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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well, you are entitled to basic care. that is, if you show up at an emergency room in labor, or with a gunshot wound you will be taken care of..however, if you do not have insurance you will be expected to pay that bill -- no matter the cost. in some cases, a payment plan will be established. a pretty scary concept when you consider that those least likely to have the money to pay for it are asked too.
honestly, i think the state of insurance in the u.s. is a very sad one indeed. i consider myself incredibly lucky to have always had what i needed --- millions of americans -- mostly children and women DO NOT!
its so ironic...politicians are always speaking about establishing a deomcratic way of life (like americans enjoy) for people in afganistan and iraq which provides basic healthcare for all citizens. too bad many americans don't have that way of life. it really sounds to me like they want iraq to like canada -- not the u.s.
p.s. just logged back into this thread...last i was here there were only 12 replies. could be awhile before i get through them all.
gee, i always thought potaoes were a starch. perhaps that's what my mother told me to get to eat green things. where's the head scratching icon?
Again, I truly thank you for answering my questions.
My insurance & in my sister's experience it has always paid for the accomodations.
There are no semi-private floors on mother/baby unit. To find one of those you would have to go to the medical/surgical floors.
In fact, none of the *women's care center* where you go in for any OB/GYN medical care has semi-private rooms; only private.
We have a lovely labor/delivery area where they are beautifully decorated, private bath, they are *BIG* and they have a little nursery area off to the side for when the baby is first born to check vitals & get them their blankets. Dads (and in our case, my mother & grandmother who was also w/us for L&D) go to that area witht he baby & then Dad brings the baby back over to Mommy.
Awhile after delivery you are then transferred to the mother/baby unit.....spacious & lovely all *private* rooms. No semi privates are even on the mother/baby unit at all.
Our pediatrics unit is in a different area of the hospital.
There are other situations as well. For instance, we had so much company, which we thoroughly enjoyed every second!!! Some times late at night around 10 Dh would have went out to get our dinner & I was uncomfortable, really needing to take a hot shower...so if the baby needed to be fed the nurse would have came in and cared for the baby. Afterall, she would *have* to stay in the room while I was in the shower unless I took the baby in the bassinet to the bathroom w/me (which I usually did anyway).
We don't have a nursery per say in like the ones you use to see....the big open window where visitors go view the babies. The nursery is near the nursing station and your nurse that is caring for you and your baby will take the baby in there if you request. Usually when a mother requests that it is because she is on pain medications (like me) and *needed* sleep! So therefore, yes, they ff'd your baby, unless you request otherwise. With my first, I requested they did. I think they gave him one bottle. I didn't mind at all! I needed the pain medication very much!
My sister bf'd her second child. Her pain medications made her VERY sleepy!!!
Dh was w/me the majority of the time. When he wasn't I often had my family or friends who were visiting while he ran to get out. About the only time was after visiting hours when Dh would run out around 10p to get our dinner.
The nurses told us upon each admission to the mother/baby unit that it is their responsibility to care for their patient & her baby and that did include feedings and bringing snacks (the whole beginning gist of this debate LOL).
Let me ask you? Is it just hard for you to accept that other hopsitals have different philosophies & ideas on the mother/baby units?
That *appears* to be the issue here, honestly.
Because it doesn't have to be this way; then it shouldn't be. Because it isn't this way everyway, it doesn't have to be this way where we are.
I would not have actually breastfeed anyway. It was EPing or Formula. Bottle use with both.
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