Oct 9

“…You Should Be Resting, Not Worrying About Nursing.”

“You just had a cesarean section. yYou should be resting, not worrying about nursing.” – L&D Nurse to mother who asked to be called whenever her son in the NICU wanted to breastfeed.

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There are 20 comments to this post.

Jane had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 3:09 pm (Quote)

But SOMEONE should be concerned about establishing the breastfeeding relationship, so…

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Jessica had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 3:12 pm (Quote)

I can see where the nurse is coming from but mothering usually entails putting the baby’s needs before our own and for one in the NICU being breastfed can help baby and mom recover. So please, pretty please, with sugar on top (in my best Winston Wolf impression) come get mom when baby needs to eat.

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BeckyJ had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 3:20 pm (Quote)

I think I’d have someone with an extra bracelet be there and get him from the NICU as soon as he was allowed. Motherhood is all about sacrifice and rest I’m sure is the last thing on this mom’s mind as she can’t see her baby at all at that time. >:(

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Details had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 4:07 pm (Quote)

How about we do it this way. You bring me my baby when he needs to eat and leave me the eff alone for any other reason while I’m resting in between. Cause I know you wouldn’t hesitate to wake me up to take my BP and temperture at 5:45 am. So let us get our priorities straight shall we!

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Details Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 4:09 pm Details(Quote)

Even better idea. You don’t get to take my BP or temp until after my baby has eaten. So you bring him here. I’ll feed him and you can come back and collect him and fill out your precious little chart when he is done. That seems fair!

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Sheva Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 4:38 pm Sheva(Quote)

I love this idea! IF I ever end up in the hospital again, this is going to be the rule. And I’m going to share it with my clients, too. Thanks!

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Laura had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 4:14 pm (Quote)

If you don’t want me to worry about it, then make sure you tell me whenever he needs to eat. I’ll feed him, and I won’t have to worry in between.

Recovery will be a lot harder if I’m having to hover because I can’t trust you.

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Tee had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 4:17 pm (Quote)

So let me make sure I have this right… they will wake you up every hour on the hour to do every stinking test and vital sign known to man but they don’t want to wake you up to feed your baby? Seriously? Yup, sounds about right to me!

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Kit Reply:
October 10th, 2011 at 3:45 pm Kit(Quote)

When i was in the mental hospital they had to take blood and vitals daily.

The nurse responsible liked to do me at night because i had a fear of needles. She’d sneak in, numb my arm with some sort of gel, take my blood and then chirp “All done Missy!” and leave. Never once woke me up before she was ready to say goodbye.

I think more nurses need to learn from nurse Hamilton.

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TEe Reply:
October 10th, 2011 at 5:09 pm TEe(Quote)

Wow, that is really awesome! I agree, it sounds like your thoughtful nurses needs to be teaching some classes! Thanks for sharing that with me, Kit!

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Details Reply:
October 11th, 2011 at 12:44 pm Details(Quote)

WTF did she wake you up at all. She wasn’t capable of slinking off into the night quietly. She had to give you a gotcha so you could give her a gold star. I’d be royally pissed to be staring at the ceiling knowing that at any moment when I close my eyes some vampire might sneak up on me. That would give me a freaking complex. Of course, I’m not afraid of needles. Maybe if you have to choose one, sneak attack by friendly nurse is better. But I would rather have a smiley face bandage and a lollipop on my night stand than an “All Done Missy!”

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Kristin had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 4:22 pm (Quote)

Okay, there are three options here, one of which will make you call CPS:
Me nurse him.
You give him formula.
Let him go hungry.

Guess which option I choose?
I’m feeding him, and you can keep your opinion to yourself thanks. If I need help feeding him, it is your job to help me. without judging me.

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Wendy had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 5:03 pm (Quote)

Ummmmmm, if I’m worried about nursing, how am I going to get any rest? Bring me my baby so that I can STOP worrying and get some rest. (Duh).

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Amy had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 6:42 pm (Quote)

This isn’t mine, but I was with my cousin in the hospital and the exact same thing was said to her in pretty much the exact same situation. Every time she asked to be taken to the NICU or be brought a pump, she was brushed off and told that she needed to be resting instead. It took them 4 hours to bring her to the NICU the first time, and she got to stay for maybe 15 minutes (during which she got to try nursing once, briefly), then it was another 6 or 8 hours before they took her again. It went downhill from there, too, but I’ve been meaning to submit all those comments and situations. :/

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Amy Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 6:46 pm Amy(Quote)

Oh, and as a previous poster said, one of the nurses who was the most insistent about “resting” then kept my cousin up all night by coming in constantly!

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Heather had this to say, Oct 9, 2011 @ 7:43 pm (Quote)

I couldn’t sleep for two days after my cesarean. Nursing was one of the only things I had to occupy my time. The other was staring lovingly at my baby. If she’d been in the NICU, I’d have been ALL OVER that nursing time.

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krp_2000 had this to say, Oct 10, 2011 @ 3:16 am (Quote)

Because everyone knows that one of the many benefits of a c-section is that the baby doesn’t need to eat until mom is recovered!

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Les had this to say, Oct 10, 2011 @ 11:10 pm (Quote)

When, oh when, is someone going to wise up and realize that mom and baby need to be together in all but the worst situations. My dream is that someday they will have a postpartum/nicu setup where the mom’s room/hall are adjoining the baby’s room hall. It would not be that hard to set up and could easily be for the kids that need oxy, heart monitoring, etc. there is no reason that full/almost full term babies should be sequestered to the nicu without mom. GRRRRRRRR

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Anon had this to say, Oct 12, 2011 @ 9:40 am (Quote)

I think we need to know why the baby was in the NICU.

Is it possible that the baby is not currently able to take oral feeding, and this is the nurse’s way of gently explaining that the baby doesn’t need breastmilk right now?

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jaed Reply:
October 12th, 2011 at 10:53 am jaed(Quote)

Do you mean, “the nurse’s way of concealing a child’s medical condition from the child’s parent”? Or perhaps “the nurse’s way of taking an already bad situation and making the mother feel guilty over it”?

Because try as I might, I can’t get by any logical path from “you shouldn’t be worrying about nursing” to “the baby is so sick that he can’t eat”. A gentle way of explaining the latter would be “Your baby isn’t able to eat just yet, but as soon as he/she is, we’ll make sure to have you nursing him/her.” The quote isn’t an explanation of anything.

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