Can you leave hospital with baby without a car seat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they going to do, hold the baby hostage?

Presumably they can call CPS

I don’t think they call CPS, they just don’t clear the baby to leave the premises.

They will if you pitch a fit and try to leave AMA and/or the head nurse happens to be PMSing.

I suppose. But there's nothing CPS could or would do in that situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, it depends on how the delivery goes. I could easily walk for 20-30 minutes within a day after all three of mine. But I was lucky and had super easy deliveries...

I had the same experience BUT I don't think you can count on this. It's luck, as you say.

PP and I agree, however - if they’re 10 minutes from their house, surely the dad can just go get the car if and when they decide they want/need it? Some of the posters on here are acting as though the decision to walk home will be set in stone for all eternity...

(And of course, I assume since the lady owns a car that they plan on also owning a car seat)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they going to do, hold the baby hostage?

Presumably they can call CPS

I don’t think they call CPS, they just don’t clear the baby to leave the premises.

They will if you pitch a fit and try to leave AMA and/or the head nurse happens to be PMSing.

I suppose. But there's nothing CPS could or would do in that situation.

CPS won't come out and throw themselves in front of the doors to hold them shut, but they will make a report as indicated.

Probably more relevantly, if the child is not discharged and you take them anyway, then they have been taken out AMA. AMA means insurance (including but not limited to Medicaid) will not pay for the encounter, so you can pay out of pocket or sort it out with the courts, or a collections agency, or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they going to do, hold the baby hostage?

Presumably they can call CPS

I don’t think they call CPS, they just don’t clear the baby to leave the premises.

They will if you pitch a fit and try to leave AMA and/or the head nurse happens to be PMSing.

I suppose. But there's nothing CPS could or would do in that situation.

CPS won't come out and throw themselves in front of the doors to hold them shut, but they will make a report as indicated.

Probably more relevantly, if the child is not discharged and you take them anyway, then they have been taken out AMA. AMA means insurance (including but not limited to Medicaid) will not pay for the encounter, so you can pay out of pocket or sort it out with the courts, or a collections agency, or whatever.

Leaving AMA absolutely does not mean insurance doesn't have to pay. That's an old wives tale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true. It’s a safety program. They don’t want people to say that they don’t need a car seat because they don’t have a car and then get in a friend’s car, or a taxi, or an Uber with an unrestrained baby. It’s the only moment that the authorities can try to ensure that each baby has access to a car seat. If you can’t afford a car seat, talk to the hospital about them giving you one. If you really don’t want to own a car seat to use even in the case of an emergency, borrow one from a friend to leave the hospital.

Haha. And then will the “authorities” come and inspect your car seat every few months for you to make sure it is appropriately sized? Will they ensure kids have access to healthy food and a clean living environment?

I don’t doubt you that this is indeed a requirement, but it’s actually a perfect example of government overreach, IMO. I don’t have a car —> I don’t need a car seat. And this country clearly doesn’t give a damn about kids. This is probably some kickback to car seat manufacturers...

It is massive government overreach. I get that it is for the safety of babies, but this type of overreach is wrong.

I'm okay with the car seat check but the fact that another previous poster said that the nurse was checking for the right temperature from the air conditioner is unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the hospital. Ours never did a car seat check or cared.

[Anonymous]

What is the law that would allow them to stop you? Nothing in hospital rules would override your authority as a parent. As stated, leaving AMA does not mean that you need to pay for things. What is the law that would authorize the hospital or CPS to do anything?

My sense is there is nothing. So it would just be a hassle. And you would be viewed as an ahole that would be remembered for the next kid so switch hospitals unless there is a lot of time in between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Live 10 min walk from hospital, will they let me leave if they know we are walking?

Our stroller fits the baby car seat. We also live 10 min away from the hospital. But we drove (mostly for me).

[Anonymous]

OP, you might be mis estimating how much you will be carrying home, besides baby. I always ended up with extra stuff, like a diaper bag and giveaway bags and once, flowers.

Plus, it might rain. I'd just have dh drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I for one wouldn’t want to walk 10 minutes after giving birth! And this is coming from someone who has had 4 kids and runs 30 miles/week. Just bring the car.

I have three children and would have been fine walking that far (or even more) but I always had unmedicated births. I'm guessing if you get the drugs and all of the extra interventions they offer than you'll probably feel like crap, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the law that would allow them to stop you? Nothing in hospital rules would override your authority as a parent. As stated, leaving AMA does not mean that you need to pay for things. What is the law that would authorize the hospital or CPS to do anything?

My sense is there is nothing. So it would just be a hassle. And you would be viewed as an ahole that would be remembered for the next kid so switch hospitals unless there is a lot of time in between.

You are incredibly naive. I unfortunately am no longer naive. A hospital wanted to give my kid a prophylactic medication as a precautionary measure. I disagreed and they threatened me with CPS unless I caved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they going to do, hold the baby hostage?

Presumably they can call CPS

I don’t think they call CPS, they just don’t clear the baby to leave the premises.

They will if you pitch a fit and try to leave AMA and/or the head nurse happens to be PMSing.

I suppose. But there's nothing CPS could or would do in that situation.

CPS won't come out and throw themselves in front of the doors to hold them shut, but they will make a report as indicated.

Probably more relevantly, if the child is not discharged and you take them anyway, then they have been taken out AMA. AMA means insurance (including but not limited to Medicaid) will not pay for the encounter, so you can pay out of pocket or sort it out with the courts, or a collections agency, or whatever.

True, but if a hospital employees touches them at all, the settlement will more than outweigh the bills

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the law that would allow them to stop you? Nothing in hospital rules would override your authority as a parent. As stated, leaving AMA does not mean that you need to pay for things. What is the law that would authorize the hospital or CPS to do anything?

My sense is there is nothing. So it would just be a hassle. And you would be viewed as an ahole that would be remembered for the next kid so switch hospitals unless there is a lot of time in between.

You are incredibly naive. I unfortunately am no longer naive. A hospital wanted to give my kid a prophylactic medication as a precautionary measure. I disagreed and they threatened me with CPS unless I caved.

Similar story but we threatened to sue and also managed to get my kid’s specialist on the phone to back us up. Luckily he answered his pager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This cannot possibly be true? How could a hospital require you to have a car seat if you don’t have a car?

I got b****d out by a nurse for not taking the $500 parenting course because we had the car seat and the base and the baby seat was not on the newborn setting. After I was up all night in hard labor with pitocin, no epidural, had scare with a blue baby then they tortured me with sleep deprivation. Fun times.

Hopefully I’m misreading your post, because it sounds like you’re complaining in part that the hospital caught that you had the car seat installed improperly before you put your newborn in it to drive home. If so, you should be thanking them, not complaining.

Or maybe they hadn’t switched the setting YET?

Why would someone install a car seat for a newborn without properly setting it for the newborn at the time? It’s not like you just press a button and it adjusts itself.

We didn't set it up. We committed the sin of remembering that the nurse checks the seat before you leave and thinking they would help us. I'm sorry mistress, where can I give penance? When we called a cab we asked for someone who knows how to install a car seat, was that a sin for your royal highness too? Or was the sin giving birth while too poor to afford a car. I must know.

You made a mistake by not setting up the car seat and then expecting everyone around you, including the cab driver, would know how to do it safely for you. Instead of acknowledging that it was a mistake, though, you’re apparently doubling down on it and throwing blame at everyone around you.

Parents make mistakes. Good parents learn from them rather than trying to justify them.

DP, but lady, I hope some busybody calls CPS on you at some point in your life because they don’t like the way you’re parenting. That would allow you to learn from your “mistakes*”....

(* which apparently includes not having YOUR carseat adjusted on SOMEONE ELSE’S schedule...)

You are acting hysterical. First, I never said anything about CPS. Second, I will freely admit that I’ve made mistakes, and in some cases am lucky it didn’t result in significant injury. The difference is I’m not blaming anyone else for my mistakes. PP could have simply posted here to recommend that OP just bring the car seat ready to go based on her experience. Instead, she chose to blame the bish nurse and drag up her lack of epidural, which I assure you had zero relevance to the car seat issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one wouldn’t want to walk 10 minutes after giving birth! And this is coming from someone who has had 4 kids and runs 30 miles/week. Just bring the car.

I have three children and would have been fine walking that far (or even more) but I always had unmedicated births. I'm guessing if you get the drugs and all of the extra interventions they offer than you'll probably feel like crap, too.

Pls stop and take several seats. I had unmedicated births too. I still tore, was bleeding like mad and felt like crap. I even tore my biceps and was incredibly sore and couldn't carry stuff because I had been pulling on my own legs so hard.