If you missed the story about the maternity beds in Australia that allow moms to sleep side by side with their newborn babies, you can read it here.
The beds are designed with a bassinet attached to the hospital bed, so moms can easily pick up their babies without getting up.
Online parenting sites and social media users have been hailing the beds as “game changers,” but if you read a little more closely, you’ll see that physicians aren’t nearly as enthusiastic.
Dr. John LaCount, a pediatrician with St. Elizabeth Physicians’ Florence office, agrees with them.
“Yes, the beds are convenient and nice-looking, but there isn’t a barrier between the mom and the baby, and that puts the baby in danger of suffocation if the mom rolls over while she’s sleeping,” he said. “And it’s also true that while moms may need help picking up the baby at the beginning, that’s part of the healing process.”
LaCount equates the physical benefits of getting up and walking around after giving birth to the benefits of physical therapy after knee surgery: “You may not want to do the exercises, and they may cause you some pain and discomfort, but if you don’t do them, you run the risk of complication, or slower recovery overall. After delivery, it’s equally important for mothers to facilitate their recovery by getting up and moving. Pregnancy is a major change, and there is recovery needed after delivery to prevent potential problems.”
He also stresses the risks of such a bed for the baby and says pediatricians do not recommend co-sleeping in almost any circumstance. There are products on the market that allow you to co-sleep with your baby while still isolating him or her to protect the baby from suffocation.
In terms of the bed design in Australia making waves on the Internet, LaCount says: “These beds may be convenient, but that convenience has a price, and I’m not sure that price is worth it.”
