I have been reading the post on hospital routines ( although I am still a few days behind) and the nurses who want to "take the baby" from the parent. I just had to respond as i work frequently in the nursery and would like to share the other side.( this is not meant to flame anyone, just my point of view) 1-First bath- As a mother of your baby you may not mind holding a baby with dried (or wet) blood on it since it is your blood, but personally I don't want to touch that baby without gloves on and I certainly don't want to hold it close to my uniform which I will be wearing for the rest of my shift. maybe it is my training as a nurse and hand washing. I did breastfeed both my children in the DR shortly after birth but I did have them dried off and was happy to have them bathed afterwards. 2-As the nursery nurse I have a responsibility (Legally) to examine that baby for any problems. i don't have a problem doing that in mom's room, or any other care for that matter, but I can't fully exam the baby without touching it or turning on a light. 3- I wish we had more patients that wanted to keep their babies with them. Unfortunately most of the moms where I work send them back often. They have visitors or they want to sleep or they just fed them an hour ago and they are crying. Some babies are out with the parents all day and they bring them back because they need a diaper change. The parents are shown how to change and many of them still don't do it in the hospital because the nurses are supposed to do it and they think you are lazy if you ask them to do it. If it gets busy in L&D RNs are taken from Nursery which can leave only one RN for hours stuck in the nursery with one baby who's mom has sent it back and no-one to help/check on the other mothers/babies. 4- I have no problem with a mother who wants to get some sleep during the night but wants the baby brought out for all feedings. I would never feed a baby unles a mother requested it ( and I do warn her of the problems associated with supplementing and rubber nipples)or it was medically indicated. I do know some nurses who would, although if the mother expresses that she doesn't want the baby to have a bottle none of the nurses would give it one. A question for all. What do you do for a baby who wants to nurse very frequently and a mother who wants to rest, doesn't want her baby with her all the time , wants to nurse when mom wants to? I find it very frustrating dealing with the many moms who I work with who feel this way. How long do we let them cry? I will hold them but many cry any way. Rooming in is our policy. I start work at 7pm and many times when I come in their are already babies back for the night. As a nurse it can be difficult dealing with both extremes. I can't force a mother to keep her baby with her. In fact one nurse got in trouble because a mother complained that the nurse tried to make her feel guilty for sending the baby back in the evening and wanting it to stay in the nursery all night. Administration listens a lot more to patients then they do to staff. I''ve rambled long enough. Caren Goldstein RNC, IBCLC in Central NJ PS I just read Chanita's post from 1/30 (or 1/29-I deleted it without noting exact date) and I could really relate to it.