This is amazing timing, we have just revised our Harm Minimisation of the Infant procedure. In it we talk about safe sleeping and addressed cosleeping as follows

For many parents it is common practice for babies to share an adult bed at times
during the first year of their life particularly to breastfeed and to be settled. Parents
should be provided with the following information to help them to provide a safe
sleeping environment should they choose to take their babies into bed with them.
Bed sharing and co-sleeping by taking a baby into an adult bed may be unsafe in
certain circumstance and should be avoided:
*	Where parents are smokers;
*	Where baby can get caught under adult bedding or pillows;
*	Where the baby can be trapped between the wall and the bed or can fall out of bed;
*	Where the baby may be rolled on by someone who sleeps very deeply or who is affected by drugs or alcohol;
*	Where babies are in adult beds alone or with another child;
*	Where the baby is placed to sleep on a sofa, beanbag or sagging mattress.
The reference is for this is
NSW HEALTH (2005a) Babies - Safe Sleeping in NSW Health Maternity Facilities PD2005_594. North Sydney, NSW Health.

We do do it in the postnatal ward unless the mother is sedated or a smoker. Its the only way some mothers would get rest on the second night!

The procedure applies to our six maternity units so it takes something to get all health professionals involved to agree to this.

Gwen


hi all,

the hospital where i gave birth to my first child (20ys ago) no allows
bed-sharing (then they weren't so keen, but we did it anyway). they
just put the beds with one side against the wall, so the baby is
sheltered between wall and mother.

the cots are still there and i bet most mothers use them. you have to
use them to move the baby around due to insurance policies or
something like that - i immediately forgot the reason as it sounded
phoney to me.

nina

2009/11/5 Rachel Myr <[log in to unmask]>:
> Nikki asks for input from places where mothers and babies bed-share on postpartum wards.  This is the standard practice throughout Norway, though we have not removed the clear plastic boxes on wheels from the old days when babies were kept segregated from their mothers and 'looked after' by staff.  The cots are in the mothers' rooms and there seems to be a running battle with the babies to try to get them to sleep in them, but they generally end up in bed with the mother most of the time anyway.
>
> My unit would give a US 'risk management' person apoplexy since we don't have any kind of safety arrangements beyond telling the mother to keep the siderails up - and the space between them is more than wide enough for a baby to fall through.  We have some hotel-like rooms on the part of the ward for completely uncomplicated mothers and babies, and the beds there are normal beds, wider and closer to the floor than a standard hospital bed, and they have no side rails.  Mothers report sleeping well in them because they are wide enough for two, whereas in the hospital beds they don't really let go and sleep soundly because they have to keep track of the baby or lie contorted so as not so squish her/him.
> I can't say for sure but I think practice in Sweden is very like ours, and in at least one unit in Sweden the cots have been removed completely, to underscore the expectation that mother and baby will be sleeping on the same surface.
>
> I have seen a Danish colleague tuck a mother and baby in together by anchoring a draw sheet under the mattress, stretching it over the siderail, and back in under the mattress.  At least I think that was what she did!  It made a screen that prevented the baby from falling out of the bed.
>
> If we were to change all of our beds to a proper width for bedsharing we would have to widen all the doorways, if it were even possible to find beds on wheels in that width.  Since that isn't going to happen, we use what we have.  The chances of us buying sidecars to put on all the beds are about nil too.  Nobody has money for anything in postpartum care, since we spend it all on things aimed at fetal safety.  I see the lengths we go to in an attempt to provide safety up to the moment of birth, but after that, it's like we can't imagine they still need a modicum of protection.
>
> Rachel Myr
> Kristiansand, Norway

Gwen Moody
CNC Postnatal Care
Westmead Hospital
PO Box 533 Wentworthville 2145
Phone: 02 9845 6964, 0422212774
Fax: 02 9845 8340
Page: 02 9845 5555 - 01135
email: [log in to unmask]

______________________________________________________________________________

This electronic message and any attachments may be confidential.  If you
are not the intended recipient of this message would you please delete the
message and any attachments and advise the sender. Sydney West
Area Health Service (SWAHS) uses virus scanning software but excludes 
any liability for viruses contained in any email or attachment.

This email may contain privileged and confidential information intended
only for the use of the addressees named above. If you are not the
intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any use,
dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this email is prohibited. If
you have received this email in error, please notify SWAHS
immediately. 

Any views expressed in this email are those of the individual sender 
except where the sender expressly and with authority states them 
to be the views of SWAHS.

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome