At our hospital (1400 births year), in sunny Queensland, Australia, we do
not have a nursery and haven't had one for years.
Babies are never separated from their mothers, all weights, Neonatal Screens
are done in a special room, but the mother/ father escorts the baby.
We have a breastfeeding care plan, which outlines education we plan for the
mothers, and a suck code, which we teach to the mums to assess each feed-
great for education.
Blood sugar levels are unheard of, except in babies in our level 2 nursery,
and for a special reason- never routine.
Mothers also fill in their own feed sheets after we teach them, under our
supervision- gives us lots more time for direct teaching.

If mothers request us to care for their baby overnight, we offer alternative
settling techniques- in bed with mum etc, which usually does the trick.
About once a month we may get a mother who insists that we take her baby
away and who won't have any alternative, then we put the cot in our office-
they usually go right to sleep!

We have consent forms for pacifiers (always provided by the family, we don't
have them) and also for supplementary/ complementary feeds and nipple shield
(rarely used)
 Mostly if the mums ask for comps, we are able to offer them acceptable
alternatives, along with lots more education. Often on reading the consent
form, they didn't realise the possible ramifications of comps, so they
really need education rather than a bottle.
Works well for us.
Best wishes
Susan in sunny Australia
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