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.

The Portland still has one. I had DS in 2017 and they took him to it during the night so I could sleep and only brought him back to feed. It didn't disturb our bond or breastfeeding.

Around the time I went back to work after DS (early 00s), the Evening Standard did a week’s worth of double page spreads exposing the shocking state of maternity care at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, where I gave birth. I wrote to contribute, as did hundreds of others.

The whole place was a shiny glass edifice, recently built and filled with light and art - but dear god, behind the scenes the postpartum ward was like a fucking war zone. It was strip lit and cacophonous day and night, filthy bathrooms awash with blood, screaming babies, phones ringing, desperate mothers. I was in a pretty terrible state myself but I can clearly remember hearing a woman a few bays down crying softly and continually because she couldn’t manage to feed her poor baby and nobody did anything to help her. I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to her myself, all I could do was cry in sympathy - I felt so helpless and sad and angry. There were a few great nurses doing their very best, but many more spiteful, aggressive, no-fucks-given staff doing their very worst. It was horrendous.

I’d be interested to know if anything ever improved as a result of the Standard’s reporting, but it seems highly unlikely given the general experiences recounted on this thread. I’m sure the hospital will have just fronted up clipboard woman with her poxy ‘customer satisfaction’ results and she’d have just pointed our how delighted everyone is with the massive windows and in-house Costa rather than address any criticism of, you know, the actual healthcare …

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13447283/Outrage-NHS-rules-send-new-mums-home-day-birth-horrific-pain-C-sections-traumatic-labours-paracetamol-ibuprofen.html

paracetamol and ibuprofen aren’t adequate after difficult birth

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13533185/I-woke-screaming-agony-New-mothers-reveal-sent-home-paracetamol-traumatic-births-despite-begging-morphine.html

While going home with paracetamol and ibuprofen was adequate for me, trying to get pain relief while I was less than 24 hours post-op was a nightmare. Two births, twice I was told my drug chart was in pharmacy. The second time I was wise to it and got my partner to bring drugs from home (and then got told off for not telling the midwife I had taken my own - I had told her colleague was going to 'pretend she didn't hear that'. Helpful). Not having the physical responsibility of looking after my daughter, getting sleep and feeling I could take stronger pain relief without fear of falling asleep on her or dropping her I think contributed to me being able to go home feeling ready for life with a newborn.

When my DB and I were born they have a newborn nursery and both of us got swapped in the hospital.

DM noticed when I got swapped because the baby was given had the same hair colour as her and I don't, so she asked them to swap me back. They girl I was swapped for was in my class in school all the way through from 5 to 18. Her Mum had my hair colour.

My DB didn't exactly get swapped but he came back to DM with two different name labells on his two ankles. DM noticed and asked them to remove the one that was a different baby's label.

When my DS was born there was no newborn nursery. I asked DH to follow DS like a lost dog and be sure we got the right one back. I wouldn't have known how to tell different babies apart. I left the hospital after 12 hours so was never without DH to keep his eye on DS.

MN generally focuses on what's best for the mum and not the baby (I don't agree on newborn nurseries, by I do agree that more support is needed in most cases). It's a no brainer that the baby should be with the mother not taken away for most of the night.

Don't they walk you out any more??!

Lol....I was looked at like I was crazy for still being there and hour and a half after giving birth.. like I'd really outstayed my welcome. Told I should leave despite the fact my baby hadn't had their routine examination by the doctor. I then walked out at close to midnight in a dark, cold carpark with my baby in a car seat.

I am genuinely shocked.😱

My eldest was born in 1976 and babies were taken to nurseries overnight.

I also had to stay in 8 days then [ it was the norm to stay ].
As first time parents we also given daily lessons on how to care for a baby, and we had a nurse on hand to help with breast feeding.

There was also a day room for smokers! Very pleased that no longer exists!

To be fair with the state of post natal wards and care now if I had a straightforward birth I'd also be out as soon as I could walk and would be relieved if they suggested it. Post natal wards are not somewhere you can get rest or help anymore. I have a c section booked in October and will be out as soon as I can. I remember overhearing a lady who was suggesting she could stay another night even though all was well enough for her to go, when I had DS during lockdown. I remember thinking she must be mad. I know everyone's circumstances are different but the ward was hell.

My oldest in the 00s was by far the worst, the staff DID NOT CARE and where actual bullies.

One thing I thought was bad and a sign of it just being a terrible hospital was the blood and body fluids everywhere.

There trails of blood drips down corridors, the bathroom where horrendous with blood and bedpans of stale urine everywhere. The ward had no hot water either and builder/janitor (not sure which he was) would just barge into rooms looking for the cause (he wandered in while I was in labor to knock on the pipes).

What stranger than all that is I was basically the only person in the ward (during a huge storm with 'stay at home' notices, many roads where impassable we barely made it at the very start of the storm). I was there 2 weeks and it was like that when I arrived and exactly the same when I left.

I only saw 2 other women on the ward in the whole time I was there (labor ward was separate so maybe more where being sent straight home) and they only stayed 1 night each so god only knows how old all those blood splatters and urine pans where.

They threatened me with SS constantly and told me I was a terrible mam. They said my refusal to take an ice cold bath in a blood and urine coated bathroom to 'clean' my open wound was a sign I couldn't cope with parenthood. I just wanted to go home and shower in my own clean bathroom.

It was 10 year before I had my next child (not counting MMC) and I REFUSED to go back to that hospital. It was night and day different and while not perfect I found the staff on the ward much nicer which made if far less awful and the facilities while not perfect where usable.

I'm surprised to see so many other women mentioning blood and urine everywhere too, I really thought it must have been an isolated case but maybe lack of any hygiene or infection control was just standard in the 00's maternity wards. Either that or we all gave birth at the same shit hospital.

@Youcantcallacatspider attachment in babies most definitely should be a priority. However, I think a better balance between this and maternal wellbeing can be sought in nhs maternity units. A close friend of mine recently gave birth in South Korea and the difference in the way she has been treated compared to women in nhs hospitals is like night and day. Women are encouraged to spend two weeks in postpartum centres after giving birth and yes babies do stay with their mothers but the focus is very much on rest and recovery for the new mother. There was no baby friendly initiative in the centre my friend stayed in so there was no stigma or shame around formula or combination feeding but breastfeeding was also properly supported my women receiving one to one coaching by a lactation specialist. I almost feel like women are punished in many nhs maternity units for having a baby. It's almost as if it goes back to the puritan days where sex was seen as dirty and shameful.

@housethatbuiltme - when I trained as a nurse, in the 80s, each ward had its own cleaner, and they were spotless. The cleaners were considered a vital part of the ward team, and were respected for what they did. As nurses, we were also responsible for some of the cleaning - for example, when a patient was discharged, we cleaned the bed frame, mattress and bedside locker with a disinfecting solution. We were also expected to keep the sluice (where the bedpans were stored and emptied, and where we kept the washing bowls for patients) in a good state.

I suspect that hospitals started contracting out their cleaning - because it would be cheaper than doing it 'in house' (the same happened to the hospital laundries), so the cleaners were no longer part of the ward team, and ward Sisters didn't have the same authority over them that they previously had, and this is what has led to the decline in standards.

What you went through was utterly inexcusable.

I had the same experience, I had my catheter removed too early so constantly felt like I was busting for a pee but couldn't get it out. I was told not to take my DS to the toilet and to let him on his own with the visitors and other mums on the ward.

I ignored them obviously and took him with me them promptly discharged myself a few hours later.

I’m 60. I gave birth to children in both USA and England

my eldest, born in USA was taken to a nursery but the nurses would bring him to me to feed. At the time, they also gave sugar water (we all know better now). At that time, you stayed over one night.

That was 1984. My sister gave birth in 1990 and it had changed to leaving the hospital same day.

my next child was in England 1995. I stayed over 2 nights. No nursery. One night was shared ward. Was a nightmare for me. No assistance at all with baby, shared toilets were disgustingly so I did manage to snag a private room second night so at least had some sleep as there wasn’t the noise of everyone else’s babies

last birth aas 1999. Left the same day and was very grateful as I had help at home to hold the baby so I could sleep a little

so I can certainly say that in England, it was not the norm for nurseries fir regular bedbugs from 1995 onwards. You’re no longer expected to stay overnight either

of note, my sister’s second baby was 2000. She had to go home sane day as giving birth (those delivery, no issues with baby). No choice as that is what insurance covers .

My first born in 1974 went straight to the nursery. I just got a glimpse of her. It was good because I had a pph and had retained products and also needed a tear repaired. They brought her to me the next day and told me that she had had two bottles in the night. It didn’t affect breast feeding or bonding at all. When I had the next baby three years later, there was no nursery. Luckily he slept in the hospital, but screamed every night for three years when I got him home.

I think at that time they didn't know about the value of colostrum, and used to give the babies bottles until the mothers milk ''came in''.

I am only saying I think, nor do I agree with it.

My aunt had babies between the late fifties and late sixties. She was horrified that her daughter was breastfeeding her baby from day one and not waiting two days.

I gave birth in 2008 and had to stay in hospital for 4 nights due to an infection. My son was with me as the default setting, but a midwife did take him away to sleep somewhere else one night as I was really feeling rough and he was not into sleeping.

So there must BE nurseries still.

Not necessarily, @CauliflowerBalti - they might have kept the baby next to the nurses’ station, or used a side ward.

Yeh we’ll I had an horrendous birth and could have done with a few hours rest before parenting for the rest of my life

I was born in 1970 and there were nurseries i used to wake the whole nursery up early wanting a feed my mam used to get up to feed me and they told her i had the whole nursey up at 5 , my 2 boys were born in 2000 and 2005 no nurseries then all own rooms

Had my only child in 1978, and he was in the nursery so I could sleep. Brought to me for feeding (we breastfed just fine) and whenever I asked. We bonded. I rested. We went home after 7 days and I was more confident than if I’d been sent home the next day.