Hospital with "room-in" maternity ward

schnitz9 · September 2014

So the hospital that I am delivering in has a what they call a "room-in" policy. They don't have a nursery. The baby stays in the room with the mother. Any STM deliver in a hospital like this? What was your experience like? I heard its becoming very popular and my Dr. said its great for bonding.

digwriter · September 2014

I did. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I didn't want my DD away from me for even a second.

animalcrckr · September 2014

I have delivered in 3 different hospitals and none of them had a nursery. I have always kept my babies with me in the room from when they were born until we left the hospital to go home. I cannot imagine doing it any other way.

jmcgra06 · September 2014

That's how our hospital was, too. They had a nursery, but it was maybe 4 cribs and totally empty. I liked having her in my room.

schnitz9 · September 2014

@chickenonsunday my OB delivers at CMC Main. I'm really happy with the hospital they have a great reputation and I've stayed before for other procedures. Just never really heard of a "room-in". My HR manager just delivered there 2 months ago and she said her stay went well.

schnitz9 · September 2014

Glad to hear you guys liked the experience. I've been reading that some women don't like it cause they want more privacy and sleep. Is that really an issue though?

schnitz9 · September 2014

Yeah we are gonna do a tour prob in nov-dec time. We are actually taking all our classes there too. They offer a great variety of baby classes.

CatLadyTX · September 2014

We had the option at my hospital. We used it some nights, but not all. I definitely like the option of keeping my baby with me.

t8keepr03 · September 2014

My hospital has a nursery for those babies who need some extra care but don't need the NICU. Their policy is the baby stays with you at all times. They will do everything with the baby in your room. They will take the baby to the nursery when they do things like take blood or give the vaccine. Also, if we ask they will take the baby for a couple hours so we can get some sleep. I liked this. Even though I didn't think I would ever ask, we did because we were going on 32 hours without sleep. All I needed was 2 hours.

brroseb · September 2014

Both times I have delivered, they had a nursery but I wanted my kids with me so it didn't really matter. I don't see myself trying to get an extra couple hours of sleep. I do that before the baby comes. I know good and well that when baby comes, I sleep when baby sleeps.

bhjones1980 · September 2014

Ours just got rid of their nursery (they told me they wouldn't have it much longer when I was there having DS) but he was with me in the room both nights anyways so I didn't use it.

You barely get any sleep anyways during your stay with the nurses coming in and out to check your vitals, wake you up to nurse (if you are choosing to BF), and all the noise. So I didn't see the point of sending him to the nursery.

schnitz9 · September 2014

@chickenonsuday wow thats crazy.

lilybug319 · September 2014

I did. I loved it. I kept her as close to my bed as I could. It made feeding easier too because I could just plop her right back down when I was done.

mishka29 · September 2014

It was room in only. This time I hope to be able to leave shortly after the birth under the care of my midwife.

AF9211 · September 2014

For the ST+Ms who have experienced this: were any of you recovering from a c-section? The hospital I'll be delivering at this time just introduced a maternity model like this in 2012. While they have a small nursery for babies who MUST go back for some reason, rooming-in is the standard. Mom & baby have the same nurse for the majority of their stay. Everything for baby is done in mom's hospital room.

I'll be having a RCS and DH won't be staying with me like he did with DD1 because he'll be home with her. I'll have DH & mom there as much as they can be during the day, but it's the night that makes me a little nervous. Were the nurses helpful?

michelle142 · September 2014

This is the norm here.

There is still a nursery, but the babies only go there for testing and such. Other than that they are in your room the whole time.

I liked it because it allowed us to get used to his quirks and habits while we still had the help of nurses before we went home.

erobbins09 · September 2014

FTM but after talking to friends and looking into my hospital's policy I am requesting that my blueberry stay with me at all times. My hospital recommends it and though they will take babies to the small nursery (if you are really struggling to get sleep/having trouble of some kind) but it seems like that's pretty rare that people take advantage of that these days.

I figure, daddy's (grand parents/friends) are there to care for the baby if I need some rest

good practice for when we get home.

Edit: added grand parents/friends for sensitivity to those who have recently shared stories of dads who will be off serving our country. Thank YOU ladies for your sacrifices by supporting your husband's call to duty.

michelle142 · September 2014

@AF9211 I did not have a c-section, but in my experience, the nurses are as helpful as you need them to be. Don't be afraid to hit the call button when you're there alone with baby at night. Obviously the nurses vary from hospital to hospital, but they are there to help.

addysensmommy · September 2014

I delivered at a hospital that promotes rooming in, but also has a small nursery just in case. I had a csection with my DD and was totally for rooming in, until the nurse came and got my baby at 1 am because I wasn't sleeping. Honestly it didn't help me sleep at all, I worried about her the whole time she was there and at 6am when DH woke up I made him go and get her. I am all for rooming in!

dreemkin84 · September 2014

I wish they didn't even take her out of the room for blood draws and the newborn hearing test. Those time when she was away felt like forever.

wendy46001 · September 2014

We in roomed with DD, it was nice. We did send her to the nurses station (no nursery, just a NICU) one night as she was under a uv light, had to be monitored and we needed sleep.

Our nurses were so sweet and nice and always checking to make sure we didnt have questions. Though both DH and I work at the hospital so they sort of kissed our asses the whole time. Loved me some employee perks

jennjilljo · September 2014

I did and I loved it. Having DS in the room helped prepare us for having him full time. The nurses would come in to take him for an exam or something and let us know "we'll be gone for 3 hours so rest up" and if the baby offered a particulate hard night the nurses offered to take him to the exam room so we could sleep for a few hours. It made BFing easy and I felt more comfortable being able to reach over and touch my baby.

Nvywife · September 2014

DS stayed with me the whole hospital stay. It was great I couldn't have gotten any sleep if he wasn't right there with me. Only time he was away was for testing.

schnitz9 · September 2014

Thank you guys so so much. It's nice to hear all the good experiences!!!

AnotherSun · September 2014

Both of my kids had to go to the intermediate NICU. My DS was in for two weeks, my daughter only at night. I'm liked the bit of sleep I got, but I'm really hoping for a baby healthy enough to room in this time!

thegoodpotato · September 2014

Neither of the hospitals I delivered at had a nursery. With Marnie, because my labour was so unexpectedly quick, and I haemorrhaged and lost a lot of blood, the nurses took her to the nurses station for a couple of hours while I slept.

Otherwise, I've always roomed with baby, in both the hospitals I delivered at. I liked it that way; I could always see my baby right there next to the bed.

jaztastic · September 2014

My hospital does Room In as well... but they also have a very small nursery. I remember a nurse saying they only use it for extreme situations, while visiting a friend who had just given birth. Neither of us asked what extreme situations meant.

schnitz9 · September 2014

From the look of it is seems as though room-in is the norm now. Do any hospitals have regular nurseries anymore?

cinderella4282 · September 2014

I did. They only took DD to the nursery when they had to complete tests on her. (She was born prior to 37 weeks so she had to go through a bunch of tests even though she was perfectly fine).

I didn't like it when she wasn't with me. I think it also helped us get into a routine a little sooner.

AF9211 · September 2014

schnitz9 said:

From the look of it is seems as though room-in is the norm now. Do any hospitals have regular nurseries anymore?

Yep...the hospital I delivered DD in had a full nursery and she was there quite often during our stay. I think most hospitals in the Philly metro area still have nurseries.

amt0312 · September 2014

Ours had a nursery and I took advantage of it. I was not mentally or emotionally prepared to suddenly be taking care of a newborn 24/7. And they did not allow cosleeping in the bed, and DD would simply not settle in her bassinet. I needed sleep. I'll do the same for the next one too if I feel the need.

ETA: I only did this at night, and they brought her to me every 2-3 hours to breastfeed. She could have roomed in 100% if I had wanted her to.

AF9211 · September 2014

amt0312 said:

Ours had a nursery and I took advantage of it. I was not mentally or emotionally prepared to suddenly be taking care of a newborn 24/7. And they did not allow cosleeping in the bed, and DD would simply not settle in her bassinet. I needed sleep. I'll do the same for the next one too if I feel the need.

ETA: I only did this at night, and they brought her to me every 2-3 hours to breastfeed. She could have roomed in 100% if I had wanted her to.

This was my experience when I delivered DD, too. She slept in the nursery every night and was brought back for the day every morning.

schnitz9 · September 2014

@chickenonsunday why did I never realize you were in NC? What area are you in? Hopefully close to charlotte so that I could borrow Willa's super cute PJ's and Bunny hat if I have a girl!!! Aw heck I'd even put my boy in them. Nothing is cuter than a kid in leopard print!!!

jknallen · September 2014

I have had two csections and had the baby with me at all times both times.

natsgirl12 · September 2014

Yes! In Room is the best! It really prepares you for the reality of being at home with the baby. Plus definitely better when breastfeeding.

krispy83 · September 2014

DS was in my room the entire time and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll probably take advantage of a little more help from the nurses this time because DH will be home overnight with DS, so I might need help during the night, but I definitely want DD in the room with me.

The only time he was out of my room was for the carseat check (he was premature). They did the other testing (heel stick, hearing) in my room. If he hadn't been premature, he wouldn't have ever needed to leave.

triplej9 · September 2014

When I had DS in 2012 the hospital I delivered at still had a nursery. DS had to immediately go to the NICU, but had he not gone there he would have gone to the nursery.

I really like the idea of the room-in policy! I really hope my hospital this time does it that way.

Angeldcf · September 2014

We had a room-in option, but I sent DS to the nursery at our hospital. Honestly, it was pointless. By the time I fell asleep, they had brought him back (every 2 hrs) to nurse. We ended up keeping him in the room anyways.

Those first 2-3 days were great. He'd wake, nurse, diaper then sleep. I thought, "This is so easy! We have 8 visitors talking in the room and he's sleeping through it! Yea!" I WAS SO FREAKING WRONG! Some babies "wake up to the world" around 72hrs old (yeah- right when you get home) and every little sound wakes them up.

Sahara6971 · September 2014

I preferred to keep my babies with me

Beth.1212 · September 2014

We had a room in hospital and overall it was nice. There was a nursery if you needed to leave LO there - we did 2x, once so that we could take a mini-class on infant care that the ward offered and encouraged you to attend, and once on the last night so that I could get a little more sleep. I was really thankful for the latter, and plan to do it again with this LO.

srcr2011 · September 2014

The hospital where I delivered DS did not have a nursery. He never left my room without DH or myself. I was sleeping when they took DS for his hearing test and DH refused for the nurse to take him alone.

I couldn't imagine not having him in our room with us.

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