Leaving SCBU too early?

[Beakerange]

Hi All,
After advice please. We have been told today that they intend to move our premmie to the children's ward. I thought he may go there a couple of days b4 discharge to just get everything sorted but he is not there yet. He is only 3lb 9oz and bottle feeding isn't established yet he is trying it but still has every other feed through tube.
We are livid because we are sure that he is being pushed out because they need 3 beds for new admissions. The ward is nowhere near as good and there seems 2b an expectation of the parents staying overnight etc which would be more difficult as we have another child.
Anyone had any experience of this?

 

[Marleysgirl]

No experience but you might want to wait and see what Lottie has to say - Iona was moved recently over to the Children's Hospital and I think she was happier with that setup than in SCBU ...

My first question would be to ascertain what the ratio of nurses:babies will be, as there are government guidelines for ratios in SCBUnits to ensure sufficient care.

eta Just googled and it's 1:4 for babies in special care (as opposed to high dependency & icu).

 

[Lottie86]

My little girl was moved from neonatal to the children's hospital as they knew she would be a prolonged stay patient (ie in for ages after due date) and our neonatal didn't seem keen on babies being there after their due dates plus we had issues about their infection control nurse and Findlay's chair.

For us this being moved was the best option as we know all the staff over here very well, Findlay is much happier here as itand his second home and we are living in here (I'm sleeping in her room and my OH and son are in parents accommodation).

The staff ratios are very different in children's wards compared to neonatal units. Children's wards rely heavily on parents doing all the normal day today stuff (nappy changes, dressing baby, comforting them when upset etc) which is why they will be very keen for one of you to stay in with your baby as hospitals simply do not have the staff to do everything. I went home last night for a couple of hours to sort some bits out and I had said to a nurse before I left that she needed her nappy changed at 10pm, I got back up to her just before midnight and found a soggy Iona as her nappy hadn't been changed which I assume was because they either forgot or they were busy.
Also be aware that a lot of the docs and nurses in a children's hospital won't be used to preemies and their 'quirks'. I had one doctor tell me that Iona acts like a preemie because she's the size of a preemie, I was so tempted to turn round and tell them that she acted like a preemie because she is a preemie!

The best bit (although it's weird to start with) is that you don't need to ask permission before you give your baby a cuddle, bath them etc

 

[mylittlebud1]

Hi,

I had an extremely prem baby and i would under no circumstances let them move your baby to childrens ward. Your baby is still tiny and trying to establish feeding and it wouldn't be fair to the baby. i wouldn't want my baby exposed the possibilty of more infections. I don't want to frighten you or anything but our babies are just so precious and they should not be rushed.

Hope it all works out for you xxxxxx

 

[kelly6407]

Establishing feeding can happen very quick
My little girl got the hang of it quick and was home at 3lb 10oz.

Maybe they think Ur lo is close to going home?