ewwww i cant even imagine having another baby in a hospital

[ErinsJuneBug]

I work at my local hospital - mostly as a float. Sometimes i go to maternity, sometimes i go to pedi. Well due to a recent closure our maternity ward is PACKED. The overflow is sent down to Pedi and there is usally atleast 4 or 5 maternity moms there.

Today i worked on pedi and there was a girl who HAD MRSA celulitis and it wasnt responding to antibiotics...this thing was nasty looking. Anyway they moved her to a different room...TO MAKE ROOM FOR SOME MATERNITY MOMS!!!!!!! THey freaking put a new baby and newly delivered mother in a room that had a girl with MRSA in it 10 minutes earlier. Sure they had housekeeping clean it, and change the sheets, but you know there is no way that every MRSA bacteria was killed. Think about the curtains, the counter tops, the blood pressure cuff, the buttons on the bed, the chair, the door knob, the faucet....

I want to puke.

[ChristSavesAll]

I would've told that momma if I were you... then again how much more are the other rooms infected by sick people that you didn't see... kwim?

But still a newborn? they are just starting out in life and building up their immune systems, momma would've been better going home at that point.

[peainthepod]

Any time I'm forced to go to a hospital (usually visiting relatives or friends or whatever) I just assume everything I see is covered in invisible death. I try not to touch anything and I compulsively wash my hands after leaving.

[zejh]

Yikes! I notice you're in Massachusetts?...

On the bright side, this means I might be able to convince my husband to homebirth afterall... (Not sure when that'll be, but hopefully in the next year or two...)

[Jojo F.]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

Any time I'm forced to go to a hospital (usually visiting relatives or friends or whatever) I just assume everything I see is covered in invisible death. I try not to touch anything and I compulsively wash my hands after leaving.

Me too. We took a tour of a hospital close to me incase I don't get my HB. I specifically told DS not to touch a thing and we washed our hands right away. Hospitals just freak me out, blach!!

[*MamaJen*]

Ugh. It's like the modern version of the 1920s doctors going from the autopsy to the birth without washing their hands.

[Turquesa]

I'm a little uneducated about these matters, but is this something you could blow the whistle on? Maybe an anonymous (for job security's sake) call to your area health department?

[ErinsJuneBug]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

I'm a little uneducated about these matters, but is this something you could blow the whistle on? Maybe an anonymous (for job security's sake) call to your area health department?

I dont think it would matter - they had housekeeping clean the room. I think that when you're going into a hospital its kind of taking a risk of exposing yourself to hospital aquired illnesses. We very often have moms who have AIDS, HEP B, TB in a room and then clean it out and have another mom minutes later. Obviously those diseases arent transmitted the same way, but still...

[MrsJewelsRae]

OMG that is disgusting and terrifying!! I started hearing more about MRSA in Ontario hospitals the last few months and it really cinched it for me that having a homebirth is the right decision again. I had to go to L&D this week to get my rhogam shot and I felt so uneasy. It is the same old place I had my ds in, except it seemed worse. I could not get over how dingy and sparse it looked, I felt like I was in a prison. *shudder* I am so not going there if I don't absolutely have to. Ick. Not that it helps much, but our local hospital doesn't even try to make the place more homey like most wards are advertising these days.

[Hayes]

My mom had surgery to remove an MSSA (sensitve rather than resistant) infection from her spine. I took my little guy, then 4 months old, wrapped to my body to visit. His blanket fell on the floor and the nurse tried to GIVE IT BACK TO ME!! I told her to PLEASE toss it in with the rest of the laundry that I really didn't want hospital floor germs on my baby.

[ErinsJuneBug]

Originally Posted by Hayes

My mom had surgery to remove an MSSA (sensitve rather than resistant) infection from her spine. I took my little guy, then 4 months old, wrapped to my body to visit. His blanket fell on the floor and the nurse tried to GIVE IT BACK TO ME!! I told her to PLEASE toss it in with the rest of the laundry that I really didn't want hospital floor germs on my baby.

Good call!! You should see me when i come home from work. My shoes dont go inside and DD knows not to go anywhere near them. I wont touch anyone until I'm showered and i wash all of my clothes seperatly. OCD?? Maybe - but it scares me.