When did newborn nurseries stop being a thing?

[Al991]

Just a question stemming from a conversation with my mum, who said she slept all night after birthing my sister while she was cared for in a newborn nursery in hospital. I’ve only seen this on American TV shows.

I was in labour for 48 hours then had a 1.5L postpartum haemorrhage, a 3rd degree tear and moderately serious surgery but I had the baby with me the whole time and thereafter.

just curious as to when we stopped having newborn nurseries and what the history of this is! Was it part of the push for breastfeeding? My sister was born in 2000.

Good question. I had mine in 2013 and had to take him to the bathroom with me whilst I had a wee. Now ExH was useless - only saw me at the official visiting time with his mother, and a MCA had made it very clear they weren't babysitters so didn't feel I could ask them to keep an eye on him, so I pushed him down to the loo in his little hospital bedside, after 80 hours of labour then realised the cot wouldn't fit in the loo with me, so I had to use it to wedge the door open so I could keep an eye on him whilst I had a pee in full view of the whole ward and not a single person asked me if I wanted some help. Set the tone for things to come really.

@Namechange944 - it was ! And I was extremely grateful for the support and the time I got to get to grips with being a new mum. Really sad that its not available now and do wonder how I would have coped without it.

i had a traumatic birth and I had been up for 2 full days.
When I finally got to the ward I passed out. I was given DD to feed in the middle of the night and promptly fell asleep whilst doing it, I remember the nurse shouting at me (I suspect because she was meant to be watching me).
She was also very unhappy the next day when she had to bath DD as I was still had a catheter and was unwell. I probably went home too early because of all this.
BIL used it as an opportunity to criticise me as his wife hadn’t been so bad when she came out of hospital. She was in for 8 days for a minor tear and a night nursery (small hospital).

This is a good example of what I mean. Women/mothers as default.

Best not to give them any ideas at the start that they might be entitled to a bit of care and consideration from others, as that's not really how our society is structured.

The more recent experiences discussed on this thread are so upsetting. The word barbaric has been used a number of times to describe modern maternity “care” and rightly so.
I had three traumatic births between 2013-2018 and - although some individual midwives were amazing, truly angels- the overall experiences were horrendous. With my first I had a forceps delivery and episiotomy, baby was rushed to NICU and I was expected to get up every 3 hours to pump as I was trying to establish breastfeeding. It took me months to recover because I was simply not allowed to rest, ever.
With my second I had a planned section and PPH and was told off for falling by asleep while breastfeeding her. I was kicked out of hospital 24 hours later despite asking to stay as I felt awful and had a 1 year old at home.
With my third I had an emergency c section after 2 hours of second stage labour, again I was exhausted and again sent home the next day.
How we expect mothers to deal with all of this is beyond me. It is no surprise that post natal depression is so common and breastfeeding rates are through the floor. New mothers need rest, compassion and above all care. The current system is failing to provide any of this and it is brutal.

Correct.

I've seen posts on these boards from women asking if they can go to the toilet if they're home alone with their baby, or should they wait for their husband to get home. It's absolutely crazy

Yes, def a thing in the UK up until at least the early 70s. And far from being ‘barbaric’ as someone upthread suggested, the nursery system was proper holistic healthcare that centred both the baby and the mother.

My sister and I were born late 60s (UK) and our mum stayed 14 days in hospital each time, with all babies being removed to a nursery at nap times and between feeds. The idea was to support the mothers; to help establish good routines, sleep hygiene, breast feeding if possible - and, crucially, to give postpartum mums as much good nutrition and undisturbed rest and recovery time as possible.

The wards were well staffed and overseen by a matron whose word was law, so most of them were run to a strict timetable, but the nurses were hardly wrenching newborns from their sobbing mothers’ arms! My mum always remembered it with gratitude, as did my MIL, who formed a close, lifelong friendship with the three women she shared a maternity room with.

I’d love to have had the same quality of care in the early 00s, but was instead hoofed out after 2 (completely sleepless) nights following an emergency CS where I lost so much blood I almost died. I was traumatised, overwhelmed, sleep deprived and could barely shuffle. The showers were streaked with blood and overflowing sanitary bins, and I spent the entire time exhausted and in floods of tears. Apparently there was nobody available to even help lift DS from the cot so I could feed him because ‘too busy, you need to do it yourself’, but they had the fucking brass neck to send some woman round with a clipboard so I could fill in a customer satisfaction survey! It was honestly one of the very worst experiences of my life. So yeah, I’m not really in two minds about which system constitutes ‘barbaric’ women’s healthcare.

My heart goes out to all the women on this thread!
when I was expecting my first, a group of us were given a tour of the hospital and I glanced into the shower and it was covered in bloody footprints. that was nothing to what I was going to find out about

1993 my sister was born in London and no nursery but 1986 when I was born I stayed overnight in the nursery again in London but I was born just before midnight and was wheeled back to my mum in the morning but stayed with mum until she left hospital. My mum stayed 3 days on both natural deliveries and the midwives apparently walked you out to the hospital entrance once discharged.

I live in Switzerland and they are still a thing here. I only managed an hour with my PFB and then I wanted him back as I missed him... when I was in having DC3, the lady next to me had to be helicoptered to a larger hospital due to complications after an emergency C-section and the baby was cared for there for several days. I will never forget how the poor father was so distraught, visiting his baby in one hospital and then his wife in another 20 miles away. They were reunited after 5 days.

But also, I was in for 9 days with DC1 and a week with all of the others. (All DC were delivered via CS).

I loved it. Two beds per room, spread out if possible, three excellent meals a day.... I would have stayed longer if they allowed it!

I guess it's cultural.... (and that the NHS has been run into the ground, but we all know that)

I agree and so many experiences similar to my own. It's so upsetting. Is there anyone lobbying about this sort of thing I wonder? Most common cause of maternal deaths up to 12 months pp is suicide, with sleep deprivation being a major factor in this. I wonder how many lives night nurseries would have saved. We need to shift the focus onto mothers/families needs.

I was another with a recent traumatic birth and left to get on with it.

Prolonged induction meaning I'd been in hospital for days before birth, a night in labour and then an EMCS due to having developed a nasty infection. From the minute I arrived on the post-natal ward I kept getting told how much I needed to rest, but every time I nodded off I was woken to be told the baby needed skin to skin / feeding / I needed meds etc.

Come 8pm my husband was kicked out, and I was left to try to drag myself around the bed to reach the bassinet to settle in he baby, with my catheter still in (ironically they wouldn't take it out so I didn't have to get up in the night, yet there was no one to lift the baby for me).

By the next day I was broken and when they said I had to stay in for another night my husband asked if there was a nursery for baby to go to, so I could get some rest. There wasn't, but we were moved to a private room so he could stay and do everything with the baby while I slept.

I do think there needs to be more options for women who have difficult labours / are unwell themselves, whether that's support on the ward or allowing partners to stay if needed.

Never occurred to me I was supposed to do this.

I was told to go to toilet at least once - but they said they couldn't watch the baby for me - so I left her twice to go to loo as quickly as possible and if she wasn't held she screamed place down- so got told off and shouted at. The toilet was filthy as well. Hence me having HB for next births - own bed - DH on hand to hold baby and clean toilet.

I think I was lucky DH said lets just go rather than wait on their paperwork- as friends who had similar ended up waiting till too late to discharge and then they got told they need to wait to establish bf - and nearly all ended up giving a bottle to get home as it was too noisy hot and hard to get food and drink on the postnatal ward. Then at home they had visitors who couldn't understand why they were so tried and many ended up with pnd.

Few years ago there was recognition many mothers weren't getting enough help on postnatal wards - the "answer" to was push/lobby to have dads/visitors there 24-7 which as NHS has few private room and more wards potentially made different problems.

Yep, I was left completely alone in a room after a c-section with my first baby, who was on IV antibiotics. No one came, even when I called. Was having a home birth but poor midwifery led to cascade of intervention. I was out of it and had no clue what I was doing.

Once on ward, couldn’t change my underwear due to various tubes, ended up spilling blood draining from wound all over the floor and no one came to wipe it up. They eventually wiped it up with just tissue. No disinfectant. Visiting times v limited. Woman in cubicle next to me endlessly sobbing. No one came. Tried to comfort her through the curtain.

100% support the NHS and want them to get a huge pay rise and better resources. I’m against private medical care. But v reluctantly had independent midwives for two subsequent births (because NHS refused to support me) and had wonderful home births. Best money I ever spent. Had family and midwives there to care for us both before, during and after the birth. Could have a lovely, lavender bath and be with my other kids. Still friends with my midwives 20 years later.

I understand the pnd is a very serious, real illness....but I do often wonder how many women would instantly feel better if they were just able to sleep and if they had started their journey into motherhood well rested and fully recuperated.

The benefits of the golden hour, immediate breastfeeding initiation and skin-to-skin for health and bonding has been well-established. The concept of removing a newborn from the mother was pretty short-lived in human history and goes against our natural instincts. Sometimes, baby or mother needs care that necessitates separation but it shouldn't be the norm.

Well when I was thrown out of hospital two hours after giving birth...I'm not sure traipsing across a hospital carpark whilst exhausted with my baby in a car seat at night was particularly great for bonding.

No, I'm sure it isn't. Hospitals are by no means perfect. Have you heard of UNICEF's baby-friendly initiative? There's not many hospitals in the UK actually following the guidelines. I wasn't listened to during labour either, ended up having a C-section after other interventions and then my baby was taken from me, washed, weighed etc., despite me clearly saying more than once that I wanted her directly after birth and all the other stuff could be done after the golden hour. It was 20 minutes before they finally put her on me and even then they insisted on keeping this extremely annoying blood pressure cuff on me that prevented me from having the peaceful experience I wanted for the first feed. There's very few providing safe bed-sharing set-ups for new Mums either.

That’s a lot of people in a post-natal ward, especially overnight, and if the partner/loved one/friend has never looked after a newborn before, they might default to the mother so she doesn’t actually get the rest that she needs. I think most people here are asking for help overnight or immediately following birth, rather than during their entire stay. Babies know their mother, they don’t know anyone else - it’s mother or not mother - so won’t make much of a difference to them whether they’re being cared for by nurses or family member.

My DC was whisked straight to NICU and cared for by ‘complete strangers’ day and night for weeks on end, with a ‘bunch of other babies’.

Yes. Basically in fighting for women's rights we have totally lost and cheapened society's view on the value of being a woman and even more so being a mother.

We teach young girls and women that they can do anything (which is great) but then we create a society in which dedicating our lives to giving birth to another human being and raising that human being is not only looked down on but pretty much impossible. We've created an economical model in which it is really difficult for a typical woman to choose not to work for a start.

We are actively encouraging biological males to identify as females whilst having little to no discussion about what it actually means to be a woman and the unique power and importance in society that a woman has. These boys and men are identifying as women on a very superficial basis only. Most/all are effectively appropriating being a woman because they want to wear a dress whilst having no real care or understanding of what being a woman means.

We place no value on the importance of raising the next generation of humans from the second that they're born even though the evidence strongly shows us how vital early bonding and early years education are.

I don't really know what the answer is but I'm pretty sure it isn't remove newborn babies from their parents minutes after they're born and let a flustered midwife wipe their bums and shush them with probably minimal contact or love. It all starts with having a deeper understanding of the importance of the maternal bond. Until we understand it we won't value it.

Call me a cynic but I don't believe for a moment that this change is anything to do with mother/baby bonding. It's simply about cost.

It all reminds me of a thing I saw recently.

A woman saying how her DH has just had a vasectomy and been order on bed rest for 24 hour and to take it easy and 'do nothing' for 2 weeks too heal with a joke about being served by his wife.

She then pointed out just a few weeks earlier when she had a C-section she was woken up every 3 hours to feed the baby, discharged with just paracetamol, told to carry on as usual and told 'its not about you'.

It was done in a kind of funny way but it is 'funny as in if you don't laugh you would cry' because the truth of it is horrible.

I remember finding my mam lying on our bathroom floor after her C-section burst from an infection when I was a kid. Obviously I know in life or death you get no say (my mam had no other option due to a rare anatomical issue) but I was determined I would not have a C-section unless absoloutly necessary after what I saw. No other surgery (especially not one given to men) would ever be treated the shitty way C-sections are.

I agree the ‘baby friendly’ initiative is bollocks and doesn’t even improve breastfeeding rates but HAS been shown to increase risk of newborn jaundice etc. ‘baby friendly’ seems to equal extremely UNfriendly to the mother who is not considered at all

I think how we treat women that have just given birth is barbaric. Left to fend for themselves after giving birth, kicked out of hospital within 24 hours no matter if they are ready or not or if they have anyone at home to care for them. Now wonder cases of PND have sky rocketed.