Hospitals Across the US are Removing Newborn Nurseries

Why? An initiative started by UNICED and the World Health Organization back in 1991 is the reason many US hospitals are taking this route. Called the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, this resource offers guidelines that hospitals must follow to be considered “baby friendly”. These guidelines cover everything from breastfeeding to pacifiers, and state that mom and baby should practice “rooming in”. This puts the two together 24 hours a day; an opportunity for them to bond. For a hospital to be called “baby friendly” it must meet all guidelines. According to Lori Pugsley, Massachusetts General Hospital newborn family units nursing director, “The research is abundant, and it shows the benefits of keeping mom and baby together in a room really creates an environment that’s the healthiest for the baby and the healthiest for the mothers.” Others have argued that moms need some rest after the exhausting labor experience, and freelance writer Ashley Austrew shared her personal experience of giving birth in a “baby friendly” hospital on ScaryMommy.com.

With about 530 hospitals across the US planned to have “baby friendly” designations by the end of 2017, storage and safety will become even more important in bassinet design.

For pediatric hospitals looking to update their bassinets, Novum Medical offers high quality bassinet options that will meet all your needs. Stainless steel, wood face stainless steel, carbon steel and wood maternity bassinets are all available. Each style offers high quality casters for quiet movement, as well as quiet closing hinges and plenty of storage space in cabinets beneath the basinet. Deep wells keep baskets firmly in place, even when big siblings come to visit, and edges are hemmed for the newborn’s safety. To learn more about our hospital bassinets and the features that make them such a safe, reliable and high quality choice, please contact us by phone at 800-274-2742.