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.

I don't think it was a universal change, seems like it used vary by hospital. My DM had us at different hospitals and the first was rooming in and the second had a nursery but it wasn't enforced. In fact that baby cried too much so my DM just took them for the night.

@Fiorentina9

"Trauma and attachment actually doesn't have anything to do with whether you remember the event."

I think the old system seems a lot better for the mother, and as another poster has said, it happens all the time with incubated babies. I also think what has more impact on a child's life is how well their mother is/is coping, and this option would potentially help a lot more women.

I was taken to the nursery for the first 24 hrs because DM had a section. She truly believes I was EBF by her, until I pointed out that someone would have given me a bottle as I’d died/been very unwell otherwise having no food for 24 hrs. I was brought to her for feeds, the rest of the time all the women slept, knitted and chatted to each other.

In some ways I understand the need for rest to recover, but it’s gone too far the other way now. I was in no fit state to deal with a newborn after the birth and could have done with some help and support from the HCPs.

I didn’t even get fed on the post natal ward as I’m vegetarian and they didn’t have any meals I could eat. I think I had a bowl of custard at one point in the week I was there.

I had twins in 2001.

I had a severe allergic reaction to the anaesthetic and lost consciousness in recovery after the caesarean. I woke up about 12 hours later.

One baby was in nicu the other baby was being cared for by midwives on the ward.

The ward I went to after waking up was the high dependency ward and all the mums on there had had something medically bad happen during the birth.

There was a nursery on that ward.

I had a midwife sitting with me for about 24 hours after I woke up in case any more symptoms happened.

It was definitely a thing in the early and mid 70s. My mum told

me that when both my brother and I were born we were taken away to allow her time to rest and recover, and we slept in a nursery overnight during the hospital stay. She often used to point out other babies who’d been in the nursery at the same time. She was in hospital for a week with both of us after a straightforward birth.

I had my first in the late 00s and there was a baby nursery in the midwife unit. They took the babies away overnight to let you sleep. Brought them to you if they were hungry. Worked extremely well and was known as ‘the hotel’ in the community, except I went into some sort of fight or flight adrenaline response following a fairly rough birth experience and couldn’t sleep anyway. I knew my son’s crying all the way along a corridor. Maybe he was an ugly bug or something but there’s no way I wouldn’t have known who was mine🤓

Family legend goes when I was born in early 70s and placed in the nursery, they bought a different baby to my mum. She thought the baby didn't really look like anyone in the family but hey go doctors and nurses must know what they are doing.
Apparently 10 minutes later they brought me over and explained there had been a mistake. At various times I have pondered what my "other" life would have been!

I must admit when I has my first born in 2007 I had a slow to progress Labour, then induced, 3rd degree tear etc. I was exhausted 😩 could have done with someone taking him away for a few hours tbh. I didn't feel rested at all.
DM asked whereabouts is the nursery you can give your baby to a midwife and they'll look after him for you? I said there's nothing like that nowadays!

I agree OP, my whole experience could have been a much more positive one had I had sufficient rest after the birth. I felt there was lack of sympathy from midwives and support staff.

I had my first in St Mary’s Manchester and she was born minutes after midnight and was took to a nursery for the rest of the night as they wanted me to rest and wheeled back at 7am.

I had my babies abroad and there was a night nursery. The staff offered to take my babies during the night and bring them to me for feeds but I preferred to keep them with me. This was in the last couple of years.

I found that if you have a hysterical breakdown at 2am and are sobbing from exhaustion, they'll take the baby for a couple of hours. Although the midwife in charge of the ward wasn't happy about it.

As for barbaric as a PP mentioned - the woman next to me had reacted badly to the c section medication I guess. She couldn't stand, wasn't allowed to hold her baby because she kept feeling very faint even when sitting down, and kept vomiting over herself because she couldn't move to do anything about it. She couldn't make formula, pick up the baby, or change a nappy. And then they sent her husband home and left her to look after the newborn alone (the bells to ring for help weren't answered very quickly). That was barbaric. Under no other circumstances would it be seen as ok for a baby to be looked after by someone in that condition.

On the other hand, my 4th (youngest child) was born via EMCS due to severe placental abruption. He was whisked away from me and paediatric team took over to give him oxygen etc. I got a tiny glimpse of him. Then he spent five weeks in NICU. I had plenty time away from him through no fault of my own or his. I got to spend small amounts of time with him to begin with.

What a comparison from my first born to my forth born!

Was just going to mention st Mary's! I had my son there in 1997 and they definitely had a nursery then. I had a fairly long and traumatic labour, and they looked after him in the nursery for about 8 hours while I slept. Once he was with me though he didn't go back to the nursery.

Had my DS1 in Livingston in Scotland in 2000 and he was taken away each night and brought to me to feed.

They also provided all nappies and clothes while we were in hospital.

Normal birth, gave birth on Thursday and got out on Tuesday as he had a touch of jaundice.

3 years later gave birth to DS2 in Watford and gave birth at 8.30 in the evening and was out by 9.30 the following morning 🤣

My eldest was born in 2000 and there wasn't a nursery, babies stayed with their mother unless they were too unwell and were in SCBU

I had my first in 1983. I was in hospital for 5 days and baby went to the nursery overnight so mum could get a good rest. Nurses brought baby to the bedside during the night when they woke to be breast fed.
During the day, nurse showed new mums how to bath baby, helped with breast feeding, showed us how to burp the little knee and talked through any anxieties we had.
I had my second in 1986. I went in at 11:10am, gave birth at 11:54 and was home by 18:00hrs 🤣

I was born in the early 80s and my mum says I went to a nursery overnight. I wish it was still a thing as I was quite unwell after having my first and struggled to look after her the first night. The midwives were sympathetic enough but it was made very clear that it was my responsibility to just get on with it!

My MIL likes to tell the story of how DH was too sleepy to feed so the matron took her safety pin off her uniform and jabbed him in the foot with it to wake him up. Oh how times have changed.

I had ds in 1984. I stayed in hospital for 5 days and ds was put in the nursery one night when I had a nightmare so that I could get back to sleep.
Otherwise he stayed by me.

I had a baby a few months ago, a csection in the middle of the night after a week of no sleep during a long induction. I was left alone with baby (DH had to go home and wasn’t even allowed to help unpack my bags/find everything I needed) a couple of hours after surgery. Baby kept crying so I ended up just holding her as the midwives took so long to pass her to me and the other babies were asleep. It was awful and I was forcing myself to stay awake. I would have been grateful for a couple of hours sleep!

@Al991

Had my dd is 1999 and no newborn nursery then, and dads could already stay overnight

I was born prematurely I the late 1970s, and was taken straight to NICU. My mum said she didn't even know whether I was alive til the next day!

I watched a programme about The Portland, a few years ago and they still had a nursery there.

I was born in '83. My DM had a week-long stay due to being a very old new mum (at 40 😬). She said how amazing it was as the women and babies were all on a ward with midwives on hand to teach breastfeeding, bathing, nappy changing etc. She spoke very fondly of the friendliness and comradery, all sitting to eat meals together etc. There was definitely no nursery, although the women would all keep an eye on each other's babies whilst they washed or went to the loo. I suppose shorter visiting hours and more permanent staffing with better staff/patient ratios meant security wasn't an issue?

An optional nursery for the first 12/24hrs (that brings baby to you for feeding) sounds great though. With DD1 I'd had a CS and still had a catheter in the first night, so getting her in and out of the bedside cot and changing her was incredibly hard. I was made to feel like a lazy inconvenience when I had to buzz for help. DD2 I'd had a crash CS following a rupture and significant blood loss, with again the first night spent with the catheter still in plus I had a morphine drip for the first couple of days. Again, I was expected to fully manage all the lifting and twisting to get her. What I really needed was just a little time and space to rest and heal.

I bet that did the job!🤣