Rooming In
Wheeling Hospital has opened its new Nursery, and also began using its new rooming-In arrangement for newborns and their mothers. Rooming in refers to caring for both the mother and baby in the same room throughout the entire hospital stay. The goal is to have the baby stay with the mom at least 23 hours a day, which is a CDC recommendation and supported by the Joint Commission.
Rooming-In helps families prepare for going home with a new baby by giving parents the opportunity to learn about infant care as well as the baby’s behaviors, with expert nursing staff working with them day and night. Research shows mothers are just as likely to get the same amount of rest with the baby in the room.
Additional evidence shows that 24-hour rooming in provides moms:
- Ability to learn what baby’s cues (sleepy, stressed, in need of quiet time, or hungry).
- Better quality sleep.
- Earlier identification of early feeding cues (rooting, opening mouth, and sucking on tongue, fingers, or hand).
- Improved breastfeeding experience.
- Increased confidence in handling and caring for baby.
- Increases opportunity for skin-to-skin contact.
- Less “baby blues” and post-partum.
- Less infant crying and distress (babies love to be near parents).
- Parents are better-rested and more relaxed by the end of the first week home.
For baby, the benefits include:
- Babies exposed to normal bacteria on mother’s skin, which may protect them from becoming sick due to harmful germs.
- Better quality sleep. The baby will develop a more regular sleep-wake cycle earlier, and may help ease the transition to day/night routines.
- Breastfeed sooner, longer, and more easily.
- Generally more content, less crying.
- Lower levels of stress hormones.
- More stable body temperatures.
- More stable blood sugar.