Nurse Says Mom Refused To Pick Up Her NICU Baby On Their Discharge Date Since It Would Interfere With Her Weekend Plans
Some parents are not lucky enough to ever bring their babies home from the NICU.
BaLL LunLa | Shutterstock If you’re on social media, you’ve likely heard the story of Allie Rae, the mom who unplugged her NICU baby’s pulse ox machines to summon the nurses into the room and request a turkey sandwich. While many of us were left slack-jawed over her behavior, one nurse claims she’s seen worse.
Rachel Sibler, who works as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), previously worked at a hospital where she spent a lot of time in the NICU. She took to TikTok to share the story of a couple who could not even be bothered to bring their baby home after three months in the NICU because the discharge date would ruin their weekend plans.
A nurse recalled that a mom refused to bring her baby home from the NICU on their discharge date because they had weekend plans.
“We had a mom who had a NICU baby, and the baby was born very, very prematurely. I'm talking about like a 23-and-a-half-weeker that was barely over a pound when they were born,” Sibler recalled. She worked closely with the mother and baby to help her produce enough milk.
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The baby spent three full months in the NICU and was hitting all of their anticipated milestones.“The baby was basically anticipated to discharge on a specific day,” Sibler said. The date would be on a Friday, and the parents were notified beforehand so that they could make all of the preparations and arrangements to bring the baby home.
However, the baby’s mother was not on board with the discharge date. “The mom was like, ‘Ah yeah, well see, that's really not convenient for me because we have plans for the weekend,’” Sibler recalled. The mother informed the NICU team that she and her husband had booked a bed and breakfast for a weekend getaway as one last hurrah before bringing their baby home and asked if she would be able to take them home the following Monday instead.
What the mother failed to understand was that the NICU was not a childcare provider.
The neonatologist informed the parents three times that they could not make any exceptions and that the baby had to be taken home on Friday. Still, the mother refused, emphasizing the fact that she had weekend plans.“Finally, the neonatologist was like, ‘Okay, here's how it's gonna go down. Your baby is going to be discharged on Friday, and if you don't come and pick your baby up and take your baby home from this NICU, we're gonna have to call CPS on you,’” Sibler said.
The parents were not happy and accused the hospital of “ruining” their weekend getaway, pressing the NICU team on why they couldn’t just keep the baby for the weekend.
“Do you realize that it costs like $2,000 a day to keep your baby in the NICU?” Sibler noted. “We are not a babysitter like your baby has not been in this hospital for your [expletive] convenience.”
It's likely been a few years since Sibler worked in the NICU because the most recent data indicates that the average range per day in the NICU is closer to between $5000 and $10,000 per day, and for Level IV (Highly Specialized Intensive Care) costs can average $20,000 per day. Aside from that, cribs for specialized infant care are limited, and not taking your baby home on their discharge date could prevent another baby from accessing that particular hospital.
Other NICU moms were critical of the mother’s request to delay the baby's discharge.
“I can’t imagine not being excited for your baby to come home from the NICU. Mine stayed only 11 days and it was torture to leave without him everyday,” one TikTok user commented. “My daughter was in the NICU for 3 weeks... I was there everyday and cried every time I had to leave. I don't understand,” another user wrote.
“So many NICU parents never get to take their babies home,” another grimly noted.
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Even though your baby is being monitored by medical professionals 24/7 while they are in the NICU, it is not a daycare center. It is a specialized medical unit designed to provide intensive care for babies born prematurely or those who have health complications.
When they are ready to be discharged, it means that they have overcome their medical challenges or they can at least be managed outside of the hospital setting. They no longer need to be taking up a space that another patient may critically need. The parents will have plenty of opportunities for a weekend getaway in the future. However, on the day their baby is discharged from the hospital after a three-month stay, they should really be around.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.