Health Care Professionals Group - What did the nurses do or say that you appreciated after your child was born?

What did the nurses do or say that you appreciated after your child was born?

I'm a student nurse. I've never had children although I love being around them. I'm going to be spending some time with post-partum patients. I'd really like to know what you found particularly helpful by the nurses after delivering. To clarify, I'm not talking about medical procedures they performed but other things they did that made your experience positive.

Public Comments

they didnt do anything special, tehy were just nice and helpful to a new mom who had just had surgery (i had a c section). i loved teh nurses at my hospital. they were wonderful. even my husband said so
Helped me to the bathroom! Haha, seriously, I had a C-section and was still kind of "loopy" the next day. I knew they'd seen that stuff daily but it was still embarrassing that a 23 year old woman needed help with the using the bathroom. Oh, and they always made sure my ice water was full. I don't know why I found that endearing but it made me think they were there for JUST me.
I only had one nurse I liked and she just made me feel comfortable. Not just one thing she said but her tone was great. Being a first time mom her reassurance that what I was doing right was awesome. She wasnt over bearing like the other ones. I look really young and I think they were judging me even though my husband was there that or they just hated their jobs.
Just them being nice and understanding and actually wanting to help even when they had been working long hours and were tired, that really was the best thing. I was already tired and moody and everything from lack of sleep and giving birth that I just needed people to be understanding of that. I had some great nurses that actually did try to make my hospital stay much easier. They would check in on me and if I needed anything they would do what they could for and didn't take forever to do it. They weren't judgmental and never acted better than me, they just listened if I needed to talk and helped when they could.
Encouraged and helped me breastfeed!!!! It was SOOOO frustrating for me and they really encouraged me to stick with it at least for as long as I could and helped me with techniques. I was in tears I was so frustrated and they all were incredibly helpful (except one who told me that my baby needed to eat and he should have formula). However the others were not like that at all.
OMG-I totally LOVED my nurses. Well, I actually had 2 that weren't the best but I had a few that were just awesome! They always came in to check my vitals and I would ask a question or they would ask how I am doing. Asked if I needed anything. I seriously loved them. I remember crying about something and the nurse came in and patiently talked to me. I then felt better. I think the PP section is a great place to work.
They were very attentive and always asked if I needed anything before they left the room. They always told me when they were coming back or if they were going to be delayed for any reason. And it also made me feel great that with both my daughters after they were born the nurses said "This has to be the most beautiful baby I've seen all day" They complimented my daughters and me even tho I felt frumpy and run down from child birth. I loved how they just held normal conversations with me and treated me like a person and not like something they wanted to get done and over with. They asked ?? about me and also talked to me about themselves.Its really nice to have a little bit of conversation while alone in the hospital(hubby was working the other days after our daughters were born so I was alone there). Also when I had my second daughter I was soooooooo tired that I could barely keep my eyes open and right when I drifted off to sleep my daughter just had to poop and the nurse came in 2 seconds later when I was about to get up...she told me to lie back down and rest and she would change the baby's diaper. I felt bad because I was so tired that I couldn't do it but so relieved that she told me to lay back down and she would take care of it for me. Just be nice and treat them like they matter instead of someone you just want to get in and get out as soon as possible. And if you are having a bad day try to keep it to yourself and not put it on other patients because that is a real downer to have a butthole nurse that is mad at someone else and takin it out on you.
When I had my daughter my husband was in Iraq and my 4 year old son was literally sitting in the chair next to me up until I pushed her out and a nurse took him in the hall for that period of time. When I had her I was crying because I just had our first daughter and she was beautiful and healthy and finally here but on the other hand I was crying becasue he wasn't there and I kept saying that. The nurses I had were wonderful one of them just kept telling me how strong I was and hugged me and made me feel like I had people that cared about me and my family instead of having someone there because that's their job. There wasn't a nursery at that hospital so I had to take of her and my son on my own but since he wan't there that one nurse would come in and feed her or watch my kids so I could shower. It was just much more than I ever expected. I'm preggo again and they sent my hubby off to Iraq again I can only be so lucky to get a nurse that was half as sweet as she was.
They told me what a good job I did. My labor progressed quite quickly and I found myself pushing hours before I thought I would. I know it sounds ridiculous but in my post delivery haze it made me feel good to hear I did a good job...like you could actually do a bad job delivering a baby, lol!
it always makes me laugh our doctor said your son is well endowed. when he weighed him. A smile is nice and just asking if you can help more importantly if you smile and look happy and caring it makes a couple feel better. If you care if shows alot and familes especially new ones can really use support Little things add up big time for a mother.
They were just generally lovely, non judgemental and very accomodating. They chatted - that was nice. Chatted about how your labour went, how beautiful your baby is, etc, even though they must have the same conversation with different women all day every day, they had a way of making you feel special and cared for individually! I had a very long labour, and I'd had no sleep at all since early Sunday morning (and it was by then Friday) so needless to say I was a zombie. I made the fatal mistake of, at some point in the night, picking up my sleeping newborn (first baby, couldn't resist it, learnt very quickly that when sleeping leave well alone!!!). He cried for ages, right into the night, I was trying to breastfeed and he was simply not latching on, and I was close to tears. One of the midwives came and took me into a side room, poured me a cup of tea, sat there with me for at least an hour trying to get him to latch onto my nipple with no luck. She eventually asked if I'd consider giving him a formula feed for now, as he was hungry and too upset to latch on. I agreed, and she told me to lie down and get some sleep and she would feed him. Looking back, I can't believe I agreed to that, now I'm sure that I'd feel like such an incompetant mother if I had to get someone else to feed my baby for me! But, she had an amazing way of making me feel like it was okay, and I had the first sleep I'd had in 5 nights, woke up a few hours later to find my baby fed, changed and fast asleep in the crib next to me. I felt so much better having had the sleep, and from then on I did everything myself. It was so lovely having someone there when I really needed it, who somehow did it without making me feel ashamed. Those kind of qualities make a good nurse!
Mine were all very nice and helpful. Nothing they did was particularly special, just their typical day, Im sure. There was one good looking male nurse that was really helpful....he was the one to come in and check my a** for hemorrhoids....OF COURSE!!!
Everything they did was awsome. They talked to me, told me my baby was cute. Ask if I needed anything a lot, asked if I wanted to sleep with the baby in the nursery and if I did they kept asking if I wanted her back so I could have her when I was ready. Made sure I was comfortable...so much.
i was a young mum and the nurses showed me how to do the basics but i mostly appreciated them for taking my daughter for a few hours to let me sleep.
I had the best nurse in the world! She checked on me often and help me with anything i needed. Plus, i was breastfeeding and she gave my her work number and cell number and told me i could call her at home!! I really hope i have her next time!! Of yeah and she made me feel so good, like a trooper. She was bragging about how well i did giving birth and how well i was taking the after pains. Really made me feel good.
Honestly, the nurses were TERRIBLE to me and I WORKED in the same hospital. I got phelbitis and the night nurse tried to tell me it was a blood infection and wanted me to leave the IV in!!!!!!! BEFORE I had my son I worked in the women's unit a little, one of the nurses who knew I was nervous told me if I was really hurting to tell her I was having nausea so she could give me the pain med AND the nausea med to increase the effects of the pain meds. What I WOULD have loved was someone to help me when my milk came in. They acted like they'd never heard of a woman's milk coming in before and brought me ice packs. Ice is BAD when you are engorged. It constricts the blood vessels and traps even more blood in your breasts. Best thing to do - nice, warm shower. The milk just SHOOTS out. (Sorry, if that was TMI.) I would have also loved it if someone had just ASKED if I had any questions or concerns. I guess since my Hus was a well known RN at the hospital, they just assumed I had support and knowledge. (I hadn't gone to nursing school myself, then I was only a Monitor Tech.) The one person who helped me was the CRNA who talked me into an extra shot of pain meds before I left the OR. The recover room nurse didn't properly spike the PCA of morphine, so I didn't get any pain meds for over 24 hours after the shot in the OR. The morphine ran out in the floor and no one noticed until my Hus tried to help me to the bathroom and noticed the puddle of meds in the floor. :( Good luck.
It's funny..because I will never forget the experience we had in the hospital after having our son.But I can't even remember one thing that the nurses did to make me love them so much! It was their energy. It was how they made me feel It was such a crazy time..hormones going CRAZY.. A mother can feel so overwhelmed and just not herself. I personally felt incredibly weak ,and almost like a child myself! So fragile and emotional. I loved that the hospital staff praised us so often! We really needed the encouragement..and every new mom wants to know that she is doing a good job and doing things right.. For 9 months,we've worried that we might not do things right.. When I was able to express lots of breastmilk, the nurses would say "Oh!You could feed 5 babies!!You are a natural breastfeeder!!" I was elated with the feedback.. When our son would make a bowel movement they would tell us what a great baby we had and that he was healthy.. (In the beginning..each pee and poo are so important to show that your babe is working properly!) The other thing I remember is how I felt when we first went onto the post partum floor from labour and delivery...I was in pain and so weak I couldn't even hold my son. The nurses were so kind and gentle.. Took care changing me and cleaning me up.. told me I did a good job.. Those gentle and loving times were so important to us. I really feel that the nurses who we were lucky enough to have met were who got us off to such a great start with our son. The encouragement and reassurance was beautiful.