Why don’t U.S. hospitals let women sleep quietly for the night in the hospital after giving birth?

[Anonymous]

Just scrolling through this thread, I feel for all you new moms! I had 2 c-sections (last one was 14 years ago), and I can't even imagine not having the support I so needed back then. I wasn't even allowed out of bed for 24 hours post-surgery, and with my 2nd, my husband had to be home with the older one. This is so sad to read!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

It is ONLY during the 20th century that hospitals started taking over the delivery of babies. The medical profession told women it was the safest place to be, by god! The US is at the bottom of the barrel in developed countries for safe childbirth. I think we should look at why many of us (you) think babies should be born in hospitals and not in your home or with a midwife.

Read about the medicalization of childbirth. And then ask yourself why you are in a hospital to give birth.

I was in the hospital because that’s where I wanted to be, ahole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

It is ONLY during the 20th century that hospitals started taking over the delivery of babies. The medical profession told women it was the safest place to be, by god! The US is at the bottom of the barrel in developed countries for safe childbirth. I think we should look at why many of us (you) think babies should be born in hospitals and not in your home or with a midwife.

Read about the medicalization of childbirth. And then ask yourself why you are in a hospital to give birth.

I was in the hospital because that’s where I wanted to be, ahole.

Well, then don't complain about hospitals and their policies. They are checking on your frequently so you don't have a complication. The nurses don't come in at your every whim, you ahole. They aren't there to 'serve' you. If you're in a hospital, they have rules and liability to worry about. Most births end up being normal but for the ones that don't, well, be glad your nurse checked on you.

[Anonymous]

Most people I know in Europe who had a baby left in less than 24 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

It is ONLY during the 20th century that hospitals started taking over the delivery of babies. The medical profession told women it was the safest place to be, by god! The US is at the bottom of the barrel in developed countries for safe childbirth. I think we should look at why many of us (you) think babies should be born in hospitals and not in your home or with a midwife.

Read about the medicalization of childbirth. And then ask yourself why you are in a hospital to give birth.

I was in the hospital because that’s where I wanted to be, ahole.

Well, then don't complain about hospitals and their policies. They are checking on your frequently so you don't have a complication. The nurses don't come in at your every whim, you ahole. They aren't there to 'serve' you. If you're in a hospital, they have rules and liability to worry about. Most births end up being normal but for the ones that don't, well, be glad your nurse checked on you.

I didn’t complain! I got excellent care. The nurses were wonderful. The end.

[Anonymous]

I was induced due to preeclampsia and was awake 48 hours for the induction before giving birth. Was on magnesium the whole time, not allowed to eat. Gave birth, baby was fine. Nurses then said I could not eat for another 48 hours and was to be on magnesium again. If you don't know, magnesium can make you tired and just not "with it." Twenty-four hours after birth during which I slept for maybe 45 minutes at a time, I asked (full of shame) if the baby could go to the nursery. The nurses said they didn't have a nursery (baby-friendly hospital) and they could just tie the baby to me if I wanted to sleep. Spouse had to go home to get a change of clothes, so wasn't in the room. I was starving, sleep-deprived, and on medication that made me not clear-headed. But no, I had to stay with that baby.

Baby-friendly isn't mom-friendly, and I would imagine at times yields higher risks and poorer outcomes for babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was induced due to preeclampsia and was awake 48 hours for the induction before giving birth. Was on magnesium the whole time, not allowed to eat. Gave birth, baby was fine. Nurses then said I could not eat for another 48 hours and was to be on magnesium again. If you don't know, magnesium can make you tired and just not "with it." Twenty-four hours after birth during which I slept for maybe 45 minutes at a time, I asked (full of shame) if the baby could go to the nursery. The nurses said they didn't have a nursery (baby-friendly hospital) and they could just tie the baby to me if I wanted to sleep. Spouse had to go home to get a change of clothes, so wasn't in the room. I was starving, sleep-deprived, and on medication that made me not clear-headed. But no, I had to stay with that baby.

Baby-friendly isn't mom-friendly, and I would imagine at times yields higher risks and poorer outcomes for babies.

What in the actual eff, I would've reported the nurse who said that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was induced due to preeclampsia and was awake 48 hours for the induction before giving birth. Was on magnesium the whole time, not allowed to eat. Gave birth, baby was fine. Nurses then said I could not eat for another 48 hours and was to be on magnesium again. If you don't know, magnesium can make you tired and just not "with it." Twenty-four hours after birth during which I slept for maybe 45 minutes at a time, I asked (full of shame) if the baby could go to the nursery. The nurses said they didn't have a nursery (baby-friendly hospital) and they could just tie the baby to me if I wanted to sleep. Spouse had to go home to get a change of clothes, so wasn't in the room. I was starving, sleep-deprived, and on medication that made me not clear-headed. But no, I had to stay with that baby.

Baby-friendly isn't mom-friendly, and I would imagine at times yields higher risks and poorer outcomes for babies.

What in the actual eff, I would've reported the nurse who said that!

+1 Great way to cause a baby to be suffocated…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

I was born in 1969. My Mom was in the hospital for a week after a normal, vaginal birth. She says she was treated like a Queen. I stayed in the nursery with the other babies most of the time, while my Mom rested. Nurses gave her daily back massages and sponge baths, and lessons on baby care. This was in Virginia. How far we have fallen as a society. It’s sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I delivered my first, slightly prematurely, at midnight in 2020 after a 3-day induction. After we were rolled into recovery, I was given complicated instructions for feeding the baby and pumping at, like, 15/30 minute intervals. They said if his blood sugar didn’t improve in three hours, he would go to the NICU. We deliriously did as told and he avoided the NICU. The feeding expectations didn’t get better over the next two days and part of me feels like I should have just told them to take him to the NICU from the get-go, being a premie with low blood sugar, so I could actually rest and recover overnight. Instead, I went home after a week in the hospital with limited sleep to care for a newborn with only a likewise exhausted husband for support.

This baby friendly thing is not necessarily new, though. When my mother delivered her third baby in 1992 (with two little kids back at home), she told the nurses to take my new sibling to the nursery so she could sleep through the night. The nurses were horrified that she didn’t want her baby in the recovery room and let her know it, but as a third time mom who knew the drill, she dngaf.

Or just bottle feed. Bottle feeding as a supplement isn't going to hurt the baby.

We were bottle feeding because he was too little to properly latch. He still needed to be fed every 30 minutes. They wanted me to pump to establish milk for when he was a little bigger and to get the colostrum. He could have gone to the nicu and been bottle fed there that first night. I needed a chance to recover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I delivered my first, slightly prematurely, at midnight in 2020 after a 3-day induction. After we were rolled into recovery, I was given complicated instructions for feeding the baby and pumping at, like, 15/30 minute intervals. They said if his blood sugar didn’t improve in three hours, he would go to the NICU. We deliriously did as told and he avoided the NICU. The feeding expectations didn’t get better over the next two days and part of me feels like I should have just told them to take him to the NICU from the get-go, being a premie with low blood sugar, so I could actually rest and recover overnight. Instead, I went home after a week in the hospital with limited sleep to care for a newborn with only a likewise exhausted husband for support.

This baby friendly thing is not necessarily new, though. When my mother delivered her third baby in 1992 (with two little kids back at home), she told the nurses to take my new sibling to the nursery so she could sleep through the night. The nurses were horrified that she didn’t want her baby in the recovery room and let her know it, but as a third time mom who knew the drill, she dngaf.

Or just bottle feed. Bottle feeding as a supplement isn't going to hurt the baby.

So this is also part of the baby-friendly designation. They have to really really push breastfeeding as best and supplementation as something to be avoided.

I'm the PP who sought out a hospital without that name for my second and that's actually why, the nursery thing wasn't as big a deal for me. My first had major issues breastfeeding and I spent most of the first 2 months of his life triple feeding and crying a lot about it. The feeding routine took 45 minutes of every 2 hours, round the clock, and i fot mild mastitis multiple times. I wasn't willing to go through that again and didn't want to get a hard time about it in the hospital. (Second nursed just fine, after all that.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

I am very close to my grandmas who gave birth in the 1950s. It was horrendous. They were required to stay in the hospital 10 days. They begged to leave. My one grandma said that she'd have milk leaking down her hospital gown and would beg to nurse her baby and was told it was "dirty". She'd get the doctors to tell the nurses to bring her babies to her, but the nurses would feed the babies right beforehand so that they weren't hungry. Clearly she's still upset about it 70 years later. She was also very poor and they got the babies hooked on formula during the hospital stays. They had trouble affording feeding their babies when they got home. She told me she fed them pet milk and sugar. She made installment payments on her hospital stay.

My other grandma couldn't afford the hospital so she had all 5 of her babies at home in the 1950s. Midwives helped her give birth. Female relatives helped her in labor and postpartum.

I'm still upset about my 3 births. I don't think the awfulness of postpartum can be blamed on insurance companies. Hospitals thought that mess up on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

I am very close to my grandmas who gave birth in the 1950s. It was horrendous. They were required to stay in the hospital 10 days. They begged to leave. My one grandma said that she'd have milk leaking down her hospital gown and would beg to nurse her baby and was told it was "dirty". She'd get the doctors to tell the nurses to bring her babies to her, but the nurses would feed the babies right beforehand so that they weren't hungry. Clearly she's still upset about it 70 years later. She was also very poor and they got the babies hooked on formula during the hospital stays. They had trouble affording feeding their babies when they got home. She told me she fed them pet milk and sugar. She made installment payments on her hospital stay.

My other grandma couldn't afford the hospital so she had all 5 of her babies at home in the 1950s. Midwives helped her give birth. Female relatives helped her in labor and postpartum.

I'm still upset about my 3 births. I don't think the awfulness of postpartum can be blamed on insurance companies. Hospitals thought that mess up on their own.

Also- I forgot. My grandma who gave birth in hospitals said that there were 10 women to a wing. You all roomed in together. She also had twilight sleep and her breech babies were born using forceps. Her husband wasn't allowed in the room with her in the hospital when she gave birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

It is ONLY during the 20th century that hospitals started taking over the delivery of babies. The medical profession told women it was the safest place to be, by god! The US is at the bottom of the barrel in developed countries for safe childbirth. I think we should look at why many of us (you) think babies should be born in hospitals and not in your home or with a midwife.

Read about the medicalization of childbirth. And then ask yourself why you are in a hospital to give birth.

I was in the hospital because that’s where I wanted to be, ahole.

I was in a hospital because I had all 3 babies at 41+ weeks. 2/3 had shoulder dystocias and might have brain damage if they weren't born in hospitals. I had teams of NICU standing by.

None of us are complaining about labor and delivery. We're talking about shit postpartum care here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a baby is hard work. Whoever told you it was a vacation? Years ago women stayed in hospital two weeks after giving birth but that was before greedy insurance companies took over the medical profession. Sadly, the populace lemmings followed these avaricious companies over the cliff.

We have so many reasons to have a 2nd revolution in the U.S.

It is ONLY during the 20th century that hospitals started taking over the delivery of babies. The medical profession told women it was the safest place to be, by god! The US is at the bottom of the barrel in developed countries for safe childbirth. I think we should look at why many of us (you) think babies should be born in hospitals and not in your home or with a midwife.

Read about the medicalization of childbirth. And then ask yourself why you are in a hospital to give birth.

I was in the hospital because that’s where I wanted to be, ahole.

Well, then don't complain about hospitals and their policies. They are checking on your frequently so you don't have a complication. The nurses don't come in at your every whim, you ahole. They aren't there to 'serve' you. If you're in a hospital, they have rules and liability to worry about. Most births end up being normal but for the ones that don't, well, be glad your nurse checked on you.

My husband had an overnight surgery a few years back and was able to sleep peacefully overnight while recovering with super-light overnight intervention, and also had strong painkillers during recovery and after he was discharged.
After my C-section (which occurred after 48 hours of a failed induction), I was expected to take care of a newborn child while given nothing stronger than Tylenol 800s. We got no sleep in the hospital. I was shamed horribly for asking for formula (my milk didn't come in for a week after my C) so we didn't even ask about the nursery.
Why were the two experiences so different? If men were the ones giving birth, the experience would be completely different.