the night (with bottles) and out for feeds (breastfeeding).
We feel we take care of 2 patients, the mother and the baby. Our hospital is trying to be "baby friendly" and claims the nursery is not needed. Working nights, we see our mother patients about to loose their sanity if they don't get some sleep... Some mom's handle it well and keep their babies in the room.
How do other units work? Well newborn nursery at night or rooming in? Does anyone have a 24 hour well newborn nursery for moms to get sleep?
At the hospital where I gave birth they do couplet care, but they still kind of have a nursery. When possible they encourage (or the one nurse I had pushed on me) the mom to room in. If the mom chooses to sleep or just needs some time away from the baby they can send the baby to the nursery (which is empty and has no staff, the same nurse caring for mom is the nurse for baby). Most of the time if you chose to send the baby away the nurse will work on paper work of some sort and have the baby in a basinet right by them. The first time I was in the unit doing my walking there was a small group of burrito babies hanging out at the nursing station. In the event baby goes to the nursery mom choses whether they bring baby back to them for feeding or if the nursing staff can feed. The one night I had needed sleep and tried to send my baby to the nursery they brought her back to me after 15 minutes. They also routinely come by your room and take the baby into the nursery for wellness checks, shots, and baths. Otherwise it is all romming in.
I am far, far away from an OB nurse, but as a first time mama I was extremely thankful for the nursery. We kept Hannah all day but come night--I was exhausted. She went to the nursery and the nurse brought her into breast feed when she was hungry. It was especially hard being just my husband and me (good ol' Army had us 12 hours from family), so having those couple peaceful hours to sleep at night was more than worth it's weight in gold. I cannot imagine going to a hospital that did not have a nursery and I would not pick that particular hospital as a patient.
I think that the nursery charge isn't specifically for the physical nursery, although that's part of it. It's for the baby nursing care, general supplies (blankets, bulb suction, etc.), and operating costs of caring for the baby. Just as with adults the bed charge covers more than a bed to sleep in. At many (most?) places, there is not a separate line on the bill for nursing care. Not that it's the main subject of the post, but I thought I'd chime in with that. :)
We require all our babies to go to the nursery if everyone in the room is sleeping. We do not allow our mother's to sleep in the bed with the baby. I guess for safety and risk issues. Our hospital is a small hospital. We usually have one nursery nurse and one OB nurse (who does labor and postpartum and outpts).
I actually had a personal experience like this.... all in all from the time my water broke I was in labor for 32hrs...pushed for the max allowed by the hospital. Didn't get a wink of sleep the whole time. I am not the type to sleep during the day, I was so tired and forced myself to stay awake while breast-feeding. My son cried from the minute he was born, unlike many of the babe's I am seeing on my ob rotation. On my last night I rang and asked my nurse if they might take him for a couple of hours so I could get some sleep before i went home... Basically she made me feel terrible for even asking, he explained to me that I really need to take care of my own child and that I would have to keep him in the room. I think that new moms should be encouraged to get as much sleep as they can while in the hospital, cause once they are home it is going to get worse before it gets better.
angelash2005
3 Posts
At the hospital where I gave birth they do couplet care, but they still kind of have a nursery. When possible they encourage (or the one nurse I had pushed on me) the mom to room in. If the mom chooses to sleep or just needs some time away from the baby they can send the baby to the nursery (which is empty and has no staff, the same nurse caring for mom is the nurse for baby). Most of the time if you chose to send the baby away the nurse will work on paper work of some sort and have the baby in a basinet right by them. The first time I was in the unit doing my walking there was a small group of burrito babies hanging out at the nursing station. In the event baby goes to the nursery mom choses whether they bring baby back to them for feeding or if the nursing staff can feed. The one night I had needed sleep and tried to send my baby to the nursery they brought her back to me after 15 minutes. They also routinely come by your room and take the baby into the nursery for wellness checks, shots, and baths. Otherwise it is all romming in.