At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Just replied to a post on pregnancy and it reminded me of a conversation with my SIL and an unanswered question I had.

SIL gave birth at home and one of her biggest reasons for this was not wanting to be separated from the baby at all after delivery. She was asking about my experience and I said that after DD was born, I held her for a short time (maybe 10 minutes, if that?) and then they took her up to the nursery. She asked what they did there and I confessed that I had no real idea. DH went with DD to the nursery, but he was standing outside watching her sleep. I remember he was really annoyed that he couldn't hold her, for some reason they wouldn't let her out of the nursery for a few hours --- I think maybe her temperature was a tad low.

What do they do with the babies initially in the nursery? Do any hospitals let you keep the baby with you the WHOLE time after delivery (barring any major complications, obviously).

Thanks!

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

i know they do the APGAR test

http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_center/q_a/apgar.html

DD got a sponge bath and diapered

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

The site won't let me edit!

If you remember, can you also let me know how long you were without the baby after you delivered?

TIA!!

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

For both children, I was given the baby directly after delivery for ~20-30 minutes. I breastfed them right away and bonded a bit. Then they took the baby away to be weighed and transferred me to my room. In that time, they weigh the baby, get the height and bathe them. I think they put the baby under warming lights after the bath because they get cold. After moving to the room, it was probably another 30 minutes or so until they brought the baby back.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

DH went with DD after my c-section. They did the APGAR test and a few other tests and maybe immunizations? They skipped the sponge bath because I wanted her back ASAP for BFing purposes and did the rest later.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Not sure but all I know is they were sewing up my who-ha and I was so traumatized and numb from the whole experience that I really don't remember!

I just wanted to decompress, relax, and eat something!

I just would prefer they take the baby- I wanted to make sure she was examined by a Dr- I mean, God knows if everythign is ok after birth...to me that's more important than her staying with me the whole time....

Message edited 3/7/2012 4:38:38 PM.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

They bath LO& also get examined by a pediatrician

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I know, i tried to edit to add that DD was a C-section so DH got to hold her after the 1 minute apgar and bring her over for me to see her. then they took her again (i assume they did the 5 min apgar at that time) and brought her up to the nursery for a sponge bath and to see the Nursery ped. That's where they found that her right kidney was slightly enlarged (but all worked out).

i was in recovery & begging to have her brought to me but they were more concerned with my breathing so I had to wait. My situation wasn't normal - i was stuck in recovery for 8 hours. Some women are wheeled to recovery with the baby.

I think it depends on the situation and the nurses you have.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Bathe, watch, do Apgar scores, assess, etc. I think this takes about 2 hrs? I had a csection so not sure if that makes the difference. Also depends on if you have a room yet after you deliver.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

They bathe and have the ped check out your LO.

When I had DD#2 after I had her, they gave her to me after they put the eye drops in. The drs did what they had to for me, they gave her to me to hold and feed. Then they took her to the nursery to get cleaned up while they moved me to my room.

With DD#3. She was in the L&D room with us for about 3 hours. They we're contemplating admitting her to the NICU or not so we had drs in and out because its either they go to the nursery or the NICU, you can't switch in between. Once she was cleared to go to the nursery, they took her there and me to my room.

Both times by the time I got settled in my room she was in there pretty shortly afterwards.

With DD#1 they kept her in under the lamps because she was jaundice.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I honestly have no idea what they did or how long it was until I held her. I had an unplanned c/s and was in awful pain despite drugs, probably due to 27 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing. I remember them saying "it's a girl" and bringing her to the other side of the room. Then I remember them giving her to DH, all wrapped in a blanket, and he sat by my head with her while they were putting my organs back in place and sewing me up. Then I remember going to recovery. I remember sitting there and wondering where the baby was but being so physically and mentally exhausted that it didn't even occur to me to ask of her whereabouts! DH asked if we could have her brought to us and they obliged. I feel like it may have been an hour after she was born? I was finally able to touch her for the first time. She felt fuzzy to me, and that's pretty much all I remember

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

If I'm remembering correctly, I was hardly separated from her at all. After she was born, I got to hold her, then they weighed her and measured her on a scale right near me in the room. They gave her a sponge bath right there, still in the room with me. Then I held her again, and stayed with her for a while until... hmmm.. this part is fuzzy. But I know that a couple of hours later she was still in L&D with me (waiting for a private room) and I watched the pediatrician give her her newborn exam. I was holding her in my arms when they wheeled me from L&D into my room.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I delivered at Huntington Hospital 3wks ago and they did NOT take DS from me! I was shocked! Even at the newborn infant care class that I took, they said they would. Here's what happened:
I delivered DS then they immediately put him on my chest, cleaned him up on my chest, foot printed while still on me, attempted BFing, DH held him, back on my chest, let my family come in to the L&D suite to see us, they then wheeled in the scale and took his measurements and temp right in front of us. After about an hr and half- 2hrs, they took him to the nursery with DH and me to post partum. In the nursery they applied the IDs and DH was by his side the whole time.

AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!!

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

When DS was born they put him on my chest, our family got to come in and see him. Within an hour they took him for testing/checkup and such. I had to go to the nursery a few hours later bc they never brought him back, it was early morning and when I went they were just about to bring him to me. This was NSUH.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I delivered at Winthrop 3 months ago and my son never left my room once! This was a change from when I delivered my first son there in 2010. The first time around, they gave him to me immediately after birth, allowed me to hold him, nurse him, etc. Then after a little while, they took him to do the Apgar test, have him checked out by the ped, and given a bath. In the meantime, I was brought to my room and then they brought him to me for the next feeding.
This time, however, they did the bath, Apgar test, etc. all right there in the delivery room, so I could watch him the whole time. Then, when my room was ready, I carried him in my arms while they wheeled me to my room.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

After DD was born, they immediately put her on my chest and I got to hold her. Then they took her over to the scale in our room to get weighed and cleaned up a bit. Then DH held her and I got to try breastfeeding her. After that, my IL's and my parents were allowed to come into the L&D room to meet her. When my recovery room was ready, they took her to the nursery for a bath and to be examined by the dr and then they brought her to my room. I wasn't away from her for long at all.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

If there are no complications, just let them know you want the baby with you immediately after delivery for however long you want. It's your baby, nothing has to be done immediately. I asked for an hour just to bond and breastfeed before she got any bath or anything and they didn't rush me at all.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I was without DS because I had gestational diabetes. After the c-section I didn't have him for four hours. They had to test his blood repeatedly. They found his sugar to be too low. They gave him formula to help with that and also he was jaundiced so he was under the lights.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Both DDs were in the delivery/recovery room with me for about an hour ? Maybe
They were cleaned off, wrapped and given to me. That time DH and I held her and then family came in to see. The baby then left to go to the Nursery to be weighed and cleaned and given APGAR test

I delivered in manhasset

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

They let me see her for 10 seconds until they brought her to the nursery. I started hemorrhaging while they were stitching me up so that mess needed to be under control before I got the chance to hold my baby. I didn't see her for a couple of hours after that because I ended up getting a fever also...

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I had a c-sec but I got to hold and breastfeed my dd in recovery for over an hour. I also had her at 5:30 in the morning and there weren't any more c-secs going on than so that may have played a role.

I know they do the apgar test, I think they bathe and clean them up, I am pretty sure the on call ped looks them over and stuff like that.

They brought dd to about 2 hours after I was out of recovery.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

I remember when I went to a L&D class at my hospital, they said they give you at least an hour with the baby following birth for bonding, but I think they took her sooner than that—at least it felt like that. They had DH accompany her. I stayed in L&D alone.

It was at that point that they did the weight/height etc. And I guess a few tests-apagar and I assume quick blood tests. They told me they had to give her a bottle (even though she was BF) because she had low blood sugar. While they did this stuff, they had her in front of the glass so my parents and ILs could see her. By the time I got into my room, they probably brought her in 30-40 minutes later (I don't remember how long she was gone start to finish).

Message edited 3/7/2012 9:35:44 PM.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

Where I had my baby they never took them away. In fact, none of the 3 hospitals I gave birth in even had a nursery! They did everything(weigh, check vitals, first bath, etc..) right there in the room with you. Baby never left my sight.

Re: At the hospital, when they take the baby right after you give birth, what are they doing with the baby?

When my water broke as I was laying there in labor, they noticed that there was something in it (I can't remember what).

They brought in NICU Doctors during my delivery to clear DS's lungs and exam him. They told me that they will not be able to make him cry right away in case there is anything in his lungs.

So as soon as he was delivered my Dr. held him up for me to see and handed him over to the NICU Doctors.

I held him for about 20 minutes once they examined him and than they took both of us to recovery.

The hospital was packed that weekend, so I spent almost 2.5 hours in recovery waiting for a room. DS was with us for a good 45 minutes of those 2.5 hours.

They brought him back once they were done bathing, doing tests etc. At that time we were getting moved to our room.