Dear All,

 

I need feedback in a hurry for meeting with administration on Friday
concerning babies of cesarean sections being able to breastfeed within
the first hour of life.

Background information: c/sec rate climbing near 40% in large tertiary
care center.  Average 5-7 per day on weekdays (of course).  Mother baby
floor and admit nursery separated from OR and PACU by 7 floors. Baby
brought to nursery from OR by L&D nurse.  Mother to PACU.  Baby and
mother not together until mother leaves PACU in average of 2-3 hours.
PACU unit usually full and staff ratio is 1 RN to 2 patients.  They
cannot be responsible for the newborn.  Administration will not budge on
this, even if they are not full.  Administration is not allowing baby to
be unassigned to a RN, and RN in nursery can not take care of the baby
being 7 floors away.  Hiring another nurse for the baby is also "out of
the question".  So my friends in the big office want to know how it is
done in other big hospitals.  Please please respond to me privately to
the following questions.

1)       Does your institution follow step 4 of the 10 steps for c/s
deliveries (Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half hour of
giving birth)?

2)       Does your institution follow step 7 with stable cesarean
deliveries? (Allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a
day)

3)       If answer is no to questions 1 and 2, does your institution
have provisions for the baby to remain together and breastfeed and for
how long?

4)       Does baby feed in OR or PACU or both, if able? 

5)       How many hours, on average, is the dyad separated if they are
not together?

6)       If baby is with mother in OR or PACU, what staff member is
responsible for assessing the baby and assisting the baby to breastfeed?

7)       Please send me the name of your institution, the number of
births per year, approximate c/s rate or number annually or monthly.

 

 

Thank you so much for getting back to me with your responses.  I am
getting very frustrated with hearing it can not be done.  I have been
asked to find out what other hospitals are doing, and I am hoping there
are a lot of you out there that can provide me feedback that I can turn
to the powers above and say, "Look, they did it and so can we!"

 

Very hopeful that someday the great U.S.A. will be baby friendly and
family friendly, no exceptions. I will continue towards this goal, as I
believe you will, till it is achieved.

 

Thanks for your strength,

 

Mary Westra RN,IBCLC (in South Florida where it is still summer)

 


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