Is having the baby put under a warmer really necessary? - Page 2

[Sarahstw]

Sorry for my first post, I was worried that if I were to 'get into' the topic I was just gonna get ranty and snarky...

Originally Posted by KarlaC

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.

Don't fight. State your decision clearly and repeat. repeat, repeat, repeat. Start with clarifying "Is there something wrong with my baby?" "Is there something wrong with my baby's temperature?" and then pick your sentence - something like "The baby will stay with me" "I've made an informed decision and the baby will stay with me" Don't argue, don't engage, just state your case - if anyone argues with you just repeat yourself - it makes them look like fools pretty quickly. And once you're alone again make the toad sucking comment lol.

have you seen Mary Cronk's phrasebook?
http://www.homebirth.org.uk/marycronkphrases.htm

it's clearly not designed for those of us in this part of the world but still handy.

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by 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.

Informed consent is a nice theory, unfortunately after working in health care as long as I have I know for a fact it just doesn't always happen, not even 50% of the time. Often if the patient knows enough TO ask what is going on when it's not offered, they're considered difficult & get worse 'treatment' by the staff.

I've just been ramping up what info I can get in order to get through this as quickly as possible. I'll have no support system with me & I do have an anxiety disorder so working it out internally ahead of time with every situation I can & a solution gives me a lot of peace of mind.

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.

I did try to explain it to them, but as far as I could tell they are as apathetic toward anyone else's situation as a lot of burned out hospital staff are & it fell on deaf ears.

There is a nurse at my ob's office who also works on the l&d floor, her husband deployed with mine. I plan on asking her about the warmer when I go back in two weeks. Maybe with luck it's outdated, at the bf class I attended a few months ago the LC said they had just remodeled the floor.

Thank you all for the input & the links, they were very helpful & I intend on using all the info to the fullest.

[MamaMonica]

Moved to Birth and Beyond.

[Belle]

I went to a birth as a doula where everything was fine with the baby and the birth was beautiful and peaceful. But the hospital's air conditioning thermostat was broken and stuck on 63 degrees. Myself, the father, and two nurses tried adjusting it but it wouldn't change. So during and after the birth the poor mama was freezing. When I came back to visit with them the next day they were doing skin to skin contact with the baby and had a ton of blankets on both mom and baby trying to keep them warm. The air conditioner was still broke. They were threatening to take the baby to the nursery because "the baby was having trouble maintaining temperature". They blamed it on the baby but it was the hospital's own fault. It was really cold in there. The mom left a few hours later so the baby could maintain his temperature at home.

[Gena 22]

Originally Posted by Sarahstw

have you seen Mary Cronk's phrasebook?
http://www.homebirth.org.uk/marycronkphrases.htm

it's clearly not designed for those of us in this part of the world but still handy.

That is a fantastic resource! I'm going to have to memorize those.

[meganmarie]

This was mentioned only in passing by a PP but its been covered extensively in other threads and was my experience as well. Part of the reason hospitals have this warmer routine in place is because they give all newborn babies a rigourous bath, which naturally drops baby's temperature. Then they insist on using the warmer to fix the problem *they* caused! The hospital I used for baby #1 warned you to expect 2 hours of separation from baby in nursery after birth - only after this would you be able to "room in". They also use this time in the warmer to do procedures and tests, to "monitor" baby and do paperwork, so convenience is a big part of the story, if the hospital isn't set up to do all this stuff in individual rooms.

Anyway my point being that refusing the bath can be a big help in achieving no-separation. No bath is one less reason for baby to go to the nursery in the first place. No bath means no temperature drop. I did this with baby #2, having learned my lesson, and it worked like a charm. The L&D nurses wiped baby down gently with towels to get the worst gunk off, bundled her up like a burrito in swaddling blankets and put a little hat on her. She never left my side. That was a different (more-baby-friendly) hospital so they didn't give me a hard time although they all clearly thought I was touched in the head.

[felix23]

My dd was a couple weeks early and born by c-section and she wasn't sent to the nursery or placed under a warmer. They just wrapped her up and told me to cuddle her.

[channelofpeace]

OT: felix23- Your girls are adorable

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by Sarahstw

short answer: No.

long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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

couldn't have put it better!

[MissyLissa]

Ugh. Where was this thread 6 weeks ago?? I had to deal with this crap at the hospital I gave birth at and the nursery nurse tried to tell me that the warmer was more efficient than skin-to-skin when I questioned what they were doing. I had DH stay with the baby while she was doing her "jail time" and I asked him to try and break her out but he chickened out. I was too shaky from the birth to really fight him on it but once I was feeling less shaky I walked down to the nursery and picked her up and nursed her under the warmer. Not ideal but I got to hold her and continue to get nursing established and they got what they wanted. Luckily the nurse was compliant and gave me a chair to sit in and didn't put up a fight when I took DD out of the isolette.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by channelofpeace

OT: felix23- Your girls are adorable

Thank you!

[UptownZoo]

Important point to remember when hospitalized for any reason, but especially for childbirth: hospital policy is NOT the law.

Mommies make very good baby warmers.

[AutumnAir]

I wonder if there's any way you can talk to the resident pediatrician at the hospital (I'm not sure how your hospital system works) and ask him/her to sign the part of your birth plan relating to your baby that states that the baby is not to receive a bath and is not to be removed from your side without your explicit consent and barring any serious medical conditions.

Having 'doctor's orders' may be enough to prevent you from having to fight the hospital staff immediately after having given birth.

And yes, I agree, informed consent rarely has a place in hospitals where they will continue with their own routines which place their convenience over the well being of the mothers and babies. Having fallen victim to this myself I really know. And I went in thinking "Okay, it'll be a fight, but they can't take my baby if I say no." Well, they did, along with many other things I didn't consent to. Unless you're practically superwoman you can't actually get up and physically stop them from just picking your baby up and walking off with him/her to do whatever they want for as long as they want

I would definitely also enlist the help of a birth partner whose responsibility is to prevent them from making off with the baby after birth, and make sure they are extremely assertive and well versed in the reasons why baby is better off with you.

Good luck - I hope you get a good birth