Hot wards don't help with breast feeding

[Bodicea]

I was wondering if anyone else thought this?
I was in the hospital for two nights with my first born in November. The room I was in was boiling hot - in the mid twenties. I had those stupid windows that barely open (presumably to stop you jumping out) so I couldn't get any fresh air in. I really struggled to get him going with the breastfeeding. He could latch but he kept falling asleep on the breast.
The morning after I got home he was weighed and had lost more than 10% of his body weight. That night he just clicked and he was back up
when he was weighed the next day.

Thinking back now I think the heat was a major factor in his poor feeding in the hospital. I think it made him dosh.
We are always told that the optimum temp is 18-21 degrees. Why are wards so flipping hot?

*dosy

Couldn't agree more. My daughter born this May also had problems latching on and falling asleep, and we were told to give formula top ups due to low blood sugar. Ward was roasting, not helped by the adjacent mother who closed the window anytime anyone opened it!

I also agree with this. With dd2 I was given a private room purely for this reason, I had been suffering a temp after surgery (for a retained placenta) and when I reached the ward at 7pm (in March) it was roasting. I asked for a fan or somethig and next minute the midwives were moving me to a private room, where I slept with the window open the whole night.

The temperature on the ward was really unbearable.

I couldn't agree more.

Both my stays in post natal wards were horrendous because of the heat.

I was completely naked with DCs permanently latched but they just kept falling asleep.

Totally agree! The ward I was in was absolutely boiling-again with the windows that only open a crack. Our DS was born in December and, feeling the temperature in hospital, we were worried that home was too cold. Got home, put heating on full and were promptly told off by mw for it being too hot!

I am actually thinking if writing a letter as I think it is terrible that they don't pay any attention to the temperature. I wonder if any mums that have been stuck on the ward for a week have given up because of it.

I agree as well - DS was born in August, the ward was stifling and he wouldn't stay awake long enough to feed. He'd lost 8% of his body weight at the 3 day check (the day after we brought him home) and they said if he lost anymore we'd both have to be readmitted. 2 days later in my not boiling house he'd put on 140g. If I'd stayed in hospital or been taken back there he'd have lost more weight and I'm sure bf would have failed.

This was a major factor in me stopping bf. I don't cope well with heat, I'd much rather be in a cool room and wrap the baby up to keep them warm. I don't understand why they dont do it that way around instead. As you say, when you get home its 18degrees-ish. I'm going to take a room thermometer this time and complain about it. Or just try and get out of there asap.

Trouble is you get babies like my DD who because of the trauma of her delivery kept dropping in temp. Everything else was fine and despite it being boiling and early June they insisted on keeping windows shut!

I was roasted at gas mark 9 for 5 days on a transitional care ward. I completely agree with previous posts that it is just unbearable. My ward was for small/prem babies but any that had probs with temps were put in an incubator anyway, there was no reason to cook the mothers. No natural light at all, so unsurprisingly they all needed phototherapy for jaundice too.

very interesting post OP. I never thought of this as a contributing factor to not establishing BF with DS1. He was a very very sleepy baby. It really is daft, at home they warn you so much about the dangers of over heating and SIDS, but the wards are roasting. Not to mention the post partum sweating! I remember being told to keep a hat on the baby and the blanket and all those layers of vest and clothes. Once we got home the home visiting MW walking in and immediately opened all the windows and removed most of the layers of clothing, in March! "You both need to breath!" she exclaimed.

If a newborn is having problems regulating their temperature they should be on NICU. DS2 was on NICU and it was fairly warm, though most of the babies were naked in incubators, so it needed to be. SCBU though was much cooler and more pleasant, and there the babies were well wrapped up.

I had this with dd, I was so hot on my first night in the ward I was actually crying.. The mws said that I needed to calm down, it wasn't that hot.. I was in a middle bay, dp bought in the grow egg thermometer thing the next day, 24 degrees...... Dd kept falling asleep, bf failed and she had jaundice due to lack of natural sunlight.

The plan this time? Escape ASAP.

Ds was born in last years heat wave but the midwife still told me to have him in layers and blankets. Result was he slept far to much, in hindsight, and barely fed at all those first few days. I can't believe I didn't realise how silly it was at the time.

I agree. I had my DH using cold, wet towels on both babies to rouse them a bit.

The feeding issue is awful but so is the hear for women who have just given birth and are starting to swear out excess water. I thought I was dying of some sort of infection the first time I was so hot and sweaty. Yuk.

I complained verbally and was told newborns need to be kept warm..... Surely a little heat pad in the crib would work as well?

Agree completely. And the lack of natural light - often the curtains would be closed all day as the patients next to them wanted them closed, and if you were in a bay away from the windows it was horrific. I ended up severely depressed from lack of natural light and overpowering heat after having DC2. And it hardly helps them with jaundice/separating day from night either - she had borderline jaundice as a result and was nearly kept in longer. This was in November.. how it could be that hot in November I'll never know.

Agree completely with OP. Had my son in jan 2012. He refused to latch on the ward. I expressed a bit but was generally feeling awful and they did suggest formula top ups. It was boiling and I just wanted to go home but I had to stay in for 2 nights due to him being born covered in meconium. Midwives then wanted me to stay longer cos

Ah posted to soon

Cos of not having fed him . . . I demanded to leave against their advice. Went home to my much more comfortable temp house. After a massive nap DS latched on fine and then we never looked back, for 2 years!!

I agree. DS1 was born in November and I was in hospital a week. I wore pants and pants only the whole time (private room) - I was sweltering.