Why? Why would you ever
intentionally do this - especially to someone else's baby?!
On every ward round I have ever
been on we have started at one end of the ward and worked our way methodically
through to the other end, making sure everyone gets seen. This meant when we
(which could be a solo doctor or up to 8 people if a consultant-led teaching
round) descended on the child's bedside there was no time to wait around or
faff when examining them - otherwise the round would be delayed - potentially
for hours (10 minutes faff per patient in a 20-bedded ward = 2 hour delay...).
However (and this is the bit I am
going to struggle with when I go back to work)... This meant any babies on the
ward were also examined in turn - regardless of whether awake, asleep, feeding,
you name it - we probably interrupted it...
Now I'll be the first person to
stand up and say doctors are hard pressed for time and so cannot afford that 2
hour delay. Equally sometimes patients are unwell and need to be examined
regularly in case they are deteriorating.
BUT (and its a big one) having now
struggled and struggled and struggled on occasion to settle Doof to sleep... I
would lose my mind if someone woke my baby up to do something that could have
waited half an hour. Indeed I will be forever grateful to the nurses who, when
Doof was admitted to hospital at 4 weeks of age, would delay his examinations
until he was awake - thank you!!
I never before appreciated:
1) how important baby's sleep time
is to mums
2) how cranky overtired babies are
3) how long it can take to get even
a-not-overtired baby to sleep
So massive apologies to the mothers
of any babies I have previously woken unnecessarily... Future ward rounds will
be very different!
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