I can't let the skin2skin topic go without sharing the story of my new
granddaughter's birth last week. Because of being a persistent breech (DIL
employed a number of breech-turning strategies and no go) and a primip
mother, baby arrived via surgical delivery. DIL really wanted skin2skin ASAP
after reading about it, and I suggested she ask about my son/her husband
doing KDC (kangaroo daddy care) during the surgery if mom-baby skin2skin
wasn't possible until after the surgery. Her care provider said they
wouldn't be able to do that in the operating/delivery room because my son
couldn't be without a top/shirt in the room. (Huh? Obviously this person had
no talent re: thinking outside the box.) I just hoped I'd be able to throw 2
cents in before the surgery - and I did.
The admitting RN, who was to be with my DIL and son until the new family was
transferred to a mother-baby floor, was cheerful and approachable. So I
brought up their desire for immediate KDC until my DIL could take over.
Received another "no," so I asked what the reasons might be since skin2skin
(KMC and KDC) was not only safe but it provided a number of physiological
advantages to the warmer or being held swaddled. The nurse admitted this was
true but indicated anesthesia staff wouldn't go for it (huh?!) because of a
desire for sterility (double huh?)... At this point I had to laugh and
comment re: what a joke that was as the OR/DR was hardly sterile, and it
made much more sense for the newborn to get bacteria from Dad's chest than
from other items in the room. and I suggested my son could wear a patient or
surgical gown backwards, so it tied in the front -- that it really wasn't
necessary for him to go topless. (I was only a tad "pushy" about it!)
I could see the RN's wheels were turning and then she offered an
alternative. After granddaughter Alice arrived and her mother had a chance
to see her, the baby, my son and the nurse could go to the "recovery" room
for KDC until my DIL joined them and got her turn. But once son and baby
left the OR/DR, neither would be able to re-enter. We all looked to my DIL
and said it was her and my son's choice. DIL was vehement that she wanted
this baby in contact with a parent ASAP, so I left for the waiting room
fairly happy with the middle of the road decision -- but it didn't end
there.
Once the RN got to thinking about it, she somehow made KDC happen in the
OR/DR! My son (one of my twins who launched my multiples "career" so to
speak - LOL) had a small video cam in the room so I later got to watch
events unfold. At birth baby Alice needed a little stimulation, but as soon
as she let everyone know she was fine, the RN had my son tear the front of
his paper scrub suit down the middle and little Alice was placed skin2skin
with him. (He also had a paper surgical gown on backwards, which he brought
around both of them.) He held her while sitting in a chair in sight and
touch of my DIL, so she could see and touch and cry. Once she was moved back
to a bed (about 30 min after birth), baby Alice was placed skin2skin with
her momma.
Little Alice has been having some breastfeeding difficulties - like due to
some atypical molding from positioning and a bit of a tight frenulum, which
was finally clipped Monday, but she's had only breast milk and she's
learning. (Her maternal grandmother was a LLL group mom and BF my DIL and
other children well into toddlerhood.) And did I mention her daddy is crazy
about her (even if a bit sleep deprived as he heads back to work), and he
and his wife have enjoyed KDC/KMC much of the time since their daughter's
birth!
I found out before discharge that he and Alice made history at the hospital,
which apparently has more than 10,000 births per year. They were the first
to do KDC during a surgical birth! Hope it sets a precedent! (Sometimes it
really pays to be pleasantly but persistently pushy!)
Proud grammie - Karen Gromada
www.karengromada.com/
http://www.marchforbabies.org/karengromada
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