Nursery at Alta Bates
I will be delivering a baby girl tomorrow at alta Bates. (c section). One of my friends recommended that I should have the baby taken to the nursery during the night so that I could recover during the early days in the hospital. What are the pros and cons for doing that vs keeping the baby in the room with me? Also does Alta Bates have donated breast milk in case my milk production is not sufficient for the first days? Thanks! Rebecca
Dec 23, 2019
Parent Replies
Alta Bates doesn’t have a nursery, though in my experience the nurses will sometimes take a baby if asked for a few hours and bring them back to nurse. It depends on how busy they are and the particular nurse. Agree that it would be great to have a nursery as an option, though - as much as I loved the idea of keeping baby with me the whole time, the extra rest post c-section would have been much appreciated and useful to recovery!
Congratulations! It depends on how you feel and what your baby is like. I don’t see why you need to decide this now and each night can be different. Some newborns are quiet and sleep a lot and others ( like mine) cry all night and want to be held. I sent my baby the first night because I needed to rest and she needed to be held and I didn’t want to worry about falling asleep while holding her. I loved holding her and looking at her but knew that I didn’t want to leave the hospital running on no sleep ( I had already been up for days with my labor). I also have a partner who needs his sleep and was a bit too overwhelmed to take her at night at the hospital. I don’t know about donor milk at the hospital and my milk didn’t come in until after we left the hospital but they can bring the baby to you every few hours to nurse if you request that or they can give the baby formula. Good luck with everything!
I had a baby at Alta Bates in July of 2019 and sending the baby to the nursey was not an option the hospital readily provides. I did the birthing class at Alta Bates beforehand and the explanation we were given is that Alta Bates is a "rooming in" hospital and that babies are thus kept with their mothers at all times.
After the second day in the hospital and having gone 36 hours without sleep I asked if our baby could be taken to the nursery so I could get at least an hour of sleep. They took him but returned him 15 minutes later saying he was crying and keeping the other babies up. Best of luck!
I have also heard there is a nursery but that it's not advertised-- when I delivered there 2 years ago they did not volunteer sending my daughter over to the nursery and I did not think to ask. However, meeting moms afterwards it sounds like there is an option to give you some quiet if you are having trouble with sleep. It might be worth calling and asking if that is still the case, just so that you are mentally prepared as to whether there is an option.
I was in 4 days after my c-section and I think rooming in really worked for me. My husband was able to do all the diaper changes and getting up/down while I did the nursing. If he was not there, I know that a nurse was always available. It also allowed us to get the hang of things by having to do them over and over again without a break, for what that's worth.
Thanks so much for the amazing answers. They took my baby girl a couple of times in the morning and she was kept at the nursing station for one of those times, according to my husband. The nurses are amazing at Alta Bates , If only they could make those beds a bit more comfortable.... Glad to be home and recovering!