carrying babies out of the hospital - Page 3

[_betsy_]

We had to roll DD around the around in the bassinett thingy too - liability issue so we couldn't sue if we slipped and dropped her.

We brought the bucket up because we thought we had to, but the nurse was like, "We just ask if you have a carseat and take your word for it."

[nikihodges]

in georgia nurses are required to check the car seat before the baby leaves the hosp. we check that the baby is in right and that the seat is buckled in correctly....some mommies bring the seat in-which is easier for the nurses-some with the convertable type we just check once the baby is put in , in the car...im not sure about someone using public transport though

[jcchirib]

Originally Posted by g&a

We were even told not to walk around the ward carrying the baby - she was supposed to be in the rolling basinette. What a dumb rule. Were they afraid I would drop her?
g.

oh, it's even weirder than that...i've read on other websites and on a couple of nursing forums the "real" reason for this: risk management and infant abduction. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that hospitals require that all infants be pushed around in bassinets, and never be carried in arms in the halls. matter of fact, a woman carrying an infant in the hall is considered "suspicious behavior" to be investigated.

i found out the hard way with my dd1, and i got rather brusk with the questioning nurse, but my dh wanted to keep the peace, so i returned to the room for the darned box.

boy, and those medicos keep insisting on the safety of hospitals! yet another reason for having dd2 at home...

[Melaniee]

We had to bring our car seat in and put Ds in it to show them we knew how to use it (or for them to show us how to use it) then we took him out so I could hold him while I was wheeled out.

We actually chose to put Dd in hers since it was about 1 am and chilly when we left the birthing center. We wanted to get in as quickly as possible with our 3 hour old baby.

[gaidinsgirl]

Our baby was transported to a NICU an hour away and I still had to ride in a wheelchair with him in his carrier on my lap. I hadn't even been a patient at that hospital.

[Waterfallraleigh]

We just brought the carseat up and got her all settled in and covered since it was cold. However, the 2nd night in the hospital Emily was fussy so we put her in the sling (my husband was wearing her) and hte nurse came in and asked if she could breathe.

[LightForest]

So has anyone out there taken public transportation home from the hospital/birthing center? I'm really curious to know how staff would react to that.

[TypingMarie]

I could barely walk for a few days after my son was born, so I was grateful for the wheelchair on the way out. I carried him in my arms, though we did bring a sling. He cried when we tried to put him into the sling so I just held him.

When I pre-registered they told me they'd need to see the carseat before they let us go home, but nobody looked at it. The guy who wheeled me down to the parking lot didn't even wait for my husband to bring the car around before going back inside, so we just left. For all I know that wheelchair is still sitting at the curb.

[Individuation]

What do they do with people who aren't taking a car home from the hospital?

[onelilguysmommy]

they asked me if i had a carseat and where it was. i said it was in the van. they said okay.
then before we left, i was asked again by soimeone else. they had a random young gy push me downstairs, though i was fine to walk...
he said "bye" and walked off. my brother was pushing me and my son around (he was 6) in this giant wheelcahir thinggy with all our stuff stuck on it, that was fun... he kept trying to run us into the glass stuff in the gift shop1 :sigh:

noone looked or cared. im praying to be at the birth center this time, so im sure from the inside to the outside they woudlnt care, LOL!!

[BrooklynDoula]

Here you can leave with the baby in a carrier but many people have no cars, so this is not that uncommon. I left with the baby in arms and put him in a carseat in or car (and they checked).

[pianojazzgirl]

Originally Posted by CanBoo

Next time, I would just borrow someone's infant seat, get the baby out of the maternity unit like that, they will never know that she is going in a different seat.

That's what we did!

[lava]

remember

They're not (well, theoretically--there are bad eggs in every box of course <G>) trying to harass you or get down on babywearing, they're playing CYA!
The wheelchair is for their protection--if you fall and get hurt (or baby does if you're carrying him/her) it's their legal responsibility (just as an example, my friend's ailing grandmother was briefly left unattended against doctor's and family's orders and fell off of an MRI table, had to have a hip replacement--the hospital paid for all the surgical and hospitalization related costs, plus they pay $1000/month for the next 30 years--that was an out of court settlement. Yeah, you feel great, and you don't think you're going to fall--but what if you do? Try to look at their POV <G>.
And same thing with the carseat--they're supposed (not by law per se but again, CYA--if you got in a wreck on the way home and were holding baby in your lap and baby was injured, they could be sued for letting you leave without educating you on carseat use) to make sure you've got the critter buckled in when you leave...
-lava

[the_lissa]

I know why some hospitals do it. It doesn't mean I agree or that I would comply. If the hospital where I transferred with my first doesn't do it, then it clearly isn't an across the board thing, so not that important.

If I want to walk, I will walk.

[cece]

My experience was similar to others here. I was not allowed to walk around in the hallways using a carrier, the bassinet dealy only. So, we mainly stayed in our room .
I do have a funny story, though. I was in the room, alone with Eva who was snuggled down in a hotsling and we were rocking on the glider, me half asleep. A nurse walked in and freaked out b/c she didn't see the baby!
I have to say that before I had her I would've thought that the bassinet thing in the hallways was dumb, but given that I had a c-section and was crazy weak afterward, I can see why. Maybe it was just me, but I had vertigo randomly and could barely walk. We too had to bring the car seat in, although it makes me wonder what they'd do if all you had was a convertible car seat, that would be a pain!

[meghandmama]

oh don't get me started on this topic....grrrrr. yet another reason to homebirth or go to a birth center.

when megh was born and we left the hospital in central oregon, they told me i had to bring in a car seat for her and they put her in it and when the nurse slid the straps to tighten it her hand slipped and wound up scratching my precious newborns face w/ her ring...i was PISSED and hurt so bad about that. it made me so mad. i couldn't carry my own baby out of there. i should have just taken my baby right on out of the car seat and held her, nursed her...cuz it scared her and hurt her! i was ready to go off on that lady.

i'm at such a different point now that i would not be so passive again. that is just ridiculous. there is no reason why we can't CARRY our own babies out of the hospital and then put them into a carseat once we reach the vehicle w/ nurse in tow to witness. like are they going to come and observe everytime we get into our cars from our homes too? its just to cover their own asses and it pisses me off. i need to find out more about the 'true' policy and our legal right cuz its annoying isn't it!

[swampwitch]

We tried and tried to explain to our discharge nurse that we had a convertable car seat, no bucket...she just didn't get it. So my poor dad, who had no idea how the thing worked, had to go the car, completely unstrap it and haul it in.

By that time another nurse was on and asked why we had bothered doing that, they just had to know we had one Grrr. We very irritably responded that the previous nurse insisted we bring it in.

I did go out in a wheelchair but I held my baby. However, I, too, just wanted to get the frack out of there and was willing to do whatever backflip I had to do to go home.

When we left the NICU a week later a nurse had to carry my baby to the car and watch us put him in his seat. THAT was irritating b/c my husband or I were perfectly capable of carrying him. Bleh.

If there is a #2, we plan on having a homebirth.

[mamamavis]

We didn't have to bring the seat in. But a nurse walked us down and my hubby pulled up and she had to verify that we had one....no mandatory wheelchair either. But the birthing center here is way ahead of the times IMO. It was built/designed at the insistence of a very loving OB (former midwife) and her team. Despite my hopes of a home water birth, my experience at the hospital was respectful and my birth was awesome!

[ledzepplon]

Originally Posted by Ms Ladybug

Did anyone else HAVE to use a carseat when they left the hospital having giving birth? Both times, we had to have the baby strapped into the car seat, and sitting on my lap in the wheelchair as we left. It would have been nice to have them in a sling, but hospital policy said no way.
Anyone else??

We could carry them any way we chose, but a hospital staff person had to come out with us to be sure they were properly strapped into a car seat for the drive home.

[hottmama]

They insisted that I be wheeled to the hospital door, but I held my son in my lap (my oldest). We left the hospital 12 hours after his birth-- being told I couldn't hold him while walking down the hall was one reason I wanted out of there! I wasn't about to put him in that stupid plastic box!
FWIW I was walking fine <10 minutes after my first birth-- that was with an episiotomy and stitches. I was up, showered, dressed, and walking around within an hour of my UC. Of course, mastitis knocked me on my butt about a week later both times, so I don't necessarily recommend jumping up right after birth, or walking to the park or roaming the mall 2 days later (yes, I did both).