It is very interesting to read all your reactions about separating mother
and baby for a few hours after birth. Here in Israel I don't think we have
even ONE hospital practicing full rooming in, with no mother infant
seperation from birth. Some hospitals have, what they call, partial rooming
in, where the baby can stay with the mother for 4 hours from 8 to 12am, or
at the most from morning to evening. There are maybe 2 - 3 hospitals with
full rooming in, but first the infant has to be in the nursery for a few
hours, and probably also a few hours every day for checkups. Then the
nursery is locked, because it's doctors visiting hours, and they can't be
disturbed, right?

At night, if the mother insists on nursing (!)  she can come to the nursery
and nurse there. Even when I had my baby (fourth baby, mother  a doctor,
private room) they wouldn't let me keep the baby in my room at night.
Hospital policies! What if the baby stops breathing?! (Why on earth should
it? And if this happens in the nursery with the nurses chating and drinking
coffee?)

I just had a mother call me - baby jaundiced, put in phototherapy, mom sent
home, and allowed to nurse the baby only every 4 hours when coming to the
hospital. She pumps, but nurse says breastmilk good only for 3 hours, then
spoils, so she pours it down the drain. Father calls me - this is OUR baby,
but what can we do?

So I'm really surprised to read that in the US you think that seperating
mom and baby for a few hours is terrible. This is the complete norm here.
We are more backward than I thaught.

I must add that all my babies where born in hospital, and with the first
three I still didn't know how important rooming in was, and I nursed them
more or less according to hospital schedule, every 3 hrs (but had an alarm
clock with me for the night, because they wouln't promise to call me), and
never had any bf dificulties with them. I did spend hours on a chair in the
nursery at night to nurse a fussy baby, but it seemed OK, and I didn't know
any better. I guess I was just lucky.

Good luck, and I hope we will get this far one day.

Mira Leibovich, MD
ISRAEL