Hospitals Are Charging Mothers To Hold Their Babies And That’s Ok

October 9, 2016 in Daily Bulletin

There was outrage on Reddit after an itemized hospital bill showed a $40 charge for “skin to skin” contact with a newborn. Jennifer Conti spoke out in defense of the charge:

  • Skin to skin contact is standard practice after a vaginal birth. But until recently it wasn’t what happened after a C-section.
  • As the medical community has woken to the benefits of skin to skin contact, there has been a push to make sure it happens after a C-section as well.
  • However it’s a lot more difficult to do after a surgical birth. The mother still has open incisions in her and is drugged.
  • To make sure that there are no issues then, the hospital has a nurse oversee the skin to skin contact. The bill just encompasses the cost of the nurse’s time.

Read the entire argument on Slate.