Natural Birth
DeAnna&DavidRyder
member
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post birth hospital procedures.?
DeAnna&DavidRyder
member
ok so i know they differ from hospital to hospital and state to state.
but what kinds of procedures are done after the baby is born and how can i stall them?
cutting the cord is taken care of, my ob is very supportive. but what else can i expect the nurses etc to give me crap about?
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Re: post birth hospital procedures.?
The only thing I got crap about was sleeping with my baby. A nurse whispered to me that I wasn't supposed to. I honestly think she was whispering because she didn't want to say it- but she had to- so she whispered.
The hospital was baby-friendly so they weren't very invasive with the baby after she was born... like I nursed her before she was bathed.
Other than that- the hospital seemed to have a way of having a person come in like every hour to do something... take your blood pressure, bring you a meal, ask if you are taking newborn photos, newborn hearing screening, take you BP again, the pedi is here!, billing is here, visit from your ob, bp again, here are some pain pills and stool softeners, another meal, the LC is here!.... on and on- it's a widely spaced but constant stream of people so you will never get to really rest or relax.
- They can give you something to make the placenta deliver faster, rather than letting it deliver naturally (maybe pitocin? I got jabbed with something which no one asked me about, and i think it was for the placenta but see below, at that stage I really didn't care but I am curious what it was)
- They can give you something to help prevent hemorrhaging.
- Do you want baby to have a vitamin K shot. (we had to sign something to have this done)
- Do you want baby to put straight to your chest rather than being taken away to be inspected/cleaned up. (Baby went straight to my chest, where she stayed for about an hour whilst we breastfed and snuggled, then they weighed her etc whilst i showered)
- Will baby leave the room to be "inspected", if so, who will go with baby. (baby never left our room)
-You can have a heel prick test that screens for all sorts of possible diseases in the blood. (we did that on day 2 I think)
- If baby spends any time in a nursery will he/she be given a dummy or formula.
That's all I can think of right now.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
I notified them that I did not want the VitK shot, Hep shot, eye ointment or PKU done (we did the PKU a few days later). Measurements and weights could be done after DH had held DD. I further told them not to wipe off the vernix and no bath. I declined any and all vitals taken on me and DD in the middle of the night. They generally want to do the hearing test then too and we declined. When they did do the PKU test a day later at first they wouldn't allow me to hold DD so then I declined the test (knowing I could go to my midwife's office and get it done the way I wanted) and then they allowed me to hold DD. And to be honest, I was very polite about it all, not defensive at all, and they gave me no questions about it and no crap about it either. Some just out of curosity asked why I was doing something but they all said it was very refreshing.
EDIT- I wanted to add I slept w/ DD and they never said anything to me about it. Perhaps it was the situation around my DD birth (they knew I was planning a homebirth when I had a complication in my pregnancy) but the hospital and staff was great (much better than I ever imagined). Maybe it was because I wasn't defensive and just acted as if it was all normal what I was telling them, I don't know. But I can say all the nurses kept telling me how refreshing it was and they were telling me about what most women do- some deliever their babies and then at night (or sometimes during the day) want them to stay in the nursery so they can have a break (I could go on and on)!!! And they LOVED our CD.
DD #1 passed away in January 2011 at 14 days old due to congenital heart disease
DD#2 lost in January 2012 at 23 weeks due to anhydramnios caused by a placental abruption
Morgan's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2009/06/morgans-birth/
Chloe's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2012/04/chloes-birth/
Not circing does not eliminate the need for Vitamin K. Babies can have serious bleeds without circing or any apparent birth trauma whatsoever.
Thanks ladies,
I'm expecting the hospital to be pretty accommodating. My mom is a nurse and worked in the hospital here for a while, and basically she says they wont do something if i tell them not to. But i also know it varies so much from person to person. anyways this was very helpful
It sounds like you were all able to to spend the first hourish with your baby and thats jus what we want. then after we don't mind if someone bathes him and other things such as shots and stuff we're still deciding on.
Thanks!
There's a lot of current thought that it is better for baby's skin not to bath it. That any vernix should be massaged into the skin rather than washed off.
Our baby wasn't bathed until she was two days old and even then the midwife was reluctant, it was only because we wanted to learn how before we went home, that she agreed.
Just something you might like to consider.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old