Reading these replies makes me realize there was progress at least
in this area in the 16 years I worked at the same hospital!  With a
well baby, mom had one opportunity to nurse in the delivery room
before baby was sent off to the admission nursery.  The time baby
would spend there was not cut in stone.  Generally, once mom had
been moved, showered, settled, baby could come out any time she
wished or when the admission nursery nurse wanted to "pass it off".
At this time there was separate LDR and Postpartum.  When the change
was made to LDRP (single room care throughout except for C/S and
deliveries where an emergency C/S was a strong possibility) nurses
were very concerned about the same issues that have been
raised-"yucky baby" etc.  At first, there was a totally separate
"baby nurse" who was responsible for immediate post-delivery care of
baby, all the admission checks, etc. although these were done in the
room with mom.  As nurses became more comfortable, now the "baby
nurse" generally is there just at delivery in case a litle extra
help is needed, she does an initial assessment, notifies the
Pediatritian (if they aren't being cared for by a FP doc) and does
the initial computer work.  Helping with initiation of nursing,
additional assessments etc. are generally done by the same nurse
that is caring for mom in the first hour or so after delivery when
assessments are done more frequently.  Bath is done in the room and
becomes the family's "bath demo" since baby usually doesn't get
another full bath before discharge unless mom is staying more than 2
days.  The L&D nurses are becoming more and more comfotaable with
their ability to care for both mom and baby (after the first 15-30
minutes).  Stumbling blocks to total mom/baby togetherness still
remain, however and these are usually the "need" to know the weight
immediately and the requirements to do "eyes and thighs" right away.
"Eyes" means the eye ointment which must be done within the first
hour, but most nurses like to do it sooner as one aspect of the
computer work can't be completed until this is recorded.  "Thighs"
means the Vitamin K shot which is supposed to be done "as soon as
possible" which most take as being within the first few minutes.
Some nurses are comfortable doing the initial assessment with baby
on mom's tummy, but many still feel baby must be under the warmer
for that.
I believe gloves are a requirement in handling baby until the first
bath because of potential for blood and amniotic fluid exposure.
For this reason some nurses like to rush the bath-it's strictly for
their own convenience.
Change is hard to make in big "chunks" even though most of us would
like to wave a magic wand and make everything "right".  Sometimes we
have to rejoyce in the small steps while keeping working in the
wings to continue to progress toward that goal.

Winnie

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