# U.S mothers, do they really take your baby away to a nursery?



## minties

I've been watching a lot of youtube videos about birth etc, and come across lots of U.S ones. They always take the baby away from the mother into a nursery, where baby is given a soapy bath, cries lots and then is left naked with a gold heart shaped thing that monitors babies temp. It seems awefull! My baby never once left my side in hospital, and I had a c-section. I know it doesn't really sound that bad but I can't imagine having my baby, then it gets taken away. I'd be devasted, hysterical even. One lady in a video they kept her baby away from her all night, only bringing it to her to nurse once every few hours.

Speaking of c-section, I have seen/heard a lot of stories where baby isn't allowed with the mother into recovery...which can be 2 hours! Why on earth not? How does baby get their first breastfeed etc? :shrug:


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## campn

The baby is usually in the same room with the mom, they don't take him/her away to another room unless there is a problem, also a lot of the babies are taken out and put right on the mother for skin to skin and breast-feeding so it's certainly not the usual thing. I don't know about the c-section though.


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## momof2tobe

You have an option where you want your baby to be. I had a csection and she was with me the whole time in the recovery room. But for the night I let them take her so i could rest. The nurses always brought her to me whenever she woke up so I could feed her. It was nice hospital and i knew she was in good hands.


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## Fizzyfefe

Hi Minties. I am not a mother, but I did my nursing clinicals on the labor/delivery unit. The babies were always kept in the same room as the mother. The only time they left was if they needed to go to the neonatal intensive care unit. As a nursing student, I always did the baby's first bath and change so I could assess the newborn, but afterwards, it was all up to the parents. We would give them everything- diapers, bottles, binkies, hats, and onesies.

After a C-section, all babies went to the NICU until the mother came out of the operating room. Then, on the way to the postpartum unit, we would pick up the baby and take him/her with the mother. Mind you, this was just one hospital, and I'm sure there are different policies depending on where you give birth.

I noticed, though, that unless the mother specifically asked for skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, the nurses would always take the baby immediately to the warmer to do the assessment. But, if the mothers wanted to hold the baby right away, all they had to do was ask, or have it in their birth plan. :) I did assessments on babies on their mother's tummies without any problem.


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## minties

That's reassuring, thanks everyone! I was feeling so sorry for the mums, thinking their babies had been run away with :haha:. Though the videos weren't old, and there were no parents in this nursery place - so I am guessing some hospitals do this? It seemed to be a standard practice.

My son didn't get a bath until he was about 2 weeks old, is there a particular reason for the soapy bath on the day of birth? I was under the impression that it was best to leave any vernix on as it was good for the skin.

In the operating room during/after my c-section, baby had his APGAR scores taken and checked over with his dad by his side, but only as there was meconium in my water. Then he was handed to me and I held him while being stitched, and passed him to my OH while we went to recovery. It's just on BnB I've heard a few women say that their baby was taken away until they'd finished in recovery.


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## Fizzyfefe

We gave infants baths to cleanse them of the mother's blood and bodily fluids left on their bodies after birth. It was for the safety of both the staff and infant. The vernix does not come off using soap. We would always use gloves on the infants until they had their first bath. Sometimes, the babies had meconium while still in the womb (their first bowel movement), or they could have an infection of some sort. It's standard precaution in hospitals to use gloves if you come in contact with any bodily fluids. It was also easier to assess the babies once you could touch them without gloves.

It seems weird to me now that babies were taken away and it was not an old-fashioned movie. Since mothers and fathers have become more proactive about the birthing process, most hospitals have changed to allow the infants to stay in the room. In the past, the men weren't even allowed in the room. Maybe those hospitals didn't have the proper equipment in the rooms? :shrug:

All I can say is that the protocol for each hospital is different. And it's probably different between countries, too. :)


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## lozzy21

Niamh wasent bathed untill we got home from hospital a week later and that was with meconium, the nurse just got it off with some water and cotton wool.


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## minties

Very interesting. Thomas didn't need a bath and he was totally green with meconium when he came out. They just wiped him with a towel. He had a bit of blood in his hair but that just flaked and fell off.

The nursery thing was in a few "educational" videos about what to expect after your baby was born. It wasn't a room full of other babies, it was a small room with a large plastic bed thing for baby, a heatlamp and some nurses bustling around. The babies had 30 minutes to be able to maintain a certain temp while naked, then could be given to the mother.

It did seem old-fashioned, perhaps they were older videos, but still from the 2000's.

I like learning about all the differences around the world.


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## LoraLoo

Didnt bath any of mine, tbh id HATE for anyone other than me to give my baby its first bath. I dont understand why they do it in America x


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## Srrme

They normally take the baby to nursery if you allow them to, or tell them to so you can rest. It's not required. :thumbup:


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## zombiedaisy

I know the hospital I had my son and daughter at had a nursery, and if you requested for them to take them so you could rest, they would, but I never did. The nurses also gave the first bath usually after the baby was cleared and stable (within a few hours of birth) to get any stuff off, and dad usually gets to help. I actually liked this because when DH and I's daughter was born, he was clueless, so having the nurse teach him how to give her a bath was awesome... Plus it was pretty cute seeing him there all nervous and having someone to look over him with such experience. The nurses also help with breastfeeding as much as they can and helping the baby latch on as well as any help you may need with diaper changes. I dont think i'll be needing any help with that, but usually dads are given that opportunity because mom is still recovering or pretty sore. I always liked that time because it gave DH time to bond with the baby without me hovering right over top of him saying he was doing it wrong LOL


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## lozzy21

They dont even have nerserys in the UK, if you want to rest your baby gets taken to the nurses station.


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## gretavon

Its the parents choice to have the baby room in or not. They wipe the baby down and then you have skin to skin contact and breastfeed. Later they give them a bath. They dont rip them out of the mother and run off with them throw them in water and leave them wet and shivering on a towel. Get real. Its america our hospitals are like hotels and we're not a bunch of baby abusing aholes who dont cherish this experiance just as much as you because we do things a little differant.


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## booflebump

gretavon said:


> Its the parents choice to have the baby room in or not. They wipe the baby down and then you have skin to skin contact and breastfeed. Later they give them a bath. They dont rip them out of the mother and run off with them throw them in water and leave them wet and shivering on a towel. Get real. Its america our hospitals are like hotels and we're not a bunch of baby abusing aholes who dont cherish this experiance just as much as you because we do things a little differant.

It's perfectly normal to ask about practices in other countries - it doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant. Even if you deem it a 'stupid' question - replying in such a rude tone is unnecessary and uncalled for. I'm sure you are more than capable of expressing yourself in a far more polite manner than you have here


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## TatorMom

Every hospital, and more so every doctor, is different. My OB with my first son, who's now 3.5, had me reach down and pull him out. I then placed him on my chest and they wiped him down. Then they took him to the warmer beside my bed, did his APGAR, wrapped him up, and handed him back to me. I held him while I was wheeled down to the post partum unit. The only time my son's were taken away after they were born was for their circumcisions and immunizations. The nurses gave our oldest his first bath in the room with me and my husband because I had a 4th degree episiotomy and was in a lot of pain as the epi was wearing off. I loved my babies the moment I saw them, but as a nurse myself, wanted them cleaned up. I delivered my youngest, now 2.5, in a different city and my OB there actually had my husband delivery our youngest. He told him to roll up his sleeves and "catch". It was the most amazing experience. My husband still talks about it all the time. We requested the same with this delivery. As soon as my husband delivered him he set him on my chest and he latched on and started feeding. I gave him his first bath. It's different everywhere I guess. I live in the midwest. As an L&D nurse here, our regular nursery has no babies in it and is just used for storage now. We're a large hospital too. The babies only come to the special care nursery if they're having problems, for circumcisions, or mom requests they be taken so they can get some rest.


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## silver_penny

Minties, I will give you my experience with the one hospital birth I had: I had a breech vaginal birth in which they refused to allow my DH in the room for the birth. He was allowed in afterwards, and I got to hold DS1 while they stitched me up. When I went into recovery, baby came with but it was their poicy to take the baby to the nursery to "monitor the baby" He was taken away for over an hour. However, DH was with him the entire time. I hated it and I didn't want him to be taken to the nursery, but he was anyhow. So yes, there are still hospitals in the US that have policies that the baby be taken away from the mother.This was 3 years ago. So not so distant in the past. If I hadn't expressly said that I did not want him to be bathed, he would have been bathed by the nurses in the nursery.


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## shantehend

I may be wrong here, but I believe the hospitals in the US have different practices from other countries because some people in the US are "sue" crazy. Doctors and hospitals are sued all the time for malpractice, so they set standards that will allow for the safety of the patient as well as their protection. Babies are often taken to a special area, whether it be the nurses station or the nursery, to be bathed by the nurses. If the delivery was normal and low risk, I am sure you could refuse to have your baby taken away. Personally, it's only and hour or so and I wouldn't mind my baby being taken for an hour to be assessed and cleaned. Of course that is after we have had time to bond. During that time, I would get myself cleaned up and make calls to family and friends.


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## minties

gretavon said:


> Its the parents choice to have the baby room in or not. They wipe the baby down and then you have skin to skin contact and breastfeed. Later they give them a bath. They dont rip them out of the mother and run off with them throw them in water and leave them wet and shivering on a towel. Get real. Its america our hospitals are like hotels and we're not a bunch of baby abusing aholes who dont cherish this experiance just as much as you because we do things a little differant.

That was extremely nasty, rude and hurtful. What part of me finding it interesting how things are done in other countries warrent such a horrible reply?

I never once thought it was abusive. A little odd perhaps, but more interesting than anything.

Sarcastic crap like this is just not called for.


Thanks very much for all the other replies everyone! Really cool to learn about this sort of thing. All your experiences are lovely to hear about.


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## korndogger123

My paper work says..
*What will happen after my baby is delievered?*
If there are no problems, your baby will stay in your room for the first 2 hours after birth.
*
What will happen to my baby in the nursery?*
After the first 2 hours in your room, your baby will be taken to the nursery to be weighed measured, bathed and given a complete medical exam. Parents may go to the nursery as well, as long as it isn't during shift change. 

I think that is if you give birth in the regular L&D ward. The natural birthing center part is different though, and you labor, give birth, and recover all in the same little suite. They will do all the stuff to the baby in that room too, except the hearing test I believe.

If you want them to take baby to the nursery, they will, or you can take baby at anytime yourself.


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## messica

When I had my kids I requested that they not leave the room without me. The staff was actually surprised. I was told I was in the minority, most mothers do send their babies off to the nursery so they can rest. I was horrified and couldn't imagine doing such a thing. 

They also thought it odd that I questioned what I was later informed was their routine circumcision practice. I was told 90-95% of all boys born there had it done before they left. A doc came in every other day and the nurses collected all the boys, lined them up in the nursery and away he went doing them all. I had researched it on my own mid pregnancy and we had come to our own conclusions in regards to what we wanted for our son. They said almost none of the parents ever even questioned it. They almost seemed offended by our opposition. To boot we were younger parents and there were some passive aggressive remarks made in regards to if we actually had any idea how silly we were being. As if the concern was a complete overreaction. 

I also coslept right off the bat instead of making my babies sleep in the hard plastic bins, which caused them all to have a bird 

I'm glad we've since moved, if we are successful with getting pregnant with number three I'm glad we won't be at that same hospital to deliver.

A nurse did help my husband to bathe them when I requested it be done. I hemorrhaged with both and they were covered in blood, nothing that would just "flake off" after awhile. I didn't see anything wrong with that at all.


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## Fizzyfefe

Minties, what's the birthing process like in New Zealand?


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## LoraLoo

korndogger123 said:


> My paper work says..
> *What will happen after my baby is delievered?*
> If there are no problems, your baby will stay in your room for the first 2 hours after birth.
> *
> What will happen to my baby in the nursery?*
> After the first 2 hours in your room, your baby *will be taken to the nursery to be weighed measured, bathed and given a complete medical exam*. Parents may go to the nursery as well, as long as it isn't during shift change.
> 
> I think that is if you give birth in the regular L&D ward. The natural birthing center part is different though, and you labor, give birth, and recover all in the same little suite. They will do all the stuff to the baby in that room too, except the hearing test I believe.
> 
> If you want them to take baby to the nursery, they will, or you can take baby at anytime yourself.

Here they do that in the room with you, they dont take the baby away. Our hospital has a rooming in policy where they will only ever take the baby away from mum if necessary - eg. baby needs help breathing or needs to go to scbu xx


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## josephine3

I am in uk and the nurses insisted on bathing my baby even tho i said i wanted to do it myself, they also dressed her for me which upset me. I was still on trolley after being stitched up but feel i was capable of dressing her. 
I think when an emergency situation occurs, the wishes of mother to have bonding time with her baby seem to go out the window. She stayed in the room with us most of the time i was being sorted ourt but she wasnt always in my view. It may have helped calm me down if she was.


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## we can't wait

It really depends on where you give birth. Everywhere is different.

There are two hospitals in my town-- one puts an incubator in the room with you and baby never has to leave you, because they brings all the tests to you. At the other, they take baby right after being born and usually return them around 3 hours later or so, and then periodically take them for testing.

I gave birth at the hospital where the baby never had to leave me. I wanted to look at her, and snuggle her, and be around her... I didn't want them taking my baby away whenever they felt fit.


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## MommaAlexis

I had never been on labour/delivery floor until last year for my best friend's daughter. I remember looking for the classic nursery in movies! They just built this hospital recently, apparently the old one had one though that was last January. Now if they take them away it's to the nurses station, I was told they play it by ear so if I'm fine I'll be making sure she stays close. This is Canada, though.


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## mommytobe11

i'm in the US and my hospital doesn't even have a nursery. the baby is with you the entire time. they do have a level 3 NICU though :)


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## LoraLoo

we can't wait said:


> It really depends on where you give birth. Everywhere is different.
> 
> There are two hospitals in my town-- one puts an incubator in the room with you and baby never has to leave you, because they brings all the tests to you. *At the other, they take baby right after being born and usually return them around 3 hours later or so, and then periodically take them for testing.*
> 
> I gave birth at the hospital where the baby never had to leave me. I wanted to look at her, and snuggle her, and be around her... I didn't want them taking my baby away whenever they felt fit.

3 hours :shock: i'd be going mental, i couldn't cope with that. What about Mums that are breastfeeding?! xx


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## korndogger123

Also, in my area it depends on the "demographics" of the hospital. I hope I don't sound rude, but I live in a state where drug and alcohol abuse is very high. A lot of babies are born with addictions to alcohol and drugs. (Not all of course, but more than necessary.) Most of these women deliever at the university hospital because it is free. That hospital is the only one that will take your baby for the 2 hours or whatever I am not sure if the parents can go along (I am not too too sure but I don't think they can). That hospital is a good hospital for anyone to deliver at though because it has the best stats for all newborn care, and lowest c section rate. If anything goes wrong with your baby at the other hospitals they will be transferred to the university hospital.


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## CatandKitten

Rooming in is the policy at the hospitals in my town unless baby needs to go to the NICU. My daughter had everything, including bath and shots in my room. They offered to let us bathe her, but I was still dizzy from blood loss and I wanted to see it done once.


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## robinator

Haven't read thru the responses yet, but my hospital doesn't even _have_ a nursery. The baby stays with the mom, period. At one point I needed some serious rest so one of the nurses kindly took Lane for about an hour, but she just walked around with her.


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## minties

Fizzyfefe said:


> Minties, what's the birthing process like in New Zealand?

Generally, you have your own independant midwife who is seperate from any association to a hospital, who is government paid to look after you in your pregnancy and birth. Some places have community midwives who are associated with a health board, and only offer a hospital or birth centre birth and not home birth.

If you have a hospital or birth centre birthplan, they meet your there once your contractions are an agreed intesity and time apart. Now I have moved citites, but where I had my son, I had a large room with bathroom and birthing pool. You labour and birth in this room with your midwife and birth partner being your only attendants, unless a problem arises, or you need something like an epidural or drugs to augment your labour. Your midwife is yours alone, doesn't have to go elsewhere, if another of her ladies goes into labour she sends her backup midwife to attend.

In my case, my midwife felt I wasn't progressing fast enough so I was placed on syntocinon, which meant a doctor had to come in every now and then to check on things. Baby got distressed, so I was taken for a c-section. Also I had an epidural which my current midwife said is quite uncommon at the hopsital I will be birthing at this time around.

My midwife and OH stayed by my head during the operation, chatting to me etc. Baby was born, my OH cut the cord and helped plonk the placenta into a dish, and carried baby to be wiped and checked off to one side.

Baby was gone from me for 5 minutes, but my OH was with him the whole time helping them clean the meconium off and watching them do the APGAR scores and weighing. Baby got his vit K shot as per my birth plan. Then baby was brought over to me to hold while I was being stitched, and my midwife said goodbye and went home.

My OH went and took his scrubs off while I snuggled baby, then met us in recovery where I breastfed. I was in there for about an hour. Every now and then someone came to rub ice on me to see if I was regaining feeling to my lower half.

Then we were taken to my private room where I stayed for a few days.

The midwives and nurses that worked at the hospital helped with breastfeeding every couple of hours, and also took mine and baby's temperature twice a day. They encouraged lots of skin to skin and naked cuddling with baby in the bed. There are no shots or eye goop. The next day baby had a heel prick test and a hearing test at my consent. Day 3 baby and I walked to a room where he was weighed. My midwife came to visit me daily.

If I had been able to have a vaginal birth, I would have been encouraged to use the pool, and very discouraged to birth lying on my back. Also no being told when to push, counting to 10, holdng my breath etc etc.

That's about it really! For a normal vaginal birth, I would have had the option to go home in 4-6 hours, and the option to transfer to a birthing centre for a 4 day stay was an option either way, but I liked my room at the hospital.


I don't know much about the hospital in the town I am in, but if I choose to have an elective c-section, my midwife says baby will be placed directly onto my chest and APGAR scores taken on me, and weighed once I can walk.


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## HollySSmith

In my hospital they cannot ever take the baby without a guardian being present, period. We had a baby stolen a few years back (she was dressed as a nurse), so the baby is equipped with a leg monitor and must be in the parents presence at all times. They offer to do the first bath but majority of the time all they do is a quick wipe down and do assessment while baby is on the mother. Of course if there is any issues they swoop in when needed. My son wasn't bathed until we were home and our hospital doesn't have a nursery but does have a strict rooming-in policy. I think you'd be hard pressed to get them to take the baby so you could have a break, in their mind that is why you have two support persons allowed with you at all times. 
That being said they did eventually take ds to be weighed when I was taken for my first trip to the bathroom but DH was with him and he never left the room. The only time I couldn't hold him was when I was transferred from the delivery room to recovery, but that was a 15ft move lol.


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## thefirstbaby

My son was bathed in my room. I watched. And they never took him from me.


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## Wisp

Oh! This is awful. I would say ring your midwife or hospital of choice and ask them their policy. If its gonna happen your better of preparing yourself. So glad the uk isnt like this, I don't think I could bear it. Luckily it's unlikely they would have the chance to enforce that over here as you are allowed home after 2hours if you have a good delivery. I hope you don't have to be parted from your little one for too long, preferably not at all. Best of luck xxxx


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## Fizzyfefe

Minties, that sounds lovely. It bugs me that pregnancy/labor is kind of viewed as a sickness or as a burden, or something that needs total medical intervention. A new mother and infant can't even go home for at least 24 hours after the birth. Not once did I ever see a husband so involved with the birth; they always helped the mother's leg or hand while pushing, and then just watched. I really like the calm atmosphere with as little medical intervention as possible, and that your hubby was so involved. I've been doing some research for whenever I end up getting pregnant, and apparently home births are really frowned upon (and even illegal in some states), which is shocking. I feel like we need to take some lessons from other countries. :)


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## Guppy051708

was totally lied to about what our hospital PP stay would entail. Im in the US...was told one thing and they did another, and without any real medical evidence. They kept my baby for well over 12 hours and they only let me nurse him for 5 minutes. As said, not any real medical evidence to keep him in there. The nurses were rude to me and seemed irratated when i went to the nursery to be with him. Which is crazy because they are a "WHO Hospital" and meet all standards for that.

This is one well known pitfall of hospital births. It really depends on what hospital you birth in if this happens or not. It caused me such a great "loss", especially with BFing that i had DS2 at home. The separation anxiety was so intense and traumatic for me, i will never have a hospital birth again unless i am high risk or it's a life and death situation and need transferred.
My homebirth was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and the only thing i regret is not doing it with my first. I do recognize that more and more hospitals are going to better lengths to encourage rooming-in and improving the mama-baby connection, but American hospitals and birth in general has major need for improvement...that said they have come a long way since Twilight births...


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## Wildfire81

After I had my son by c-section they had to take him away to NICU for a bit because sugars were low. My husband went with them and authorized them to give formula because I was still out and he needed sugar immediately. This did not affect my bf btw. After I was awake and baby was back from NICU we all got to go to my room and stay there the whole time. If I wanted some sleep time, then they took him to the nursery. They always called to let me know he was awake and hungry, and they brought him to me. I was so thankful for having them, as I knew I would not have helpers as soon as I came home.


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## Seity

Nope. I gave birth with a midwife at the hospital. They weighed and bathed the baby right there next to me in the labor room after I had plenty of skin to skin and my first attempt to BF. Then we were transferred to our own room, where it was just the 3 of us: Me, OH, and baby. We had that room to ourselves for our entire stay. As soon as the baby was born, all three of us were given a tag and the one on the baby would set off an alarm and lock the doors if the baby was taken too close to the exit of the maternity ward. They did take him briefly to do the hearing test, but they have to scan the baby's tag out and back in with us and he was only away briefly. I'm sure I could have gone with if I'd wanted. I had the option to have the nursery take him for a few hours if I wanted to try and sleep, which seems rather pointless when you have someone coming in and taking your vitals every 2 hours anyway. The whole experience was fantastic and I'll be having this one at the same hospital with a midwife again.


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## jenniferttc1

Baby usually stay with the mother unless they need to give first bath, or when they take some test. The mother can call the nursery to pick the baby up if she needs some rest also. But for the most part he was with me and they woke me up every 2 freaking hours to take my temp and take him for testing in the nursery every night!


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## .rollinn.

It depends on the situation,but not where i'm from. My baby boy was in the NICU for 1month so he never stayed in my room.


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## LadySlipper

It depends on the hospital and state it seems. I don't have first hand experience yet, but during the tour they said you have an option of either having the baby taken to the nursery or with you at all times. Also they allow your husband or support person to stay the whole time with you too. Even have a pull out bed for the person to sleep on & they are fed by the hospital as well. When we toured the nursery area, it was completely empty & the nurse said it usually stays that way but is there if needed. They also do the tag system others have mentioned. A tag on baby, mother, and father (or other support person). Every time the baby is moved they scan all tags. Not sure how they handle testing & bathing, if they do it in room or take the baby away for a short time. I will be delivering at Abbot Northwestern Hospital in Minnesota if anyone is familiar with it. It has a level 3 NICU where they allow you to see the baby at all times, in person and via closed circuit tv in your room during off hours. Thankfully they are very midwife friendly & allow completely natural birth including a water birth if you want.


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## paigeypoo

in Canada mothers have the option, i think the nurses and dr's judge how well or not well you are doing with baby as well as taking into acount your medical state in some cases after birth. they bring the baby to the nursary if you fall asleep and or if its time for the bath or any needles but women can chose to have the baby in the room as much as permited. they dont let you have the baby in the hospital bed with you while you sleep. i think in some cases having the option for baby to go to the nursary for short bits so mom can get some rest, or incase of severe after care needs for mom such as medications that may make it unsafe for mom to be interacting with baby without a nurse or third party. only the father and or the support persons are allowed during delivery and only the grandparents sibblings and siupport persons are allowed to visit.


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## Peanut78

I gave birth to both my boys in South Africa. I ended up have an ECS with my first and a subsequent c-section with my second. Both times I was shown my baby, baby was taken to the paed (in the same room) AGPAR done (5-10 minutes) and then baby handed to me as they finished stitching me up. I was wheeled (in my bed) with my baby to my room where baby stayed with me. The nurses constantliy came and offered to take the baby to the nursery so I could rest, but I chose to keep baby with me. I bathed my baby on day 4 both times, in the nursery - but at least it was me. 

With my second son thou, I had made a specific point that I wanted skin to skin for the first 24 hours, so baby on my chest in bed with me (I had some challenges establishing Bf'ing with my first so this was really important to me to get off to the best possible start). This was clearly not something they were used to. They incessently came and tried to convince me to take the baby to the nursery (it was actually very distruptive when baby and I could have gotten on with resting just fine). It's like they thought I had this weird idea in my head, but I'd soon tire of it :shrug: One nurse even had the cheek to tell me I was "spoiling him and it would cause problems later on". Anyway, on day 3 he was jaundiced and had to go into one of the UV light things over night. I told them under no circumstances were they to give him formula, but I would come to the nursery to feed him when he woke during the night. They totally tried to tell me this was a bad idea; I should rest etc. I went to the nursery myself at one point as he hadn't been brought to me and sure enough there was someone about to give him formula :growlmad:

Anyway, besides those few points my experience with hospital staff and care were great in SA :thumbup:


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## Cassandra1995

She was in the same room with me the whole time.


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## flubdub

What tests are they taking your baby away for? After the apgar score and temp taken, my babies have always been left alone? 

I've had three babies in the same UK hospital and not once has my baby ever been taken away (for ANY reason; no tests or anything) and they don't try and bath your baby. In fact in my hosp, they recommend you don't bath them until all the vernix has been absorbed and I feel very strongly about this. If anyone tried to bath my baby, especially with soap, I would hit the roof.


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## korndogger123

flubdub said:


> What tests are they taking your baby away for? After the apgar score and temp taken, my babies have always been left alone?
> 
> I've had three babies in the same UK hospital and not once has my baby ever been taken away (for ANY reason; no tests or anything) and they don't try and bath your baby. In fact in my hosp, they recommend you don't bath them until all the vernix has been absorbed and I feel very strongly about this. If anyone tried to bath my baby, especially with soap, I would hit the roof.

its different here in the us. i know my friends baby was taken to do a hearing test. And then again for her first bath, which here most people don't have a problem with it. i am sure if you asked them not to bathe baby they wouldn't. personally i don't mind them bathing my baby... and they will allow me or hubby to help them. (or them show us basicallya)


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## MommaAlexis

They bathed her for me as I couldn't stand for that long after c section. but they let me watch and I bathed her again a few days later. I wemt with her for her hearing test when she was a week old.


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## MacyClara

I was in labor for 38 hours and cherished my first (and last) night of good sleep while Mila was in the nursery. I can't imagine going through labor and then jumping right into taking care of the baby immediately afterwards. They put her on my chest after she was born and we cuddled and had immediate family in and then they bathed her and gave me a chance to clean up.


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## Mummy Bean

it deff interesting to see the differences from country to country and even hosptial to hospital. Im in the UK and we were advised to not bathe baby for the first 3 days to allow any vernix to be absorbed into skin and to allow the umbical cord to dry up. 
Also the hearing test is done whilst in hosptial took all of 2 min. I also had to stay in for 24 hrs to check on bubba as we had serious meconium, but the only checks they did was check his BP and temp every 2 hrs no need for him to go anywhere.


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## taylor197878

when i had my first daughter nearly 17 years ago babies went in to the nursey i know amy did it was the norm they got taken away at night and u got them bk in the morning.

i live in scotland.

when i had brooke she never left me and i gave her a first bath the next day the midwifes are supposed to but she was my 4th a think they trusted me lol.


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## marron

The hospital I'm going to be at gives the option-- if you want baby with you, great, but the nursery is there otherwise. Not everyone has another person around to keep an eye on baby and they want to help the mom get some rest when they can.


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## nikkchikk

In the past, maybe. That's really not how the US does things anymore.

My hospital offers labor, delivery and post-natal all the the same room. It's like a hotel suite (en-suite) actually. They only took my daughter away to the nursery when she needed the newborn hearing tests, shots, or the first nights when I really just needed uninterrupted sleep. They would bring her back every three hours during the night so I could breastfeed. Security is tight too. The babies all have monitors strapped on their ankle that sends an alarm throughout the ward (code pink) when a baby goes past a certain point.

Here are a couple of pictures. The first shows the room, and the second shows the bed she sleeps in, right next to me!
 



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## MommaAlexis

Nikkchikk I think our hospitals shop at the same place. All the furniture, curtains, pictures are EXACTLY the same as mine was!!


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## nikkchikk

MommaAlexis said:


> Nikkchikk I think our hospitals shop at the same place. All the furniture, curtains, pictures are EXACTLY the same as mine was!!

Oh they all look alike! 

Lol, I didn't want to leave! It was so cozy and the food was awesome! We even had a slushie machine in the ward!


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## MommaAlexis

We had ice cream and a big pantry of free food lol!! Soooo good. They even brought me coffee :)


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## Hopefull99

Baby was with me the whole time, never took her away. I was surprised, and I even asked a nurse. Couple of years ago when my friend gave birth they took baby away for the most part...so I asked and they said they have changed so baby and mom could bond and also, because of crazy people trying to steal babies !!!


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