We hear so many stories about poor hospital birthing experiences, that
I want to share a good one with you all.

I was privileged to be present when my younger daughter gave birth to
her son last Wednesday (December 6, 2006),
12 days past her due date. She had been having contractions, on and
off, for about a week before, and on Monday her midwife had found her
to be 1cm dilated. At 9:30 on Tuesday evening, her waters broke, and
by 10.30 pm she was having contractions 6-7 mins apart. She nursed her
2yr old to sleep, waited a while, and when she woke up soon after
midnight, nursed her down again before setting out for the hospital
with me and her husband. My elder daughter stayed with the toddler.

By the time we arrived at the hospital's maternity unit at 2.45am, my
daughter was having very strong and frequent contractions. We were
quickly shown to a nice big room, made comfortable by the nurses on
duty and the midwife appeared within minutes and turned the lights
low. She said my daughter would probably give birth within the hour -
and she did! The birth was quick and easy and the baby nursed before
the cord was cut, hastening the expulsion of the placenta.

The only time the baby was put down was when he was being wiped dry
and briefly examined after the cord had been cut. Of course he did not
like being laid on his back. The nurse commented that crying cleared
the lungs. She looked somewhat startled when I replied,"And by the
same token, bleeding clears the arteries." <G>

When she said that she would be back to take the baby, in a bassinet,
to the nursery for a bath, I explained that "our* babies were always
in arms and never put in a crib, and anyway, he hadn't had a chance to
get dirty yet. So then she invited me to bathe him myself - a special
treat? "No thank you," I said, "Our babies are not usually bathed
until the second, third, or even the fourth day."

I am sure she was thinking that we were completely nuts, especially
when I requested that the ped come to the room to examine the baby
instead of the usual routine of lining up babies in the nursery to
await their turn. Amazingly, the ped DID come to our room, very
cheerfully!

This nurse was obviously following her usual routines, but even she
did not give us a hard time.
The other nurses, and the midwife, were more than wonderful! Just
about every one of them had not only nursed their babies but had
TANDEM nursed! Amazing!
The midwife was calm, patient and encouraging.
The nurses were kind and attentive, without overwhelming us with
unnecessary attentions.
The dietitian went out of her way to make sure that kosher meals were
available - she ordered sealed, glatt kosher, ready-to eat food and
sent us home with the unused meals.

Now here is something interesting - there was no crib (isolette) in the room!
At one point I was looking for diapers and could not find any in any
of the drawers, so we called the nurse. She showed us where they were
- in the crib OUTSIDE the room! After giving birth, my daughter was
made comfortable in her bed, and the midwife asked if she would prefer
to hold the baby in her arms or lying at her side - not a mention of
cribs! For the first few hours they were skin-to-skin, with blankets
over them both.

At one point, a nurse came in with two diaper bags under her arms.
"This is the hospital's bag," she said, holding up one of them, "with
a bunch of advertisements for expensive things you don't need, and
this other one is from the evil formula company with their evil
formula inside!" No kidding!
Guess which one we took?

We had all been concerned about my 2 yr old granddaughter. As it
happens, because the labour was so short, my son-in-law was able to
get back to the house just as she was waking up, and he managed to put
her back to sleep. Later on, he brought her to the hospital so that
she could nurse and see her new baby brother.

The only controversy arose when my daughter realised that spending
another night in the hospital was not going to work for her. She was
told that although she was free to go, they could not release the baby
before he was 24 hours old or the hospital would incur a big fine.
Hmmm... My son-in-law (smart guy!) asked, "So that is a LEGAL
requirement?"
They hummed and hawwed - and let the baby go, as long as they promised
to get a PKU test at their ped's the next day.
Interestingly enough, before the birth we had been told that if we
took the baby home before 24 hours then Child Protective Services
would have to be notified!

Just in case you were wondering, all this took place at St Mary's
Hospital in Troy, NY. We will be writing to thank them :)


norma, making the case for someone staying with the mother every
single minute of her hospital stay, even in the best of circumstances.

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