Chance baby will have to go to SCBU, please tell me what it's like?

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I'm going to have a baby at 36 weeks by c-section and have been warned they may need to go to scbu, possibly for a week or so. I've got a toddler at home and no family support other than dh so hate the idea of being unable to come home but worse, hate the idea of the baby being taken away. For those of you that had babies in icu, what was it like? Could you go and see them straight away after birth? Could you cuddle them? I have an unexplained stillbirth in my past so they say the early birth is because it's less risky to get baby out soon, and I'm happy to trust my consultant who is head of the high risk unit at a major teaching hospital, but I just don't know what will happen if baby is actually whisked off...?

This happened 3 times to me. What I found helpful was to call the NICU/SCBU to ask for a little look around. I have never had a problem with this being sorted out for me. With DS (32 weeks) he was sent to another hospital as there wasn't adequate facilities for him at the hospital he was born in, so I didn't meet him until the next day. With DD2 (33 weeks) they took her up before they'd finished stitching me back together but they wheeled me up on my bed a couple of hours after so I could see her. With DD3 (30 weeks) I didn't meet her until the next morning but that was because I'd had general anaesthetic.
You can cuddle them of course! My 3 were all in incubators for the first week or so, so cuddles were limited as they needed to be kept nice and warm. Once they went into heated cots, then normal cots we could cuddle them as much as we liked. We just had to be super careful because of the tubes/wires/cannula.
I wouldn't imagine at 36 weeks your baby will need too much intervention and will likely be taken for observation.
Ask at the hospital if they have rooms for you to stay in, some do!
If they don't have rooms for you to sleep in, it's unlikely you will be allowed to sleep on the unit, in my experience anyway, although the visiting times are 24 hours so you can visit when you want for however long you want.
Good luck with your birth, I hope everything turns out well and your baby doesn't have to go to the unit. The nurses/doctors/support workers are absolute angels, but it's a heartbreaking place to be.

My DD was born at 34 weeks, placental abduction so she was poorly. She was taken to a different hospital as needed more care than the hosital could provide. ICU was scary and she was in an incubator but after a week she was strong enough to move to HDU. That was a hot cot so we could hold her but needed help because she still had wires. A couple of days later she moved to SCBU which was a lot more relaxed in comparison. I was there from 9am to 5pm whilst DH was at work, he'd join me for another couple of hours. We'd clean her, change her nappy, do all her feeds. I had to ask to do her first bath which was supervised (feeding tube still in and had to be quick as she was so small).

I could bring my own clothes in for her but chose to use theirs.

As pp said, it's worth asking if you can go to scbu - you might not be allowed into the nurseries, but could chat to the nurses about what to expect.

Both my babies were in SCBU for a week when they were born, both for unexpected reasons. It's obviously difficult when you don't have your baby with you like the other women on the post natal ward. They all had their babies there in those plastic wheely cots, and I got a few looks as it became clear that I didn't have a baby with me. I became friendly with the other women with babies in SCBU which helped.

The nurses were generally great, just ask whatever you want to know and they should be able to help. They were very accommodating and I could go there at any time and spend as much time there as I wanted. I also spent a lot of time expressing next to the incubator. There should be pumps etc available and help if you need it.

It's a little intimidating picking up your baby for the first time, as they can have cannulas, drips, monitors, feeding tubes etc attached that you have to be careful of. You get used to them all very quickly and learn how to work around them. As soon as you're feeling up to it you can start to change nappies etc, they'll have a system for doing it that they'll demonstrate.

Will your DH be there for the birth, without your eldest child? I sent my DP off with the baby both times, so he would be with him. It takes a little while to get stitched up, and then a while longer in recovery. Then they'll take you to post natal and check that you can stand, take the catheter out, you can shower etc. Then you can go and see your baby.

Meant to add, if they are planning an early delivery, they'll probably give you steroids to boost baby's lungs. Likely need for scbu will be to get feeding established as the suck reflex develops quite late - if you can be at hospital to do as many feeds as possible, that will all help.

Sounds like you have great care. Best of luck x

Agree that going to see the unit is a good idea to put your mind at rest. At a major hospital it is most likely that they will be keen to support you to breastfeed and will make every effort to let you see and hold your baby. I was emcs under GA and saw my dd in NICU as soon as I came round. They wheeled me along whenever I wanted to see her for as long as I needed wheeling. I would recommend expressing and freezing some colostrum if possible in the week before your birth so that they can feed her immediately but speak to your midwife to make sure they think it's safe. They should give you the syringes and advice. Good luck op x

Every baby has a possibility it may need to go to SCBU, however at 36weeks with no known anomalies it’s fairly unlikely. There maybe some feeding issues or respiratory distress of the newborn which may require SCBU but I certainly see majority of these babies sitting with mummy on the normal postnatal ward.
My son was born at 41+3 and went to NNU for 9 days followed by paed Ward for a few days as he had meningitis. I found it awful if I’m honest, was so unprepared for that eventuality, DS was so so sick. I found the communication from neonatal staff to be very poor and were horrified that I wanted to breastfeed (this is a baby friendly, level 3 hospital that I work in as a midwife, so I knew a lot of staff there). Knowing there is a posssibility your baby may end up there would probably help you cope. You can cuddle your baby, have skin to skin, and see baby fairly quickly when they go to NNu

Ah and yes, and would recommend colostrum harvesting. I have been doing it since 32weeks 👍

I had a baby in SCBU for a week. I was also in intensive care myself so couldn’t see him for a lot of that time as I was wired up and not able to move. I felt he was in amazing hands, the staff there gave him cuddles and love and talked to him - so even if you need to go and be with your toddler i am sure you can be comfortable your child is being really well cared for. Then when i could move i could go and spend every day with him and cuddle him etc. They let me breastfeed too, it hasn’t impacted our bond and he is a-ok now xx

Thank you so much ladies, you've really helped. I do hope that he'll be fine and not need to go, but I know that if he does, it'll be easier knowing what to expect. That's why my consultant warned me apparently, so I wouldn't panic too much if he's rushed straight off. This pregnancy has been tough at times, the stress of going through it again post stillbirth and various miscarriages has been very difficult. I just want him to be ok but I do feel lucky that I'll have what appears to be good care. Thank you again for taking the time to let me know what happened to you.

DD went unexpectedly to SCBU when she was born. There's been some great advice here but one thing I would stress is to SLEEP. Get ear plugs and a mask to help. There are no 'benefits' to having a baby away from you but you can at least try and get some sleep the first few nights, after a CS you'll feel so much better for it, and better placed to spend all day with the baby. Good luck.