When your baby was born, were you able to remain together the whole time? Or was the newborn whisked away from you the instant they were born?

My sweetheart was in the room for most of the time, I fell asleep a few minutes after he was born, but I don't think they took him away.

All three of mine stayed in the room with me. It helps the bonding process and helps establish breastfeeding, since they need to be put to the breast as soon as possible to help make a successful breastfeeding relationship. I don't think they take them away anymore. My last stay, the hospital was built in 2004, they didn't even have a nursery. The babies, if needed, were just brought to the nurses station to be oohed and awed over by the nurses.

I birthed in a maternity centre rather than a hospital, and there was no where for a baby to be taken to. She stayed at my side, all her tests were done with her on my chest or lay by my side. And when it was all over and we had a couple of hours to rest, she was in a crib at the bed side.

I must be older than a lot of you ladies. When my first two were born, they stayed in the nursery a lot. My son, on the other hand, I had a choice on whether he stayed full time in my room or not. Nowadays, most hospitals just automatically leave the baby in your room.

They did normal clean up of both mine for about the first hour or so, we all stayed in the L&D room, after that they went for testings and while that happened they worked to clean me up.

Grandma, did you not have the choice to keep the babies with you? What happened about feedings, if they were so far away? How do you learn to deal with them if they are not with you at the most important bonding time?

They took my son to clean him up and that was the only time he parted from me. The nurse asked me if I wanted to keep him overnight or have him go to the nursery, I wanted him to be nowhere else but next to me. :)

All of mine stayed with me in labor and delivery room until they had to do tests and get me cleaned up. My two babies stayed in the nursery alot and just to tell you the truth, I was grateful with my second one. I had a epidural headache a few hours after giving birth to her and I could hardly hold my head up.

My older ones were with me a great deal, but I asked for them to be taken to the nursery for a while so I could get some rest. I was exhausted and knew there would be no rest once I got home. With my youngest he was in the nursery or at the nurses station for much of the first day because I had some pretty bad complications that made me unable to get out of bed and I was also on morphine and in and out of sleep. I would fall asleep and wake up with a start because I heard something and the baby was in there and I had a terrible feeling that anybody could come in and get him. Of course that was probably not true because the hospital security is very strict. Nobody goes in or out without the nurses pushing a button. By the time we were ready to go home he was with me in the room all the time except when I was showering.

I always wonder sometimes what the nurses think when they see a lady who answers "take the baby to the nursery Im a little tired and need some sleep before I dont get anymore for the next year or two", for the nurse when shes never had a child just yet.

It depends on how experienced the nurse is as well. Some of the insist on you keeping your baby with you no matter how exhausted you are. Others ask politely if you would like them watch the baby so you can get some rest, etc. I think alot of it probably does have to do with whether they ever had a child of their own!