Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Apr
5
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“…You Better Give…Some Formula Because She Is Starving & I Need To Do My Tests!”
“Well, you better give your baby some formula because she is starving and I need to do my tests” – Postpartum nurse to mother with a fussing day old baby who was nursing frequently, when the nurse wanted to take the baby for a hearing test.
There are 30 comments to this post.
attached2mykids had this to say,
Apr 5, 2010 @ 4:33 am (Quote)
My response: “Read my lips, nursey: First, my baby only gets breastmilk. Period. Second, you can do your tests in front of me in our room or not at all.”
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I’m so sorry for putting my newborn’s needs and the importance of bonding with my child above your JOB! We can work on establishing a positive breastfeeding relationship later, cause this hearing thingie is obviously so much more important and her ears will probably fall off if she doesn’t get it right now and in the safety of the nursery, right?
*insert sarcasm face here*
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argh! what is it with the freaking hearing test? mine “had” to be done at midnight. Umm..just got my 1 day old baby to sleep, now you want to strip him, weigh him and check his hearing? Thanks a lot.
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Stephanie Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 1:57 pm (Quote)
That’s when they did the hearing test for my youngest too. Very annoying, although they did at least bring her back nicely swaddled and asleep. But I sure didn’t appreciate the interruption to my rest. Too many of those in the hospital anyhow.
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My doctor asked us if our baby got startled with loud noises. We said yes. He said, “Well, there’s his hearing test.”
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Ellen Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 11:21 pm (Quote)
As a mother of two children with hearing loss, I encourage everyone to get the newborn hearing screen for their babies whether or not they respond to sound. I didn’t think my daughter had any hearing trouble, I skipped her newborn screen. It was only after her brother got hearing aids that I decided maybe I should have her tested. As a result she went 6 years with an undetected hearing problem and has speech and reading problems that could have been avoided.
Back on topic, I DO NOT encourage anyone to supplement a healthy baby with formula to make it more convenient for someone else to perform that hearing screen. As my anecdote proves, they can go at least 6 years without ear explosions.
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When she was an hour old or less, my youngest was snuggling happily in my arms, when the OB walked in. My midwife was working out of his office, and I guess he just popped in to say congrats and whatnot. Anyhow as soon as he spoke, my baby girl turned her dark blue eyes, and tried to look around at him.
My hubby and I had already decided to skip the hearing tests, but when we saw that we both went “Well, looks like she can hear just fine!”
She’ll turn 4 this month, and her ears didn’t fall off yet.
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And people wonder why women are choosing home births and birth center births more often. Even working in a hospital, I’m amazed what nurses will try to pull. In some hospitals, the hearing test has to be done in the nursery, but the timing is still not critical.
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Kat Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 8:00 am (Quote)
And there is also the issue that some babies get fluid in their ears and “fail” the hearing test right after birth, and need to have it repeated later.
My niece had to have her hearing test repeated, and they sent her to a specialist whose office apparently had scheduling issues. My poor sister went around and around until they FINALLY got the appointment for her to be re-checked… and her hearing was fine.
Now don’t get we wrong, I understand that early intervention for children with hearing impairment can make a huge difference, but obviously there’s not going to be a whole lot that urgently needs to be done for a child with partial or complete deafness, at 1-6 weeks old. Deafness is not a life-threatening condition for a newborn.
I say this as a person who has relatives with deafness, and I’ve witnessed firsthand the support and camaraderie of their local deaf community!
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mommymichael had this to say,
Apr 5, 2010 @ 8:38 am (Quote)
the nurse i had was INSISTENT that my 35 week baby eat every 3 hours at least, and if she didn’t — omg she would turn into a boob nazi. after the first couple of times she came in to check on our nursing progress… i started lying. “she already ate”
in fact she has had FROM THE BEGINNING wanted to nurse about every 3.5 – 4 hours, except at night when it’s every 1.5 – 2 hours. no clue why lol
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Michelle Potter Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 11:40 am (Quote)
I have absolutely no sense of the passage of time, and I sure as heck am not going to keep a written log of every time my baby eats, so I just always tell nurses that my baby nursed for 30 minutes every 3 hours. I usually have no clue how long it’s really been, but I know the baby will tell me when he or she is hungry again! 
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mommy michael Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 11:42 am (Quote)
in the hospital i wrote down the time every time she woke me to nurse, or any time i changed her.
but even at home, i have a tendency to look at the clock to see what time she’s woke me. lol
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cmat Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm (Quote)
They did the exact same thing to me at the hospital too. They would get me all “set up” then leave. Baby and I promptly fell back asleep. Eventually I just started telling them he was eating regularly even though he wasn’t. Guess I didn’t screw up too much, he lets me know when he’s hungry and he’s still alive 13 months later!
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The Deranged Housewife Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 5:38 pm (Quote)
Mine was too! After awhile I would just make stuff up, because the “I feed him when he’s hungry” answer wasn’t good enough. 
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StaudtCJ Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 10:14 pm (Quote)
Actually, if you had pain relief of varying sorts, that can cause the infant not to eat properly at first, and one of the responses to hunger in a newborn is sleepiness. So the nurse was really just trying to help… probably. Now, in an unmedicated birth, with properly established feeding, this shouldn’t be an issue, but I have to give that nurse the benefit of the doubt.
The comment above that starts this thread? Malarky. No, I will not feed my baby formula so you can steal her and test her. She doesn’t leave my sight, and she’s busy. Nursey can wait or reschedule.
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Yeah, imagine the tragic headline: “BABY STARVES TO DEATH WHILE EATING.”
It sounds more impressive than “NURSE HAS TO WAIT AN HOUR TO DO A TEST.”
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KDB Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 7:07 am KDB(Quote)
I spewed my coffee when I read that. Thank you.
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Haylee Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 9:38 am Haylee(Quote)
Hilarious! You just made my day!
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Heather Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 4:13 am Heather(Quote)
That was AWESOME!
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