Rooming in
In the past, babies spent most of their hospital stay in the nursery, and mothers would go to the nursery to see their babies. Today, in most hospitals the baby will stay in the room with the mother. This obviously has many advantages, including bonding with baby, learning normal newborn care, and just getting to know your baby. It also makes breastfeeding easier and more likely to succeed.
Rooming-in can occur to varying degrees. In some hospitals, it means never leaving the room, and even lab tests etc. are done in the room. In others, it means staying in the room unless something needs to be done. Sometimes you may need to send the baby to the nursery, but this should be only for a brief time.
Transition nursery
Some babies are not quite ready for rooming-in with the mother, but may not need intensive care. They often just require a few hours to transition to life outside the womb. In many hospitals, there is a transition nursery, usually part of the NICU, where the baby can be monitored and observed more closely. In some hospitals, this may take place in the newborn nursery before going to stay with the mother in the room. Most babies complete the transition in a few hours.
Most babies who need to be observed in the transition nursery are breathing faster than normal and sometimes have mild labored breathing. This is usually not an illness or disease process but just a delayed transition called transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). It usually lasts only a few hours. Rapid breathing can make feeding, especially breastfeeding, more difficult.
It is helpful to have a place where babies can be monitored more closely. Unfortunately, it does separate moms and babies and make skin-to-skin care and breastfeeding more difficult during this time. If you cannot breastfeed during this time, you should hand express your colostrum every few hours.
Babies who need to be in transition more than a few hours are usually admitted to the NICU.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Babies who are ill or at risk of serious illness or who need intensive care or monitoring are admitted to the neonatal ICU (NICU). They will be under the care of a newborn specialist (neonatologist), who is a specialist pediatrician trained and certified in intensive care of newborns.
Your baby’s appearance
Babies are, well, kind of funny looking. They have been scrunched up in a tiny space and floating in liquid for 9 months. Most things that concern parents about their baby’s appearance are normal and temporary; a detailed tour of your baby and his or her appearance can be found here.