I'm a Pediatrician, and I have similar problems with hospital policies, so I
sympathize with Dr. Dettwyler and Dr. Foster.

I  would love it if the babies were kept with their moms all the time (and
even weighing can be accomplished by bringing the scale to the mom's room).
 However, the hospital I work in is stuck in a time warp.  Despite my
presenting numerous articles citing the safety of full rooming in, the
hospital insists that they would be incurring some sort of liability if they
left the babies with their moms all night.

When I told the nurses that I actually preferred to see the baby in the mom's
room, they were amazed.  It was unheard of for a pediatrician to not demand
that all babies be kept in the nursery until after morning rounds!  It is
actually much easier and more efficient for me to carry my instruments to the
baby, rather than vice versa.   When examining a baby in mom's (and/or any
other family members who might be there) presence, I can answer questions,
point out elements of normal baby behavior, observe the mom/baby interaction,
and observe breastfeeding.

My orders say to have the baby room in---however, nursing staff often seems
to not follow through, especially at night.  They claim that the moms don't
want the babies with them all night.  When this is true for a mom/baby pair,
I worry about the bonding between them.  As all of us who are parents know,
after delivering a baby the mom has a powerful need and desire to have the
baby with her.

Dr. Dettwyler is correct--the message the nursing staffs give to patients
with these misguided and inappropriate policies is that the mom is not
competent to care for her own baby.

Enough of my own rant.  I'll keep pushing; my dream is to try to move the
nursery along the continuum to an eventual baby-friendly place.  Wish me
luck.

Linda Shaw MD
Altoona PA