GW Nursery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are deservedly angry when our insurers are being billed between 20 and 50 grand for a two or three day hospital stay where we are expected to bring husbands, family members, and doulas to provide nursing care for ourselves and our new babies. What are our insurers and us paying for exactly? Women and babies deserve better, but they will only happen when women collectively stop sniping at each other and saying things like husbands and families need to "man up" to help in the hospital and there is a cost benefit analysis on dropping babies and it's okay if the baby isn't seriously injured. We ALL deserve better.

What other hospital unit would you be in and not receive adequate nursing care and support and be expected to bring your own? It's utterly ridiculous. There is clearly some GW hospital administrator on this thread and some other self loathing women with too much of a "pick yourself up by the boot straps" mentality who feels that being vulnerable and needing support during a major medical and life event is an unforgivable weakness of character.

And to the PP who asked, one nurse to 5 mothers and babies for a total of ten patients is ridiculous! Have you ever taken care of 10 people at once? Of course postpartum mom's are dying in droves in the US. Their nurses aren't trained to recognize common complications of delivery and they have far to many patients to take care of. A ratio of 1 nurse to 3 women is what proposed RN ratios are calling for.

This stuff will never change unless we demand it.

This is an odd place to yell about this. GW has reopened the nursery and women are not dying in droves at GW, with or without a nursery.

Your ire seems misplaced.

Another poster. You're wrong. The maternal death rate (which is often POST labor) in this country is horrible. Practices like those of GW are to blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are deservedly angry when our insurers are being billed between 20 and 50 grand for a two or three day hospital stay where we are expected to bring husbands, family members, and doulas to provide nursing care for ourselves and our new babies. What are our insurers and us paying for exactly? Women and babies deserve better, but they will only happen when women collectively stop sniping at each other and saying things like husbands and families need to "man up" to help in the hospital and there is a cost benefit analysis on dropping babies and it's okay if the baby isn't seriously injured. We ALL deserve better.

What other hospital unit would you be in and not receive adequate nursing care and support and be expected to bring your own? It's utterly ridiculous. There is clearly some GW hospital administrator on this thread and some other self loathing women with too much of a "pick yourself up by the boot straps" mentality who feels that being vulnerable and needing support during a major medical and life event is an unforgivable weakness of character.

And to the PP who asked, one nurse to 5 mothers and babies for a total of ten patients is ridiculous! Have you ever taken care of 10 people at once? Of course postpartum mom's are dying in droves in the US. Their nurses aren't trained to recognize common complications of delivery and they have far to many patients to take care of. A ratio of 1 nurse to 3 women is what proposed RN ratios are calling for.

This stuff will never change unless we demand it.

This is an odd place to yell about this. GW has reopened the nursery and women are not dying in droves at GW, with or without a nursery.

Your ire seems misplaced.

Five babies were dropped this year. We have no idea how bad their injuries were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was awake 50 hours straight (full workday, then long labor) and then given my baby to care for the first night at GW. I was delirious and could have easily been one of the moms who dropped their baby. I could hardly walk or see straight to get up for feeds I was so tired and nurses never offered to take her so I could rest. It’s about time they brought back the nursery, but shame on them for having ever gotten rid of it in the first place.

+1. Similar experience. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would have absolutely sued if I had hurt my baby given GW was forcing me to take care of it by myself when I'd just had surgery and had been awake for days. Oh and I was on opioids. I remember feeling dizzy multiple times when I stood up to get my baby to breastfeed and could have easily fallen with the baby in my arms. Giving a post csection mom strong pain pills and then leaving and closing the door to the room while the baby is across the room and the csection mom has to painfully make it over to the baby is criminal.

Geez, people. Where are your partners, doulas, friends? I’m glad the nursery is an option now, but I think people shouldn’t be putting 100% of the responsibility for newborn care on the hospital.

I know I did all the work and went through all the labor, but my DH was awake the entire time with me. He was stressed during the labor too and running around getting me ice chips and massaging me. We both worked a full 9 hour day, then went to the hospital for our induction, then were up for 34 hours in labor. It was at least 42 hours until either of us got an ounce of sleep. My story is super common. DH was too tired to hold the baby and so was I. When I delivered, I had medical complications so they didn't let family members in the room, so it was just DH trying to soothe the baby. Also, room was too small for a team of grandparents to come in and I needed sleep. Grandparents holding my baby would have hindered sleep. Why should I have to hire a doula to hold my baby for me? Why aren't nurses there to assist? My delivery was 29k! Surely that should have had some nurse support included.

A couple of options: Let the baby cry. Your husband drinks a Red Bull or two and mans up.

Well the baby did cry (in DH's arms) and the nurses came in and yelled at us at 3am and told us I needed to breastfeed more. I didn't have milk yet.

Yes, I’m sure they literally “yelled” at you. Get over yourself.

Ok Nurse Ratchett. I think you may need to look into new professions.

Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

Yeah, so why are all these rich lawyers bitching about how wronged they were by an excellent hospital?! Once again, the entitlement is repulsive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are deservedly angry when our insurers are being billed between 20 and 50 grand for a two or three day hospital stay where we are expected to bring husbands, family members, and doulas to provide nursing care for ourselves and our new babies. What are our insurers and us paying for exactly? Women and babies deserve better, but they will only happen when women collectively stop sniping at each other and saying things like husbands and families need to "man up" to help in the hospital and there is a cost benefit analysis on dropping babies and it's okay if the baby isn't seriously injured. We ALL deserve better.

What other hospital unit would you be in and not receive adequate nursing care and support and be expected to bring your own? It's utterly ridiculous. There is clearly some GW hospital administrator on this thread and some other self loathing women with too much of a "pick yourself up by the boot straps" mentality who feels that being vulnerable and needing support during a major medical and life event is an unforgivable weakness of character.

And to the PP who asked, one nurse to 5 mothers and babies for a total of ten patients is ridiculous! Have you ever taken care of 10 people at once? Of course postpartum mom's are dying in droves in the US. Their nurses aren't trained to recognize common complications of delivery and they have far to many patients to take care of. A ratio of 1 nurse to 3 women is what proposed RN ratios are calling for.

This stuff will never change unless we demand it.

This is an odd place to yell about this. GW has reopened the nursery and women are not dying in droves at GW, with or without a nursery.

Your ire seems misplaced.

Another poster. You're wrong. The maternal death rate (which is often POST labor) in this country is horrible. Practices like those of GW are to blame.

No, GW is an excellent hospital and does not have a high maternal mortality rate. A hospital in DC was closed because of deaths -- that hospital was not GW.

The maternal mortality rate in this country is abysmal and alarming. Focus on it, not on GW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was awake 50 hours straight (full workday, then long labor) and then given my baby to care for the first night at GW. I was delirious and could have easily been one of the moms who dropped their baby. I could hardly walk or see straight to get up for feeds I was so tired and nurses never offered to take her so I could rest. It’s about time they brought back the nursery, but shame on them for having ever gotten rid of it in the first place.

+1. Similar experience. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would have absolutely sued if I had hurt my baby given GW was forcing me to take care of it by myself when I'd just had surgery and had been awake for days. Oh and I was on opioids. I remember feeling dizzy multiple times when I stood up to get my baby to breastfeed and could have easily fallen with the baby in my arms. Giving a post csection mom strong pain pills and then leaving and closing the door to the room while the baby is across the room and the csection mom has to painfully make it over to the baby is criminal.

Geez, people. Where are your partners, doulas, friends? I’m glad the nursery is an option now, but I think people shouldn’t be putting 100% of the responsibility for newborn care on the hospital.

I know I did all the work and went through all the labor, but my DH was awake the entire time with me. He was stressed during the labor too and running around getting me ice chips and massaging me. We both worked a full 9 hour day, then went to the hospital for our induction, then were up for 34 hours in labor. It was at least 42 hours until either of us got an ounce of sleep. My story is super common. DH was too tired to hold the baby and so was I. When I delivered, I had medical complications so they didn't let family members in the room, so it was just DH trying to soothe the baby. Also, room was too small for a team of grandparents to come in and I needed sleep. Grandparents holding my baby would have hindered sleep. Why should I have to hire a doula to hold my baby for me? Why aren't nurses there to assist? My delivery was 29k! Surely that should have had some nurse support included.

A couple of options: Let the baby cry. Your husband drinks a Red Bull or two and mans up.

Well the baby did cry (in DH's arms) and the nurses came in and yelled at us at 3am and told us I needed to breastfeed more. I didn't have milk yet.

I know this ship has sailed, but keeping the baby on the breast is HOW you get the milk to come in. With my first I also got a stern 3am lecture from a LC. The reason I was told at 3am was because my baby was born at 2:40am and it was part of the 24 hr check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are deservedly angry when our insurers are being billed between 20 and 50 grand for a two or three day hospital stay where we are expected to bring husbands, family members, and doulas to provide nursing care for ourselves and our new babies. What are our insurers and us paying for exactly? Women and babies deserve better, but they will only happen when women collectively stop sniping at each other and saying things like husbands and families need to "man up" to help in the hospital and there is a cost benefit analysis on dropping babies and it's okay if the baby isn't seriously injured. We ALL deserve better.

What other hospital unit would you be in and not receive adequate nursing care and support and be expected to bring your own? It's utterly ridiculous. There is clearly some GW hospital administrator on this thread and some other self loathing women with too much of a "pick yourself up by the boot straps" mentality who feels that being vulnerable and needing support during a major medical and life event is an unforgivable weakness of character.

And to the PP who asked, one nurse to 5 mothers and babies for a total of ten patients is ridiculous! Have you ever taken care of 10 people at once? Of course postpartum mom's are dying in droves in the US. Their nurses aren't trained to recognize common complications of delivery and they have far to many patients to take care of. A ratio of 1 nurse to 3 women is what proposed RN ratios are calling for.

This stuff will never change unless we demand it.

This is an odd place to yell about this. GW has reopened the nursery and women are not dying in droves at GW, with or without a nursery.

Your ire seems misplaced.

Five babies were dropped this year. We have no idea how bad their injuries were.

...? You’re starting to sound like one of those crazy pro-lifers. THE BABEEEEZ!!! There’s a baby involved so let’s all lose our minds when discussing the necessity of a nursery for healthy newborns.

[Anonymous]

The baby is also a patient. A hospital should be willing and able to provide the same level of care they would provide any other hospitalized infant whose parent doesn't happen to also be hospitalized. Not rely heavily or unsafely on a mother who is also recovering, or on volunteer or paid help the parents bring in.

I had a c-section at GW and my medical care was excellent, but my postpartum care was rough for this reason. It was manageable with my husband there but it wouldn't have been without him. We had already decided that for a hypothetical second we would go elsewhere for this reason.

Kudos to GW for a very sensible decision. Wish they had done it before 5(!) babies got dropped. If that's a city government issue, that's a travesty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

Yeah, so why are all these rich lawyers bitching about how wronged they were by an excellent hospital?! Once again, the entitlement is repulsive.

So rich women should hire outside medical professionals to ensure they and their babies actually receive appropriate medical care during recovery, got it. Very Malawi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

Yeah, so why are all these rich lawyers bitching about how wronged they were by an excellent hospital?! Once again, the entitlement is repulsive.

So rich women should hire outside medical professionals to ensure they and their babies actually receive appropriate medical care during recovery, got it. Very Malawi.

It is absurd, truly absurd, to claim that the care provided at GW before it brought back the nursery was not “appropriate.” If you’re a lawyer yourself, I weep for your clients. It’s gross that the very privileged women on this thread are framing their demands in such grossly disproportionate terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

Yeah, so why are all these rich lawyers bitching about how wronged they were by an excellent hospital?! Once again, the entitlement is repulsive.

So rich women should hire outside medical professionals to ensure they and their babies actually receive appropriate medical care during recovery, got it. Very Malawi.

It is absurd, truly absurd, to claim that the care provided at GW before it brought back the nursery was not “appropriate.” If you’re a lawyer yourself, I weep for your clients. It’s gross that the very privileged women on this thread are framing their demands in such grossly disproportionate terms.

Wait you feel sorry for my clients (who are all multinational corporations, but anyway) because I think both baby and mother are patients and should be treated as such? That's such a crazy leap. What on earth does that have to do with my clients? I can't competently argue a MTD because I think hospitals should treat patients like patients?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was awake 50 hours straight (full workday, then long labor) and then given my baby to care for the first night at GW. I was delirious and could have easily been one of the moms who dropped their baby. I could hardly walk or see straight to get up for feeds I was so tired and nurses never offered to take her so I could rest. It’s about time they brought back the nursery, but shame on them for having ever gotten rid of it in the first place.

+1. Similar experience. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would have absolutely sued if I had hurt my baby given GW was forcing me to take care of it by myself when I'd just had surgery and had been awake for days. Oh and I was on opioids. I remember feeling dizzy multiple times when I stood up to get my baby to breastfeed and could have easily fallen with the baby in my arms. Giving a post csection mom strong pain pills and then leaving and closing the door to the room while the baby is across the room and the csection mom has to painfully make it over to the baby is criminal.

Geez, people. Where are your partners, doulas, friends? I’m glad the nursery is an option now, but I think people shouldn’t be putting 100% of the responsibility for newborn care on the hospital.

I know I did all the work and went through all the labor, but my DH was awake the entire time with me. He was stressed during the labor too and running around getting me ice chips and massaging me. We both worked a full 9 hour day, then went to the hospital for our induction, then were up for 34 hours in labor. It was at least 42 hours until either of us got an ounce of sleep. My story is super common. DH was too tired to hold the baby and so was I. When I delivered, I had medical complications so they didn't let family members in the room, so it was just DH trying to soothe the baby. Also, room was too small for a team of grandparents to come in and I needed sleep. Grandparents holding my baby would have hindered sleep. Why should I have to hire a doula to hold my baby for me? Why aren't nurses there to assist? My delivery was 29k! Surely that should have had some nurse support included.

A couple of options: Let the baby cry. Your husband drinks a Red Bull or two and mans up.

Well the baby did cry (in DH's arms) and the nurses came in and yelled at us at 3am and told us I needed to breastfeed more. I didn't have milk yet.

Yes, I’m sure they literally “yelled” at you. Get over yourself.

Ok Nurse Ratchett. I think you may need to look into new professions.

Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Oh, well that makes more sense then. Carry on. (And you may still consider changing professions or at least practice types, because it's not doing anything for your happiness.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Honey, I’m actually a lawyer, you know, the kind of person you’d hire to sue GW for all the awful crap they inflicted on you. Except you’d have no case.

Don't get smug. This is DCUM. We're all lawyers.

Yeah, so why are all these rich lawyers bitching about how wronged they were by an excellent hospital?! Once again, the entitlement is repulsive.

So rich women should hire outside medical professionals to ensure they and their babies actually receive appropriate medical care during recovery, got it. Very Malawi.

It is absurd, truly absurd, to claim that the care provided at GW before it brought back the nursery was not “appropriate.” If you’re a lawyer yourself, I weep for your clients. It’s gross that the very privileged women on this thread are framing their demands in such grossly disproportionate terms.

Wait you feel sorry for my clients (who are all multinational corporations, but anyway) because I think both baby and mother are patients and should be treated as such? That's such a crazy leap. What on earth does that have to do with my clients? I can't competently argue a MTD because I think hospitals should treat patients like patients?

Your logic and reading skills have jumped the shark. But now that you’re not actually arguing with me about the appropriateness of GW’s care, I’ll move on with my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are deservedly angry when our insurers are being billed between 20 and 50 grand for a two or three day hospital stay where we are expected to bring husbands, family members, and doulas to provide nursing care for ourselves and our new babies. What are our insurers and us paying for exactly? Women and babies deserve better, but they will only happen when women collectively stop sniping at each other and saying things like husbands and families need to "man up" to help in the hospital and there is a cost benefit analysis on dropping babies and it's okay if the baby isn't seriously injured. We ALL deserve better.

What other hospital unit would you be in and not receive adequate nursing care and support and be expected to bring your own? It's utterly ridiculous. There is clearly some GW hospital administrator on this thread and some other self loathing women with too much of a "pick yourself up by the boot straps" mentality who feels that being vulnerable and needing support during a major medical and life event is an unforgivable weakness of character.

And to the PP who asked, one nurse to 5 mothers and babies for a total of ten patients is ridiculous! Have you ever taken care of 10 people at once? Of course postpartum mom's are dying in droves in the US. Their nurses aren't trained to recognize common complications of delivery and they have far to many patients to take care of. A ratio of 1 nurse to 3 women is what proposed RN ratios are calling for.

This stuff will never change unless we demand it.

This is an odd place to yell about this. GW has reopened the nursery and women are not dying in droves at GW, with or without a nursery.

Your ire seems misplaced.

Another poster. You're wrong. The maternal death rate (which is often POST labor) in this country is horrible. Practices like those of GW are to blame.

No, GW is an excellent hospital and does not have a high maternal mortality rate. A hospital in DC was closed because of deaths -- that hospital was not GW.

The maternal mortality rate in this country is abysmal and alarming. Focus on it, not on GW.

wtf? No. I will focus on GW and the awful post-partum care they gave me, discharging my baby borderline jaundiced and having lost too much weight, and completely ignoring whether he was getting any breastmilk at all. I will also, on a consumer level, judge the extremely uncomfortable post-partum experience, and absolutely go elsewhere for any future hospitalization I or my family may need. None of that detracts from overall infant mortality and maternal mortality, and I actually think it is a symptom of the overall larger problems.