This is in response to Laura Wheeler's comment on policy of "rooming in " requiring a private room. When one of my daughter's had her baby in a Hollywood Fl hospital she was in a semi private room. I was appauled at the snuggness of having two Moms, babies and significant others and then several visitors in a rooming in situation. The poor kid was in the outside bed and everyone walked by so if she wanted to breastfeed she had to enshroud herself behind the curtin which made it even more tight quarters. After having worked in several area hospitals and having had LDRP and single private rooms for LDR/MB set ups I had forgotten because the last place that had semi privates was a much larger room and they tried to put Moms in rooms and only then add on the additional mom when there was a mom not breastfeeding. They also didn't have rooming in as we have come to know it. Consequently when her sister had a baby in NY we requested and willing paid for the bigger single for privacy. It was small but I wondered how snug their semi private rooms were. Needless to say when Bonnie has her second baby she will be coming to my hospital and even if its a small single room versus the larger suite she will have the privacy she justly desires. ( I know that sounds elitiest, but every new Mom shouldn't have to worry about can she learn to breastfeed and her baby cues with all the other family looking on. And same for her other sister when she delivers in April. I can remember doing it in a 4 bed ward and a semi private with outside baths and showers....I know that not all the world works in our mindset but in our society we must allow Moms the space to enjoy their birthing experience so they can learn and take it home...they have so little time to ask questions and try to get a handle on it as it is.) So the answer is do they need private rooms, no but they need space for privacy. Is it policy, probably not. Will they get it ....only if they are informed and shop for what they think they need. I had tried to tell my one daughter that some things matter. She later realized that space was a major issue. She didn't ever send her baby back to the nursery once he came out to her...She thought the rooming in was great. Said she would have gone nuts if baby only came out for feeds. That's why when a patient goes into one of our small private rooms and bemoans the fact its "too small" I think you don't know what small is....but at least its only you and your family. I don't think private is part of BFHI initiative but maybe the space for privacy should be. Just my thoughts. Leanne Jewell, RNC, IBCLC, LCCE, FACCE *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html