Postpartum Experience in Hospital
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Anonymous
It TOTALLY depends on the hospital. |
Anonymous
Vaginal birth with no complications. A nurse came in every 2 hrs to check on me and the baby. Either I was already up nursing or I’d sleep through the check. No one turned on bright lights and there were never lots of different people coming in. I had one day nurse and one night nurse, both nice and helpful. A lactation consultant came by to help with latching. Nurses did do diapers and swaddling when they came in but I would have happily done this myself. I felt fine after delivery and was able to walk around but spent a lot of time laying in bed with the new baby. |
Anonymous
Is the baby a patient or not? Insurance sure pays the hospital like she is. What kind of hospital has a patient being taken to the toilet/bedpanned by *another patient*? |
Anonymous
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I always feel like I should give a disclaimer that I had my baby on a holiday weekend so maybe that was the problem.
Diapers: they changed a couple? Mostly they expected my DH to do it and scolded him about the note keeping. Why DH? Getting up: I fainted from low BP my second time trying to go to the bathroom and was told under no circumstances to try again without a nurse helping. When you have been given IV fluids, waiting for a nurse to answer a call button so you can go to the bathroom *feels* like hours even though my DH clocked the longest at 25 min. Lactation: first LC I saw took more than a day to show up, showed up at 9pm when I was exhausted, watched for five minutes declared my baby hopeless and hooked me up to a hospital grade pump. I had a cracked nipple before I left the hospital. *SECOND* LC was fantastic, had the baby latching in three positions before she left the room— super supportive and super knowledgeable. |
Anonymous
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Had two kids. Both delivered at Sibley, 2018 and 2021. Labor and postpartum nurses were exactly what I needed. PP nurses showed DH and me how to do diaper changes and swaddling. They did a few diaper changes for the first baby, but it was on DH and me to do most of the diapers and all the swaddling.
Saw 3 LCs for first baby. All very helpful. Brought me pump and parts, nipple gels, lanolin, nipple shields, showed me the correct latch, different holds. I didn't need to see a LC for the second baby. The room service food (for mom) and cafeteria (for DH) were amazing for a hospital. I liked staying there for 2 nights after delivery, because I didn't have to cook! |
Anonymous
Also FFS exhausted mothers have fallen asleep on their babies in the hospit. They've been up for days, have sometimes had surgery, and are sometimes on narcotics. Expecting people to just deal right after a major medical emergency can result in tragedy |
Anonymous
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Three different babies in three different hospitals - 2 vaginal and one c section.
Postpartum was great. Nurses were helpful and when they came to check me or baby, they would change the diaper of needed and then reswaddle. Then offer baby to me of time to eat or put baby in bassinet if I wanted to sleep. We did diaper changes and swaddles in between but nurses.never left a dirty diaper. Nurses were a little aggressive with trying to help breastfeeding. Hit or miss with LCs. They come only during the day and usually once.during your stay. Nurses would try to help if I was having trouble. Honestly with all three kids it took a while to get all the factors together and get it right and that happened at home. People came and went but I was able to sleep just fine. I mean you are up every 2 hours to feed anyway. During the day DH would hold baby and watch TV whole I napped..maybe because I have been hospitalized for other things, but I never found the checks or medication problematic. It felt normal. Had my C-section during COVID and DH was home with other two kids..nurses were amazing and helpful and did diaper changes,.helped me get in and out of bed, changed baby for me..one even offered to take baby to nurses station for 2 hours to let.me.sleep. People who had negative experiences.tend to post but I don't think postpartum has to be negative |
Anonymous
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I had my first at Holy Cross and it was nurses coming in every hour all night, no rest, a postpartum nurse yelling at me for not being able to breastfeed (I was trying, but the baby wouldn't latch and I couldn't figure out what to do)--it was also around 3am and the baby had been born the previous evening, and I was exhausted and emotional. Super uncomfortable, wretched really.
I had my second at a suburban Philadelphia hospital and it was like an old fashioned hospital experience in which the nurse brought food right after the baby was born, which I devoured, and then my husband went home and the baby was whisked away for the entire night. I slept so deeply. It was glorious. I was breastfeeding and God knows what they were feeding the baby while I slept all night, but I felt so great in the morning. (And the bfing went fine, so it worked out). Was sad to go home! |
Anonymous
I want to echo this. I gave birth at Inova Fairfax twice. Both times were uncomplicated vaginal births. Every time the nurse came by to check in, they'd change the baby's diaper and reswaddle. They were happy to walk us through anything we were uncertain of, and they took baby to the nursery for a few hours overnight to give me rest, even during COVID times. I was up and walking as soon as I got the all clear (I think they give you the all clear after you've successfully peed...) with my first birth I had a pretty bad tear, so walking was pretty uncomfortable the first day or two since I was so swollen. Second time around, it was hardly noticeable. The constant check ins were a little annoying, but it was mostly the baby keeping me up, not the nurses. I was happy to leave, because while the bed was fine, it was hard to get comfortable while constantly nursing. The first birth, we stayed the full two nights, and the second we left after 24 hours. |
Anonymous
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Vaginal birth. After I was stitched up, a nurse technician helped me wash in the bathroom and showed me how to use the peri bottles for cleaning after I used the restroom. Once in the recovery room, a nurse helped me latch the baby a few times and of course they come in to check your vitals and administer any meds.
As for the baby, nothing! They obviously put her in a diaper before wrapping her up and handing her to me, but our hospital did not have a nursery so she was in the room with us. We changed all diapers, set alarms to do all the feedings, my husband help me up from the bed into the bathroom until the following morning when I could do it myself. It was very very hands off. |
Anonymous
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After delivery, being sutured up, baby’s vitals, and ending epidural and IV, they took me to the bathroom to try to pee (fail, too numb) and then they wrapped me up in a warm blanket and took me to maternity. The nurse there brought me to the bathroom and showed me how to set up the ice pack/pad situation and use the peri bottle. She changed, dressed, and swaddled the baby. She came back a couple hours later and bathed her and showed me how to do it until her belly button fell off. They also tried to show me how to breastfeed in different positions etc but I was exhausted. They were touching my breasts with their bare hands which was strange and not my thing, but I was too out of it to really advocate for myself and tell them to stop. They asked me when I was in labor if I planned to breast/formula/combination feed and I said both but I wish I was more clear about not wanting to push BF right after delivery. Colostrum is very frustrating for you and the baby. I also had to request twice that they bring the baby to the nursery for the first night. We knew we wanted to leave ASAP (and did so at 24 hours post delivery) and I didn’t want to bring a brand new baby home on three days of no sleep. They told me they’d bring her back for feedings and I told them no, to give her formula, a pacifier, or anything to make her comfortable. My baby was less than six pounds and I refused to starve her for the 3-4 days until my milk came in. My biggest piece of advice is to think about the nursery and feeding issues before you go in and tell your partner, so that they can be your voice when you’re too exhausted and overwhelmed.
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Anonymous
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I had 1 c-section and 2 VBACs at one hospital and a third VBAC at another hospital, both in the Midwest.
With the first three babies, DH stayed overnight with me. The nurses did diaper changes whenever they happened across a dirty diaper while doing a check of the baby, but it did not occur to us to ask them to change diapers between visits, since DH was there and had nothing else to do. The nurses were all very friendly though, and I feel like they would have helped if I'd asked. With the fourth baby, I sent DH home to stay with our other kids overnight. The nurses changed the baby's diapers while he was gone and they also changed the crib sheets and washed off the baby when the baby blew out his diaper. For breastfeeding, I only had trouble with the first baby. There were LCs, but every shift nurse also had her own two cents on what I should do and some of them contradicted each other. Ultimately though, we figured it out and it worked fine. For the remaining babies, the LCs and nurses didn't bother talking much about nursing once they realized I already had done it and wasn't having trouble. I had epidurals with all three of my vaginal births, so even though I felt well enough to walk around immediately, the nurses required that I be supervised if getting up or walking to/from the bathroom for the first couple of hours after the birth. I didn't take any pain medication after except for Motrin. I was able to go home just a little over 24 hours after the last birth. After c-section, I had to stay in bed for some time and wasn't allowed to eat solids. I had a catheter in, which I really hated. It didn't hurt, but the idea just grossed me out so much. But I was not in a lot of pain. I took only one of the heavy-duty pain pills they prescribed, and then switched to Motrin and it was totally fine. I was cleared to check out after about 48 hours, but we had to wait longer for the paperwork to be completed and baby to finish its tests. |
Anonymous
Exactly. I had to call the nurse constantly in order to advocate for myself. There is usually one on call nurse dealing with over 20 patients so they are stretched extremely thin. I also found out the LC on duty is attending to all the post partum and NICU units. Again, stretched too thin |
Anonymous
In VHC the nurses did everything. I had a difficult delivery with both of my girls. They were amazing. Changed their diapers, took them away from me so that I could sleep, helped with me breastfeeding etc. I came home well rested and recuperated. I’m sure it’s a bit different now with covid. I also didn’t need anything - they had everything the baby and I could possibly need. I definitely over packed. |
Anonymous
+1 similar potpartum experience at VHC with baby #3 (first two were born outside the DC area). The postpartum nurses were absolutely amazing. I had a quick vaginal birth with no complications, but they still helped with the first few diaper changes and with getting the baby swaddled, especially when my husband went home to look after the big kids. They made me feel very comfortable asking for help with anything I needed. At night, they kept vitals checks to a minimum, so I was able to get at least some rest. The whole stay was surprisingly calm, peaceful, and stress-free. |