I had to have one in each hand during my stay in hossy, one for sytocin drip and one for blood transfusion and antibiotics etc, they were painful and made holding DS a nightmare especially whilst trying to bf. In a previous surgery i had one it my arm and TBH i dont remember it hurting as much or getting in the way as much, but i wasnt holding a baby then so not sure if it would be easier or not.
Hopefully someone else can answer that for you but i remember that in my hand it was very painful and real pain in the a#rse. Good luck