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 had mine in 92 after a long labour and complications then unable to feed they kept me in for over a week it's only when I said I was going home as I needed sleep and my oh could care for baby they offered to put him into a nursery for a few hours so I could sleep.

I've always thought if men gave birth, their wives would be there to take the baby straight home so he could properly rest and recuperate 😂

I had private care after the birth for my last in a London hospital... and the babies were all lined up in cots in the nurse's office so the mothers could sleep. I was so surprised at this. The nurses were also surprised that I kept my baby with me. I guess this was a kind of unofficial nursery setup... but clearly only available to those who could afford it!

My Granny lived rurally and went to the maternity home for a month round the birth of her babies.

My mother had access to a nursery in the 70s, but it was up to her if we went in or not. And she had to stay of a min of 3 days post childbirth.

I had 2 c sections and was home in 48hours. Hospital 2 happened to be quiet when DS was born so the midwives took him off for a while and I slept. It was magic.
It's all gone too far the wrong way.

The more I think about it, the more angry I get. I feel like the whole system tries to make women feel like wimpish failures for actually needing time to rest and recover after labour. As if we're doing something very wrong to need sleep after being in labour for days and/or major abdominal surgery....

Wonder if different trusts did it differently, different hospitals even, as my sibs and I were born in the 80s and we were all taken away “so mum can rest”. In hospital for a good week as well.

I wish they had them here!

I had DS in 2015 - EMCS after 29 hours in labour. Had to knock me out as no time for spinal block. I needed a couple of transfusions.

Husband sent home at 5pm and I was extremely unwell but left to deal with baby on my own. They did give me paracetamol though(!)

I was even worse the next day and they realised my bowel has been grazed during EMCS so have tube up my nose. I was put in a room on my own and my DH insisted he stay as I couldn't look after DS. He was sent home after 1 day again and only one HCA took my som for a few hours. DH complained to matron next day so he was allowed to stay while I recovered.

It was traumatic

Had my daughter in 1998, she was taken to the nursery for her first night so I could get some sleep.

My son was born 2001, I actually asked if he could go to the nursery (( they'd offered to take her when I had my daughter )) and they looked at me like I had 2 heads 🤣🤣🤣

But you can do this? Isn't that what the father is there for??!

My brother and I were born mid to late 80s. They must have had nurseries when my brother was boring because my mum remembers them bringing this crying baby in and asking who he belonged to. Nobody recognised him... it was my brother haha.

When I was born a couple of years later, I was put in the plastic cot in the same room as my mum, supposedly next to her, but I was about 4 foot away and my mum couldn't get to me (she'd had a bad tear and was in too much pain). I was crying and another mum had to get me out for my mum.

When I was in hospital in the 90s they had a nursery for babies at night. And the lady who said about going for a shower and didn't want to leave her baby the cots were alarmed.

My dh wasn't entitled to paternity leave as he hadn't been in his job long enough. I was on my own at home from day one.

I was born in 1979 and my sister in 1981 and we were both in a newborn nursery. Fir almost a week! (No medical issues) When my brother was born in 1984 he was on the ward with my mum, so guessing it was early 80s and they went home much more quickly. My mum said it was bliss but I can see it could lead to bonding being trickier. They gave her guiness to drink and brought us to her for feeding.

The hospital provides a crib. Mothers can put their baby down before falling asleep, just like at home later that day when discharged.
besides which, MOST people are in hospital for very few hours after birth and would have dad or someone else with them for this time.
I’m not buying this risk of SIDS to have baby in the same hospital room! It’s ridiculous.

The midwives offered to take my twins for a few hours overnight when I had my twins in 2014. I'd had some serious complications after my c-section and was hooked up to various machines, drips etc, so looking after two babies myself was pretty impractical.

I remember those hours really vividly. I didn't sleep at all - the previous couple of days had passed in a blur and I finally had some peace to start to come to terms with my incredible new reality: 14 years after starting fertility treatment, my babies were real, healthy and finally here.

When they returned them to me in the morning, I was rather alarmed to discover my daughter's ankle and wrist identity bracelets were missing. She was quite little and a wriggler and they'd simply come off. Why on earth they don't make the bracelets in smaller sizes, I don't know. I had absolutely no doubt they'd returned the correct babies to me, but it did make me think.

I had a category 1 section and pph with DD. She spent two nights in NICU as a precaution, and her third night at the midwifes station. I had learned after having my son (traumatic birth) that I needed rest and to get on top of my pain. After that experience, I do think nurseries should be an option.

I gave birth overseas and there was a nursery. It was great. They brought her to me for breastfeeding, I got lots of sleep. They provided lots of help with feeding and I stayed 5 days after a c section.

I was actually anxious about being alone with her overnight so I felt happier that she was with the nurses.

To be fair, two of my labours were less than two hours from twinge to birth. Almost didn't make it to the hospital with one as we thought we'd have time!

I had a similar birth to you but my baby went straight to icu and I didn't get to see him for 12 hours. I wasn't allowed to hold him until the next day because he was asleep and they didn't want me to unsettle him. I definitely think there should be more support for mums who have difficult births.

Since we realised it's a bit of a shit show when kids get mixed up at birth and don't find out until they're 14 🤣. Since we realised the importance of early bonding and skin to skin contact and that babies shouldn't be removed from their mum unless absolutely necessary. Since the NHS went bankrupt. Since we realised that giving birth is generally a natural process of life and it doesn't help to medicalise it without reason. Lots of reasons really. In nearly all cases there should be no reason for the baby not to be by its mum and dad's side

@Sweetteaplease where is this place you live where all the fathers live with the mothers and the grandparents visit every weekend and sometimes during the week as well! The neighbours help out with bringing lasagne and curry too 😂

My mum had my DSis in 1972. Baby was whisked off to the nursery and brought in for three hourly feeds. My mum was upset because she could hear my sister crying and couldn’t comfort her. I think it sounds great though!
I was taken straight home after birth and slept on my mums tummy for weeks 😂
my sister does have some attachment issues now I think of it…

When we decided that mums don't really matter. Their role is to pick up the pieces for everyone else's failings in society - shit dads, inadequate social structures - so they may as well learn early on that their wellbeing isn't important. They're just support human beings, after all.

First they took away the nurseries. Wouldn't have mattered if women were provided with adequate care and support to look after their babies. But then they made post-natal care so bad that women were hobbling over each other to get out of hospital as quickly as possible after giving birth. Despite having quite significant blood loss after my second DC, there was no way that I was staying the night and I felt really sorry for women who had no choice.

Of course, what people don't clock (or at least, if they clock it, they don't care) is that if you make things bad enough for mums, some of them despite superhuman efforts won't be able to muddle through and make everything ok. The small number of babies dropped on wards each year by exhausted mums with no support is an example of this.