I work in a hospital with a manager who is very adamant about the rule that
"no baby is to be sleeping in bed with its mother."  Babies are encouraged
to be in the nursery when mom is sleeping, but if mom wants to keep the
baby in the room, it needs to be in the crib if mom is sleeping.  I
probably don't have to detail how this leads to frustrated babies,
frustrated nurses, and non-medically necessary supplementation.

I'm wondering how other hospitals, especially those without central
nurseries and hospitals that are Baby-Friendly, have gotten around the
risk-management folks and attorneys.  The latest information I was given to
justify this is that JCAHO follows the guidelines from the Center for
Missing and Exploited Children regarding preventing infant abductions,
therefore we must.  Since the word of JCAHO is pretty much up there with
the word of God, what do other places do?  If a hospital really supports 24
hr. rooming in, I really doubt that the nurses are going around taking
sleeping babies from their mothers and tucking them into plastic boxes all
night long.

I just read the long document from the Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, and this is the advice for parents:
"Never leave your infant out of your direct line-of-sight
even when you go to the bathroom or take a nap. If you
leave the room or plan to go to sleep, alert the nurses
to take the infant back to the nursery or have a family
member watch the baby. When possible, keep the infant's
bassinet on the side of your bed that is away from the door(s)
leading out of the room."
If this is what JCAHO wants, how do those of you with
breastfeeding-friendly policies get around it?

Becky Krumwiede, RN, IBCLC
Appleton, Wisconsin

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