Sibley: Baby-Friendly?

[Anonymous]

It's barbaric.

[Anonymous]

I delivered with Reiter Hill in 2019, and skin to skin and delayed clamping were both the standard assumption. When my doctors gave me info on cord banking, they also made sure I knew that it would interfere with delayed clamping.

For the hospital/nurses, they told me that the default was to delay the first bath eight hours, if that is something you care about.

[Anonymous]

Yes skin to skin
Yes they wait to cut cord ( my Ob actually counted aloud the elapsed time)
They don’t not wash off your newborn and allow the fluids from birth to remain on baby’s skin in even in her hair.

Sibley was great and all about ensuring a healthy outcome for the baby and mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes skin to skin
Yes they wait to cut cord ( my Ob actually counted aloud the elapsed time)
They don’t not wash off your newborn and allow the fluids from birth to remain on baby’s skin in even in her hair.

Sibley was great and all about ensuring a healthy outcome for the baby and mom.

I did delayed cord clamping. I didn't wash my baby till three weeks after birth. I did skin to skin and EBF my kids. I still want to send my baby to a nursery so I can sleep after the hardest experience of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I wonder who is really behind these "movements" in baby/mom care. It sounds like someone who really hates women or at least someone who really wants to ENSURE that they suffer as much as possible during and after childbirth.

I had a very difficult labor and a very large child at Sibley, and the best thing that ever happened to me was the nursery. I was completely exhausted, dehydrated, almost dead - how would I be able to care for a baby in my room immediately after delivery? I couldn't even stand up.

My husband was caring for our 18-month-old and in-and-out of the hospital, and I was far more interested in my friends and family helping them than helping me.

Sorry, not what the OP asked for, but I needed to get that out there.

I'm sorry about your difficult labor. I think that hospitals can absolutely promote breastfeeding without having to make the mom "suffer" as you probably would have if you had to do it all (as in no nursery).

Some people have uncomplicated births and so these guidelines are probably not that much of an issue... but for those who have gone through a lot, the no-nursery thing I just don't get. I really think it should be available. This is coming from a postpartum nurse and lactation consultant.

That being said, there are some parents (both present) who exclusively want to breastfeed and send their baby to the nursery hoping to sleep but then won't allow the baby to get a pacifier. They get upset when the baby is crying and returned to the room because all they want to do is feed. Parents need to be set up for the expectation AHEAD OF TIME that babies feed what feels like ALL THE TIME in the first few days. Ok this has nothing to do with the OP's post but I am not a fan of baby friendly.

Well, fwiw, I exclusively breastfed, my children never even had a bottle, much less used a pacifier, and I sent them to the nursery at sibley to recover after I gave birth. I’m not sure why you think these things are mutually exclusive. What do you think happens in hospital nursery’s exactly? That babies are give. Bottles by evil hearted nurses and they will shun the breast forever? That is just hooey none sense. Mine came back ready to nurse and were both excellent, fat, healthy babies.
Even people with perfect labors can use a nap afterwards.
You need to stop it with the superiority complex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes skin to skin
Yes they wait to cut cord ( my Ob actually counted aloud the elapsed time)
They don’t not wash off your newborn and allow the fluids from birth to remain on baby’s skin in even in her hair.

Sibley was great and all about ensuring a healthy outcome for the baby and mom.

I did delayed cord clamping. I didn't wash my baby till three weeks after birth. I did skin to skin and EBF my kids. I still want to send my baby to a nursery so I can sleep after the hardest experience of my life.

Sing it, shout it, say it again!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I wonder who is really behind these "movements" in baby/mom care. It sounds like someone who really hates women or at least someone who really wants to ENSURE that they suffer as much as possible during and after childbirth.

I had a very difficult labor and a very large child at Sibley, and the best thing that ever happened to me was the nursery. I was completely exhausted, dehydrated, almost dead - how would I be able to care for a baby in my room immediately after delivery? I couldn't even stand up.

My husband was caring for our 18-month-old and in-and-out of the hospital, and I was far more interested in my friends and family helping them than helping me.

Sorry, not what the OP asked for, but I needed to get that out there.

I'm sorry about your difficult labor. I think that hospitals can absolutely promote breastfeeding without having to make the mom "suffer" as you probably would have if you had to do it all (as in no nursery).

Some people have uncomplicated births and so these guidelines are probably not that much of an issue... but for those who have gone through a lot, the no-nursery thing I just don't get. I really think it should be available. This is coming from a postpartum nurse and lactation consultant.

That being said, there are some parents (both present) who exclusively want to breastfeed and send their baby to the nursery hoping to sleep but then won't allow the baby to get a pacifier. They get upset when the baby is crying and returned to the room because all they want to do is feed. Parents need to be set up for the expectation AHEAD OF TIME that babies feed what feels like ALL THE TIME in the first few days. Ok this has nothing to do with the OP's post but I am not a fan of baby friendly.

Well, fwiw, I exclusively breastfed, my children never even had a bottle, much less used a pacifier, and I sent them to the nursery at sibley to recover after I gave birth. I’m not sure why you think these things are mutually exclusive. What do you think happens in hospital nursery’s exactly? That babies are give. Bottles by evil hearted nurses and they will shun the breast forever? That is just hooey none sense. Mine came back ready to nurse and were both excellent, fat, healthy babies.
Even people with perfect labors can use a nap afterwards.
You need to stop it with the superiority complex.

Wtf? I am AGREEING there should be nurseries available. But I'm saying SOME parents get pissed because they expect to sleep 4-6 hours and want their baby to starve because they don't want to give a bottle and don't even want to give a paci for comfort. I don't know what your problem is. No superiority complex here. I work in a newborn nursery and I know exactly what happens.

[Anonymous]

Baby friendly is a big reason why I left L&D. Nurses and even the doctors/midwives complained to management about it. It wasnt safe (they cut down on staff because they didn't need to staff a nursery, as well as all the issues mentioned here) and we felt that it didn't have everyone's interests at heart. We were ignored and accused of being negative /not supportive of changes etc. Well, the worst outcome that can happen with exhausted moms happened. And all it takes is 5 min (in this case it was 45). Management blamed the nurse and even the parents instead of their idiotic policies. No ide what the whole outcome was but the nurse quit nursing and nearly killed herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby friendly is a big reason why I left L&D. Nurses and even the doctors/midwives complained to management about it. It wasnt safe (they cut down on staff because they didn't need to staff a nursery, as well as all the issues mentioned here) and we felt that it didn't have everyone's interests at heart. We were ignored and accused of being negative /not supportive of changes etc. Well, the worst outcome that can happen with exhausted moms happened. And all it takes is 5 min (in this case it was 45). Management blamed the nurse and even the parents instead of their idiotic policies. No ide what the whole outcome was but the nurse quit nursing and nearly killed herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby friendly is a big reason why I left L&D. Nurses and even the doctors/midwives complained to management about it. It wasnt safe (they cut down on staff because they didn't need to staff a nursery, as well as all the issues mentioned here) and we felt that it didn't have everyone's interests at heart. We were ignored and accused of being negative /not supportive of changes etc. Well, the worst outcome that can happen with exhausted moms happened. And all it takes is 5 min (in this case it was 45). Management blamed the nurse and even the parents instead of their idiotic policies. No ide what the whole outcome was but the nurse quit nursing and nearly killed herself.

Oh my God this is heartbreaking. How tragic and AVOIDABLE. It is a travesty women aren't allowed to rest after birth. After my last birth I was literally crying to my husband about the patriarchy and why wasn't I allowed to sleep after being in labor for 24 hours and pushing a baby out. Then I asked for formula and all I got was a lecture.

[Anonymous]

Delivered at a different 'baby friendly' hospital with my first child and it was one of the most upsetting experiences of my life. I was made to feel like a horrible person for asking for help after a 50 hours induction and then developing preecalmpsia. I was a disaster and nobody cared. Luckily I have a great husband and a mother who drove overnight after hearing the situation, but I can't even fathom what it would have been like without that support b/c it was really awful even with them. Never again. I had my future babies at a hospital that was 'mother friendly'. For what its worth, I breastfed all my children, am toting them around in baby carriers, feeding on demand....but give a woman a break. If someone needs a nursery or formula or whatever, just help them out!

[Anonymous]

I will never understand the model where, immediately after childbirth, a hospitalized mother is considered competent to take care of another hospital patient. Imagine having your appendix out and being told that you will be rooming with another patient and you need to get up every few hours to take care of that patient. It’s barbaric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will never understand the model where, immediately after childbirth, a hospitalized mother is considered competent to take care of another hospital patient. Imagine having your appendix out and being told that you will be rooming with another patient and you need to get up every few hours to take care of that patient. It’s barbaric.

The men who make these decisions for hospitals saw $$$$ and boom, "Baby Friendly"!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never understand the model where, immediately after childbirth, a hospitalized mother is considered competent to take care of another hospital patient. Imagine having your appendix out and being told that you will be rooming with another patient and you need to get up every few hours to take care of that patient. It’s barbaric.

The men who make these decisions for hospitals saw $$$$ and boom, "Baby Friendly"!

I wish it was “just” that but there’s also a weird, weird suffering expectation women seem to have of other women about their ability to just immediately need no support postpartum. Like the thread about a husband staying after his wife’s c-section has a “doctor” calling the OP a PITA for asking the nurses for water...

[Anonymous]

The “baby friendly” stuff is important in countries that don’t have consistent access to safe drinking water (for making formula)/lower-income countries where parents may not be able to afford baby formula. In the US and other developed countries, it’s just making everything more difficult for new moms and isn’t needed.