A mother-baby registered nurse has warned expectant family members off celebrating baby news in hospital hallways.
Kara Thompson knows a thing or two about the experience of childbirth. Since 2017, she has been a nurse who typically takes care of parents postpartum and their newborns.
“I’ve most likely supported hundreds of patients at this point in my career,” Thompson told Newsweek. “One of the most common mistakes I see is probably just not being prepared for postpartum: people spend so much time preparing for birth and then when postpartum comes it hits them like a ton of bricks.”
She also happens to have three small children herself. Having kids was what led Thompson to start posting videos to social media under the handle karathebabynurse.
“I had a video go viral about how I had to go to work during a snowstorm when my second baby was still really small,” Thompson said.
“People who saw that video had a lot of questions for me about being a mom, a nurse, postpartum, pregnancy, and birth! I love educating my patients at work and this created another outlet for me to do that!”
Kara Thompson has a warning for families celebrating birth news in hospital. The nurse has highlighted an important consideration.
karathebabynurse/TikTok
Thompson is a firm believer in the idea that every patient “deserves respect and kindness, no matter who they are and their choices,” but in one recent video she gave a friendly warning over one practice occasionally seen in hospitals.
In the clip, Thompson plays footage from another influencer’s account of a large group of friends and family members reacting to a new dad emerging from the delivery room to declare: “It’s a girl!”
Cue mass screaming and much excitement. In truth, it’s a scene that’s played out in countless movies and TV shows down the years. However, it’s something Thompson, as an experienced nurse, is a little wary of.
To be clear, she is not opposed to large groups being on hand to celebrate a new arrival “as long as they don’t hinder the care and safety of you or others.”
“I’m all for people being excited and doing whatever brings them joy because I know this is a big moment they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives,” she said. “However, most hospital units do have rules about noise level or visitor limits.”
Thompson’s issue was specific to the celebrations captured in the video she shared. “It appeared to be taken right outside several other patients’ rooms and the yelling went on for an extended period of time,” Thompson said.
To her way of thinking, the people involved were failing to consider what each of the people in the rooms they were celebrating outside might be going through.
“Although labor and delivery and postpartum are mostly happy units, we also frequently deal with difficult scenarios,” Thompson said.
“Infant loss or stillbirth, a postpartum hemorrhage, a mother who needed a lifesaving but unexpected hysterectomy, a parent who has not gotten sleep in days and is dealing with postpartum depression or the medical emergency of postpartum psychosis, or an adoptive situation that is devastating for the birth parent.”
“I hope people know they totally can celebrate, but I hope to bring awareness to what other patients or situations might be going on in labor and delivery and postpartum,” Thompson said. “Just do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
