Postpartum Pearls

Welcome Mother-baby Nurses!

Thank you for visiting. This webpage was set up as a project for Brigham Young University-Idaho’s RN to BSN program. This page is intended as a nurse education resource for Mother-baby nurses. It is my hope that the information provided expands upon the reader’s knowledge base, affecting positive changes to nursing practice.

Mother-Infant Separation: Is it Healthy?

The subject of this page pertains to the effects of Maternal-infant separation and the benefits of keeping mother and baby together for the duration of their hospital stay. Research has shown the benefits of promoting early Skin to Skin (STS) contact and 24-hour rooming-in. In addition, separating infants from their mothers has consequences that extend beyond the moment of separation.  In the early moments after delivery, separation creates unnecessary stress on the infant and interrupts bonding.  Separation in the postpartum period interrupts feeding routines, breastfeeding, and bonding. 

Understanding the benefits and barriers to these practices, nurses can advocate for changes in hospital routines and policies that interfere with family bonding. Nurses will need to alter how they deliver care, such as bringing all non-medical care to the bedside in order to be more supportive to mothers in their breastfeeding and bonding efforts. Additionally, keeping mother and baby together has shown to improve patient satisfaction scores in hospitals and provides greater job satisfaction in nurses. 

This website intends to:

• Discuss the benefits of skin to skin (STS) contact and rooming-in.
• Discuss the impact of separation on bonding and breastfeeding.
• Provide evidence-based nursing interventions that assure maternal-infant safety.
• Promote positive bonding and breastfeeding, and deliver a positive hospital encounters.

Learning Objectives:

After participating in the nursing education web-based module:

• The RN learner will be able to identify the evidence-based impact of maternal-infant separation on breastfeeding and bonding.
• The RN learner will be able to explain to the mother/father consequences of separation on infant and mother.
• The RN learner will be able to implement strategies to discourage unnecessary infant separation and help parents cope with infant demands, such as alternating care of the infant between parents, managing infant feeding, sleep, and clustering of care, etc.

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