hospital obligation to bf....
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| Mon, 08-30-2004 - 10:15am |
2 recent incidences I've come across IRL spark this question.
MY SIL just delivered in a hospital I routinely refer to as a "baby-factory" They have a 33% section rate and are "very" interventionist. However, they have the best NICU in the area and many people choose it for that reason alone (ot, but that makes no sense to me unless you know you have a high-risk baby -- i delivered another hopspital which could've had my children there in under 10 minuts if necessary -- but i digress).
Anyway, i had heard some really awful things about the pp nurses at said hopsital...2 friends were told they had 20 min to latch the baby on -- if not, she had to have a bottle right then and there...ugh. SIL had a pretty average delivery and felt great. my new neice latched on well and all was going fine in the hospital. However, she was pushed EVERY time a nurse came in to give her a bottle because "her milk wouldn't be in for days and the baby would starve." SIL had taken a bf class which offered much conflicting information to what the pp nurses said, so she refused the formula. When I came to visit she asked me if she was right to refuse, and she also called the bf instructor. I later learned that this hospital has "done away" with lactaction services. One pp nurse happens to be an LC so if you're lucky you get her.
Another friend had a section for a breech recently and her husband was unable to spend nights at the hospital (they have an older child). She was not alllowed to nurse the baby unless she had a visitor in the room or a nurse. They would not leave her alone with the baby given the medication she had been on for "safety reasons." She only nursed the baby a handful times...in fact she barely spent much time with the baby as caring for her other child prevented DH from being there more than a few hours and her family is not local. When the baby was in the nursery he had formula; if DH was there, she nursed.
Is a hospital obligated to help a mother establish a good bF relationship? A hospital is obligated to provide a low-salt diet to a high blood pressure patient. Given the medical recommendation to BF and the critical early days, is this any different?
p.s. Both babies are currently nursing well despite these scenarios. However, I think it's just as likely things could've went south.
p.p.s. I'm barely even lurking anymore -- busy summer, too mnay beach days and i'm also feeling a bit green -- 16 weeks pg. However, I hope to be able to jump back in soon?

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With my own DD1 I had a tiny fold-up bassinet that my mom had used with me which I used for about 2 days and then we got the "Arm's reach co-sleeper" which was much better. Not that she ever really slept in it (she HATED sleeping "far" from me).
Fio.
Fio.
That doesn't sound right to me. My understanding is that because not all insurance companies will pay for a private room and therefore not all women will want a private room, hospitals are required to provide some semi-private rooms.
The hospital where I delivered has semi-private rooms for this reason, but the vast majority of women request a private room. The private rooms are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
My workplace has a very good insurance plan, we are very lucky. I am also fully covered while on my 1 year maternity leave. They provide it at no cost. My brother's employer provides it at a minimal charge. It's the same as in the US.
If you have any other questions let me know!
Judi
Not true at all. There are actually a LOT of hospitals that have *only* private L&D & Mother/Baby rooms and suites. Usually the wording (health coverage policies), wrt to policies that only allow for semi-private, is that you have to accept semi-private when available, to have the stay covered at full cost. If the hospital doesn't offer *semi-private*, then it's not available.
In the general area that I live in, I believe that there is only one hospital hold-out that still has semi-private mother/baby rooms. And, I recently heard that they're redesigning their unit, because nobody wants to deliver there, and be stuck in a room with someone else. They're having a difficult time competing with the hospitals that have more modern accomodations. Like your hospital, they state on their website that the private rooms are on a 1st come, 1st serve basis.
My hospital has a fairly new maternity ward, with *birthing suites*, and the spa-like atmosphere that a lot of people have described. If you deliver there, that's what you get, period. Wait-- The do have a maternity CCU, for extremely ill Moms, and an antepartum unit for high-risk, hospital bound pregnant women. All of those rooms are private, and spa-like as well, with the exception of the CCU rooms. They're closer to the traditional hospital rooms (still private), but don't have as much of the fluff as the other rooms, as it's not needed/indicated. When moms are no longer critical, they're moved to the mother/baby suite for the rest of their stay.
To varying degrees, most of the hospitals around here offer the same type of rooming.
Jani
Jani
"Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense."
the basinets are very similar to side cars (or whatever they are called) because the bed can be lowered so you are the exact hiegth of the baby sleeping and the basinet literally goes parallel with the bed.
Ok, take that side car,
NEED to have assistance would pretty much mean that the mom in question is not able bodied and/or has no one else that CAN help her.
Geesh.

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<But you are back to someone pawning their baby off because that is what they WANT to do.
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