Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Mar
16
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“I Can’t Make Sure She’s Doing Alright If You Are Holding Her.”
“I can’t make sure she’s doing alright if you are holding her.” -L&D nurse to mom who insisted on holding her newborn for uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact after birth.
There are 28 comments to this post.
This nurse needs to be introduced to the nurse who writes the At Your Cervix blog – she just wrote a great post about doing routine care from the mama’s arms. Actually LOTS of nurses do it that way (and unfortunately lots of others can’t be bothered).
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atyourcervix Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 9:05 am (Quote)
Hello nurse? Pink baby, moving, rooting at the breast……baby is fine.
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Umm Abdullah had this to say,
Mar 16, 2010 @ 6:44 am (Quote)
“Well, then I guess you can go take a break, because we’re fine!”
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Knitted in the Womb had this to say,
Mar 16, 2010 @ 6:45 am (Quote)
“Funny, but the American Academy of Pediatrics reccommends immediate and continuous skin to skin contact until after the first breastfeeding session (which I view as a MINIMUM). So they seem to think it is possible to assess the health of a baby in arms. Perhaps you need to get into a different line of work if you can’t handle this particular skill set?”
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The Deranged Housewife Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 6:22 pm (Quote)
I have yet to give birth in a hospital or with OB staff who lets this happen, (even after my VBAC), and especially after my sections, which really pissed me off. They wheel the baby in next to you in recovery like, “Hey, look who we found! Let’s put him on display for you to look at!” I never knew how mad that made me until I read stories of fortunate women who were able to have this time. It’s like they are saying to you, “You’ve waited this long, what’s another couple of minutes/hours?” 
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She’s in the mom’s arms, either crying or just quietly looking around, and you’re still not sure if she’s ok?
What exactly are you looking for??
My pediatrician does regular well and sick visits with the child in my arms.
OK, I could hear it if you want to weigh the baby, but really, that’s about it.
Am I missing something?
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atyourcervix had this to say,
Mar 16, 2010 @ 9:06 am (Quote)
Babies that are skin to skin do better with thermoregulation, blood glucose stabilization, breastfeeding success, and are generally quieter and happier than babies taken away from their mothers loving arms.
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Wait, I thought that they could check the baby while the mom holds her, unless, like someone else pointed out, they need to weigh the baby? Was the baby a preemie or did the mom have a high risk pregnancy? Still seems like she’d be able to at least hold the baby for a little while…
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Heather P Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 5:40 pm (Quote)
They don’t need to weigh the baby right away, that can wait. Unfortunately for my oldest they did not wait, I got a good 15 seconds of bonding time before they rushed to cut the cord and get that all important weight taken.
My youngest was born at home. She did just fine in my arms. Her apgars were even better than her sisters.
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I’m not sure what is so important that can’t wait? Because obviously if the babe is in Mom’s arm, then you can see she is fine…KWIM? If she was visibly not fine they would have taken her away already. Apart from weight and height, everything else can be done in arms, and really weight and height are not going to change if they are done 2 minutes after birth or 2 hours after birth… Some people need to learn to be flexible!
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Michelle Potter had this to say,
Mar 16, 2010 @ 7:08 pm (Quote)
Sometimes I am SO grateful for the NICU nurses who cared for my middle daughter. She was hooked up to all these monitors and things, and when I wanted to take them all off to snuggle and nurse her they said, “We figure we don’t have to worry — you’ll tell us if anything is wrong.”
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Sheva Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:13 pm (Quote)
You’re so lucky… With my 35 weeker, I caught her, she cried out, I held her while my midwife cut the cord, and they grabbed her because “she wasn’t breathing”. ??! I heard her cry, and I held her while she wriggled.
Then, in the NICU they didn’t let me touch her AT ALL (let alone hold her) for a few days because it would stimulate her and make her use up too much energy.
She weighed 4 1/2 pounds at birth.
Is there any research supporting what they did?
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Michelle Potter Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:38 pm (Quote)
I can’t say for sure. I have not researched prematurity, because none of my babies have been born before 41 weeks. However, when my daughter was in the NICU (she suffered a minor birth injury due to being unexpectedly footling breech), she was in with the preemies because that’s where they had room. The whole preemie NICU was plastered with posters about how skin-to-skin contact is so important for premature babies, and asking for volunteers to hold babies whose mothers could not be there.
As for my daughter, who was born at 42w3d and weighed just over 7 pounds, I held her constantly with the full approval of the NICU staff. Like I said, they didn’t even have an issue with me removing all of her monitors. They also called me in my room to come breastfeed (on the few occasions I managed to sleep in my own room, LOL).
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Comments like this make me want to have a HBA2C!
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AMDR Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 6:45 am AMDR(Quote)
It’s very possible! My HBA2C went great!
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attached2mykids Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:54 am attached2mykids(Quote)
How? I’ve yet to hear of a midwife who does HBAC, much less HBA2C.
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AMDR Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:59 am AMDR(Quote)
REALLY? I know 4 who I interviewed for my 1st HBA2C. What state are you in, maybe I can help you find one.
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attached2mykids Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 10:23 am attached2mykids(Quote)
I’m in NE FL
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AMDR Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 1:55 pm AMDR(Quote)
I’ll do some looking. Are you seriously looking for an HBA2C?
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attached2mykids Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:18 pm attached2mykids(Quote)
I’m very serious. The only issue I have is my DH. He will take some talking into, but I’ve got The Business of Being Born from the library and we’re waiting a few years so maybe by then he’ll be on board. I can’t do it without him.
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Sheva Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 7:23 pm Sheva(Quote)
Try also “Pregnant in America” and “Orgasmic Birth”, two more documentaries.
Also, Born in the USA by Dr. Marsden Wagner and Pushed by Jennifer Block are great books to read.
Good luck!
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Kelsy Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 10:16 pm Kelsy(Quote)
I agree, all fabulous documentaries!! and keep at it with the DH, the more he knows the more he will come around to the idea. After all the research is on your side, there is no arguing with that. My husbands mom is a L&D nurse and when we first started looking into things he was like, ‘hospital is the only way’ type of thing. but now hes almost as much of a home birth advocate as i am! good luck!
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Judith Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:04 am Judith(Quote)
Dear Kelsy:
Mothering magazine had an article a few months to help husbands support women in their desire for a home birth. check it out!
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Heather P Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 5:37 pm Heather P(Quote)
My midwives do. But they’re in Oregon.
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