Rooming In

At Atlantic Health System’s maternity centers, we encourage our moms to room in with their new babies. Rooming in is best for all mothers and newborns, no matter how you plan to feed your baby. It helps you and your family to learn the baby’s cues for eating and helps with bonding.
 
Rooming in gives you more chances to be skin-to-skin with your baby and more confidence caring for your baby. Most procedures such as baths, weighing, and examinations of the infant can be done in your room and this will give you a chance to learn even more about your baby.

Rooming in helps with breastfeeding, too. Mothers make more milk at night than at any other time of the day, and your baby is hungriest at night. Keeping your baby with you at night will build your milk supply faster so that you have enough milk to satisfy your baby at night. Babies who room-in breastfeed more frequently therefore gain more weight and decrease the chance of jaundice.

A lot of people think that a mother will get more rest when the baby is in the nursery, but that’s not actually true. Babies who room-in with their mothers cry less, sleep deeper and longer. Mothers sleep better when babies room-in with them, too.

Keeping the baby in your room does not mean you are on your own. We will be rounding on you often and will be taking care of you and your baby. If you have a cesarean, you may want to have someone with you during your hospital stay. This way, while you're recovering you'll still have the benefits of rooming in and spending time together.

Skin-To-Skin Contact

We encourage skin-to-skin contact for all moms and babies. Skin- to-skin contact is holding your baby naked and unswaddled, belly down directly against mother’s bare chest. Babies who are held skin-to-skin are able to maintain temperature, glucose level, and normalize heart rate and breathing faster than babies who are not held skin-to-skin.

Skin-to-skin also helps babies to breastfeed sooner and more often which results in faster weight gain. Babies who are held skin-to-skin are calm and cry less than babies who are not held skin-to-skin.

Babies are placed skin-to-skin immediately after birth, as soon as both mother and baby are ready. A blanket will be placed over mother and baby. Mom and baby are encouraged to remain skin-to-skin until the first feeding, if possible. Interruptions for normal newborn care such as bathing should be limited during this time.