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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Just wanted to jump in and say that our hospital only has private rooms as well. The rooms are the size of the semiprivates, but with only one bed (the recliner is very comfy). After I was discharged, my DH and I were set up in a semi private room as Michael was in the NICU, but it's not policy for new mothers/women's center patients to share a room.
(It was nice that way, though-- because I would have woken up a roommate every time I had to pump!)
I'm really curious...
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
It ruins the world for the rest of us.
Fio.
I'm not 100% sure on this since I've never actually been in the labour area of Victo's hospital but it's what I've heard.
I do know some other hosptials are like that now too.
Fio.
Well, times are a'changin!
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
Fio.
"For my, formula feeding is by far EASIER!!!! "
Yes, when you leave your self with only one option, that IS easier, isn't it?
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
But, sadly, some people seem to have a degree of misconception as to what constiutes 'want', and what constitues 'need'.
Jani
Jani
"Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense."
Private "case rooms", but semi-private and private post partum rooms.
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
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