Is having the baby put under a warmer really necessary?

[KarlaC]

So my plan this birth is to go about it how I did my dd2(but it's been 13 years). Since my insurance wouldn't touch a mw, hb or bc I'm going to stay at home as long as possible through labor & then go to the hospital at the last minute.

I had dd2 less than 20 minutes after I was on the l/d floor last time, it worked well since they didn't have time to strap me to a bed, efm, etc. I don't 'think' they took her away from me at that time, however I can't remember 100% anymore, it's just been too long I guess.

I'm all set to have this lo room in with me 24/7, however reading the hospitals pamphlet(different hospital than dd2 btw) it says 'Your baby will remain with you for up to one hour in the LD suite. The amount of time your infant stays could be less depending on your infant's condition. The infant will remain in the Newborn Nursery for approximately 2-4 hours until it's temperature is stabilized.'

Is that even necessary for a birth w/o complications? I don't want him out of my sight at all if there's no reason for it.

If it's not necessary, is there some sort of informed consent form I need or idk...I want this delivery to go as quickly & smoothly as possible for a hospital birth. I figure going in armed with as much info as possible is my best bet & this board has been a great source.

~Tia.

[Sarahstw]

Originally Posted by KarlaC

Is having the baby put under a warmer really necessary?

short answer: No.

long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

if it were necessary the human race would be long long long gone.

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by Sarahstw

short answer: No.

long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

if it were necessary the human race would be long long long gone.

Hehe well I figured that, now I need some kind of arsenal of info to back me up with the hospital.

[katelove]

^^^ Not necessary at all. The best way to keep a newborn warm is skin to skin with mum or dad. Alternatively, dressed in pre-warmed clothes and wrapped in a blanket with head covered (for the first 24 hours) and kept in a room at a comfortable temperature. This is what we do with all our babies.

I would tell the staff that you don't want the baby taken to the nursery and let them deal with how they manage that. Depending on how nervous the hospital admin are you may have to sign something or it may be just enough for your nurse to write in your notes that you do not give consent for the baby to be taken away.

[fruitfulmomma]

My dd was born at the hospital after a non-emergency transport from home and they never put her in the warmer. The only thing they told me was that I had to hold her or they would take her to the nursery because it wasn't warm enough in the room to put her down in the bassinet. (I was extremely exhausted, having been up for well over 24-hours.) Thankfully, dh was there and held her for me.

I don't know if dd2 was put in it or not. She was taken to NICU at birth and put on room air and had all sorts of testing and stuff done.

All the other babies were born at home and kept warm by momma's chest and heated towels.

[JD5351]

Wow, does that hospital know that it's 2009?

Every hospital that I know of around here gives you the option of using the nursery or rooming in. You can have 100% rooming in, or if you WANT them to, they'll take the baby to the nursery in case you're wanting to sleep, or shower, etc...At the hospital I'm delivering at they'll even bring a warmer in your room if needed...(Not sure how common that is though.) The only exception is if they baby is sick or NEEDS to be in the nursery...They actually prefer it that you room in..My best friend delivered there recently and had sent the baby to the nursery because she was not able to get up out of bed and was feeling sick. The nurses actually brought the baby back to her at about 4 am, because they didn't have enough room in the nursery..lol

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by JD5351

Wow, does that hospital know that it's 2009?

Every hospital that I know of around here gives you the option of using the nursery or rooming in. You can have 100% rooming in, or if you WANT them to, they'll take the baby to the nursery in case you're wanting to sleep, or shower, etc...At the hospital I'm delivering at they'll even bring a warmer in your room if needed...(Not sure how common that is though.) The only exception is if they baby is sick or NEEDS to be in the nursery...They actually prefer it that you room in..My best friend delivered there recently and had sent the baby to the nursery because she was not able to get up out of bed and was feeling sick. The nurses actually brought the baby back to her at about 4 am, because they didn't have enough room in the nursery..lol

Probably not, I really wish I weren't so constrained by insurance but that's the breaks I guess.

I'll just prepare myself for a fight in case it comes, I don't see any reason for my lo to leave my sight if there are no complications so they can just go suck a toad.

I've already been treated to the gamut of crap attitudes and outright anger from the ob staff for refusing certain tests or actually knowing my right to be informed & demanding it.

This is why I'm waiting until I'm as close as possible to pushing before I go in, I'd rather surprise the staff than give them time to 'work' on me while I'm in labor to get their way.

[RhianaW14]

hmmm my babies were never under a warmer. Maybe while I was sewn up from tearing or something but never for that long.

[crazycandigirl]

My babies seem to have a lot of trouble regulating there temperature when they are first born (DD1 has issues for the first 2 weeks, DD2 only had issues for a couple of days).

The hospital encouraged kangaroo care, but even with all the skin to skin and blankets on top and rubbing, nursing, stimulation, they still had trouble keeping temperature up. We did after that use the warming thing (didn't look like a bassinet- it was huge and they would have a monitor to measure body temp and air temp and all that). It was in our room, we were right there, touching and talking the whole time. That half hour or so at a time, alternated with kangaroo care and lots of nursing and rubbing helped a lot. After a few hours it became easier for them to warm up with just the kangaroo care and snuggles.

DD1 had trouble for a couple of weeks, light circulation trouble coupled with her lack of body fat from post maturity (she was all muscle and bone poor love- no real protective fat until a few weeks of age). It was the middle of summer and she still needed to be bundled and wear hats almost all the time or she would start to get too cold. Looked like she was ready for a snowstorm in July. It got much better.

DD2 only had a problem for the first couple of days and she did best just snuggling after those first few hours.

I do think that the warmer helped to get them through those moments when they needed it. If that had not been there for us to use, my natural instinct would have been to get into a nice warm bath with my baby and snuggle in the water while nursing to help them keep temp up. I am sure that it would have worked just as well.

I do not think that all babies need to use the warmer though, and I do think that kangaroo care and nursing are the way to go for most little ones.

[stephanie95]

That brochure seems really off with standard practices today.

Have you taken a live, in-person tour? If not, I would to see what the procedures really are. I can't see the hospital taking each healthy newborn to the nursery. There is no need for a healthy baby. The hospital where I delivered DD and will this one, doesn't even staff the nursery unless there is a baby in need.

I don't have handy reference, but I am sure ladies on here do. The WHO has a guide for baby-friendly hospitals. If you have to prepare to defend your position, I would think that document would be helpful.

I really hope that pamphlet is incorrect.

[lactationlady]

I would really, really recommend dealing with this BEFORE you go into the hospital. It may be a battle that you won't win if you don't fight it ahead of time. The hospital that I do LC work at has a mandatory 4-hour "observation" period. It is awful! Definitely NOT evidence-based care. I would recommend calling to speak with the post-partum nurse manager and see if you can make any headway. Take copies of studies showing skin-to-skin on mother is better than any warmer, studies showing stress rates of babies seperated from mom, etc. Here are a few links. There are more, but I don't have time to look them up. Let me know if you need help finding them later. Good luck!

http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...ract/113/4/858
http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...102/5/SE1/1244

I know I have another one somewhere that compares STS to warmer & mom's body wins. I will look for it later if you need it.

I had planned a homebirth with my last, but when my water broke at 35 weeks, I ended up in a hospital with a similar policy. The only thing that kept dd in my room was the fact that dd1 & dh had both been diagnosed with MRSA the week before and we had no idea if I had it or not. They did not want her in the nursery if she had MRSA, so she was able to stay in room with us until she was discharged 5 days later (actually, we left AMA, but that's another story!)

[lactationlady]

Originally Posted by stephanie95

That brochure seems really off with standard practices today.

Have you taken a live, in-person tour? If not, I would to see what the procedures really are. I can't see the hospital taking each healthy newborn to the nursery. There is no need for a healthy baby. The hospital where I delivered DD and will this one, doesn't even staff the nursery unless there is a baby in need.

I don't have handy reference, but I am sure ladies on here do. The WHO has a guide for baby-friendly hospitals. If you have to prepare to defend your position, I would think that document would be helpful.

I really hope that pamphlet is incorrect.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of hospitals out there who still have these archaic practices.

[ledzepplon]

Originally Posted by JD5351

Wow, does that hospital know that it's 2009?

Every hospital that I know of around here gives you the option of using the nursery or rooming in. You can have 100% rooming in, or if you WANT them to, they'll take the baby to the nursery in case you're wanting to sleep, or shower, etc...At the hospital I'm delivering at they'll even bring a warmer in your room if needed...(Not sure how common that is though.) The only exception is if they baby is sick or NEEDS to be in the nursery...They actually prefer it that you room in..My best friend delivered there recently and had sent the baby to the nursery because she was not able to get up out of bed and was feeling sick. The nurses actually brought the baby back to her at about 4 am, because they didn't have enough room in the nursery..lol

:

When my kids were born, they were only in the little warmer thingy for a few minutes while they got weighed/Apgar scoring. This was after about an hour of skin to skin time with me, nursing and hanging out. And it was done in my room. So, no, not necessary.

I would strongly suggest you make a visit to the hospital ahead of time and see if that is really enforced or if you could opt out.

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by lactationlady

I would really, really recommend dealing with this BEFORE you go into the hospital. It may be a battle that you won't win if you don't fight it ahead of time. The hospital that I do LC work at has a mandatory 4-hour "observation" period. It is awful! Definitely NOT evidence-based care. I would recommend calling to speak with the post-partum nurse manager and see if you can make any headway. Take copies of studies showing skin-to-skin on mother is better than any warmer, studies showing stress rates of babies seperated from mom, etc. Here are a few links. There are more, but I don't have time to look them up. Let me know if you need help finding them later. Good luck!

http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...ract/113/4/858
http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...102/5/SE1/1244

I know I have another one somewhere that compares STS to warmer & mom's body wins. I will look for it later if you need it.

I had planned a homebirth with my last, but when my water broke at 35 weeks, I ended up in a hospital with a similar policy. The only thing that kept dd in my room was the fact that dd1 & dh had both been diagnosed with MRSA the week before and we had no idea if I had it or not. They did not want her in the nursery if she had MRSA, so she was able to stay in room with us until she was discharged 5 days later (actually, we left AMA, but that's another story!)

All right well now I know who I need to call & check on this with. I was scheduled for a tour & we missed it accidentally while we were getting dh ready for deployment. Unfortunately there are no more tours with openings before I'm due so that went out the window.

Thank you all for the info, I'll be happy to fight this ahead of time.

[JD5351]

Just go on in to the L&D and talk with the nurses there.

[mamatolevi]

If you call the tour folks and explain that you missed it b/c your dh was getting ready to be deployed they may make time to give you a tour. they really should make an exception in those circumstances. If not call L&D and see if they can answer some questions for you.

[Mama Rana]

Originally Posted by stephanie95

That brochure seems really off with standard practices today.

Have you taken a live, in-person tour? If not, I would to see what the procedures really are. I can't see the hospital taking each healthy newborn to the nursery. There is no need for a healthy baby. The hospital where I delivered DD and will this one, doesn't even staff the nursery unless there is a baby in need.

I don't have handy reference, but I am sure ladies on here do. The WHO has a guide for baby-friendly hospitals. If you have to prepare to defend your position, I would think that document would be helpful.

I really hope that pamphlet is incorrect.

Nope, my hospital with it's brand-new Infant Maternal Care Ward does this, as per the tour we took a couple weeks ago. I'm planning to decline; we'll see how it goes. My doula said the only reason they need to be put under the heater is that they insist on bathing them, so we plan to decline this too. It's going to be tricky, but patients have the right to decline anything.

Originally Posted by JD5351

Just go on in to the L&D and talk with the nurses there.

I don't know about your L&D ward, but the one in my hospital is locked; you can't just walk in. Perhaps calling ahead would work better....


Good luck!

[JD5351]

Originally Posted by Mama Rana

I don't know about your L&D ward, but the one in my hospital is locked; you can't just walk in. Perhaps calling ahead would work better....


Good luck!

Ours is open..You can't get to the actual labor rooms, but the nurses station is right there. I didn't think about the fact that other hospitals are set up a bit different.

I'd definately call them anyway, and ask the questions that you need to.

[mbravebird]

In no universe can they take your baby from you without your permission. They just can't do it. That would be like them coming up to you on the street and taking your baby from the stroller. They just can't do it if you say no. It's your baby!

If he's having temperature issues, you will be informed about that and can make the decision about the warmer then. End of story. There are laws about informed consent, and they protect you in this situation.

Just be polite and keep saying no. Politely. Repeat as often as necessary.

[Ldavis24]

Good luck, I would just go to the hospital, get buzzed in if it is a locked ward, mine is, and demand a tour. My hospital is tiny though and I did this and it was fine, all the nurses were just sitting around there wasn't a single labor room being used!

Also your hospital could use warmers in your room? I know that mine has it but they only use it if there is a problem they need to check with the baby. They have this whole fancy machine that has all the gear they need to do anything including resucitation (sorry sp)....

As everyone here has pointed out, skin to skin is best for sure! At my BFing class I even learned that if baby is too hot mom's skin and breasts can cool baby down by some awesome mom magic!