Lou, I sincerely hope that the one thing you take away from this is that it doesn't have to be this way and that you can actually have an impact on trying to change it for others.

I think it's especially difficult for those of us who have been through long term TTC, assisted conception, losses, etc to be in that situation where our babies are taken away and separated from us and our access to them is controlled by others. I'm still not over the fact that I only got to hold Sam for a few seconds after birth - he was taken away before I fully grasped that I had given birth and was holding my baby... it can make the initial bonding with your baby difficult, but by no means does it mean you never will.

I find it strange to see that people in the same hospitals have such different experiences.

Bending Reality - I take some hope from your post. We went through Nepean Private (and stayed the entire 10 days because it was over Christmas and incredibly quiet), and I've got it in my head that if I have another child, it will also be premmie, and probably earlier, it's nice to know that there's good care in the NICU as well, and for parents in particular.

BW