What if baby is taken to nicu for no good reason?

[2ndprincess]

I have a strong feeling that my DD was taken to the nicu simply because it was in my record that I suffered depression. She apparently needed monitoring for shallow breathing but was off any oxygen within a couple hours and was only monitored. She would have been released to me sooner had it not been the weekend and they been able to get the parienatologist in and paperwork done sooner.

My fear is that they will rip this baby from me as well, for no good reason, based on comments the doctor has made. What are my rights? Can I stop it?

 

[sunnylove]

Rest assured, your baby was not taken to the NICU because it was noted you suffered from depression. I'm sure there was a very good reason for it.

 

[jandksmommy]

It is very doubtful that they took your little one to the NICU for any reason other than she needed to be on the monitors to watch her breathing and oxygen saturation. If they were at all concerned about your ability to care for her, they would have had someone come assess your mental state before they ever released her to you. Glad you and your little one are all well.

 

[Jes.shortcake]

I don't think they would of taken the baby for no reason. What makes you think they'll take your baby?

 

[AP]

No, NICU spaces are too precious to use on babies that don't genuinely need it.

 

[Springflower]

AP is right, space is very precious.

I hope you are ok.

 

[2ndprincess]

If there was a good reason, it was kept a big secret. Which brings me to my original question, what are my rights?

 

[kirstybumx3]

No, NICU spaces are too precious to use on babies that don't genuinely need it.

This. I was moved to a different hospital in labour because there were no NICU incys available. I highly doubt your child was there for no reason.

 

[AP]

If there was a good reason, it was kept a big secret. Which brings me to my original question, what are my rights?

The doctors would not have put your first on oxygen for reason, I would honestly take that at face value. It is not in the doctors job to make decisions about removing a child from your care, however long or short that would be - that would be down to social work and similar.

If your new baby needed special care then I don't think it would be wise to decline. I would suggest speaking to your midwife about your fears and asking your GP about your first baby's SCBU admission and exactly why it happened.

What was the comment that the doctor made?

 

[Foogirl]

I agree with others, there must have been a concern, they would not have used neonatal in that way. If they are concerned about your mental health there are other things they can do to protect LO. As for it being a secret, Sometimes it can seem that way as often there isn't the chance to have an In depth conversation with the parents and in my experience doctors aren't always great at following up with parents. The weekend issue happens all across hospitals. Both my husband and I have fallen victim to it and been in
hospital longer than is necessary because of a weekend or holiday period.

Your rights? Well as a parent you have the right to decline any hospital care for your child. Of course you can say no to a NNICU stay and insist your child is discharged. But if they feel you are putting your child in harms way, they can go to court and get an emergency ruling against you. This would actually put you at far more risk of them questioning your mental health. I totally understand your situation, nobody wants to lose time with their LO, but instead of thinking about what you can do to stop it, maybe speak to your consultant about your concerns, ask to see LO and your own notes from when they were born to satisfy yourself they did what they thought was best for your child, and speak about the risks of it happening again.

 

[mummy2be1987]

They most definitely will not admit a baby because of your depression. My little boy was taken in to NICU and he was full term, he needed an operation. And all around him there were preemie babies. At one point they were over capacity and were having to move babies to other hospitals because they did not have the room. The hospitals primary concern will be babies healthy not because of your history of depression. It may have been a slight concern about your DD's breathing in the first place and there is a lot of paperwork to get baby ready and discharged from NICU. We were waiting 12 hours for Max's paperwork to be sorted and it was nearly 10pm when we were finally allowed to leave x