I'm a Pediatrician, and I have similar problems with hospital policies, so I sympathize with Dr. Dettwyler and Dr. Foster. I would love it if the babies were kept with their moms all the time (and even weighing can be accomplished by bringing the scale to the mom's room). However, the hospital I work in is stuck in a time warp. Despite my presenting numerous articles citing the safety of full rooming in, the hospital insists that they would be incurring some sort of liability if they left the babies with their moms all night. When I told the nurses that I actually preferred to see the baby in the mom's room, they were amazed. It was unheard of for a pediatrician to not demand that all babies be kept in the nursery until after morning rounds! It is actually much easier and more efficient for me to carry my instruments to the baby, rather than vice versa. When examining a baby in mom's (and/or any other family members who might be there) presence, I can answer questions, point out elements of normal baby behavior, observe the mom/baby interaction, and observe breastfeeding. My orders say to have the baby room in---however, nursing staff often seems to not follow through, especially at night. They claim that the moms don't want the babies with them all night. When this is true for a mom/baby pair, I worry about the bonding between them. As all of us who are parents know, after delivering a baby the mom has a powerful need and desire to have the baby with her. Dr. Dettwyler is correct--the message the nursing staffs give to patients with these misguided and inappropriate policies is that the mom is not competent to care for her own baby. Enough of my own rant. I'll keep pushing; my dream is to try to move the nursery along the continuum to an eventual baby-friendly place. Wish me luck. Linda Shaw MD Altoona PA