Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 January 18

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January 18

Baby display room

This is a trope I remember from watching old cartoons (and possibly live-action TV as well) as a child. (That is, shows that were old even at the time, so probably 60s/70s era, or maybe even older). In maternity hospitals, new-born babies were essentially placed "on display" in cradles on a table in a room, viewable through a large window. (That's the best description I can come up with. I've tried to find clips or images, but my Google searches can't find any). So my questions: 1) was this ever a real thing, or was it just something that people did on TV? 2) If it was real, what was the reason for it? And if not, where did the trope come from? Iapetus (talk) 16:35, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Here is an informative article from Smithsonian Iapetus. MarnetteD|Talk 16:41, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Many hospitals have or had these in the past. It's just called the nursery of the maternity ward, the same thing you call the room you're going to keep the baby in when they get home. You can see lots of images of hospital nurseries here. These are common enough in just about every U.S. hospital I have been in, I didn't realize no one knew what they were. After the baby is born, the babies can be sent to the nursery so the mother can get some rest; in the past this was done more-or-less automatically, but in recent decades, the trend has changed to let the mother decide when to send them to the nursery or keep them in the mother's room at the hospital. I'm pretty sure the window is there just so parents can see in and see their child while it is being cared for by the neonatal nurse. --Jayron32 20:05, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. Not sure why I didn't search for "nursery" or "maternity ward", as I definitely know of the terms and the general concept. My confusion was because I've never seen one of the "aquarium style" (as Carbon Caryatid put it) in person (although that may just be because I've never had cause to go near one in person), and they don't seem to feature in modern media the way they do in older. A scene with a newborn will typically show it being held or nursed by the mother, rather than being viewed through the window with all the other babies. (Not sure if this is a UK vs US thing, or modern vs old, or both). Iapetus (talk) 10:33, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

In my local hospital this is the "neo-natal ward", which is adjacent to the maternity ward. 2A00:23C0:7983:8301:9589:CA64:2F25:A2E4 (talk) 16:34, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

Yes neo-natal, a fancy-schmancy synonym of "newborn". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:51, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

"Neo-natal" is a branch of medicine, not a synonym for "new-born". Calling it a "newborn ward" would be wrong. --Viennese Waltz 11:02, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

"Neo-natal" means "new-born". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:16, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

No it doesn't. It means "of or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth". It does not refer to the baby itself. You would not say "a neo-natal baby". --Viennese Waltz 11:21, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Prove it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:27, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

Nearly right Mr Bugs, I believe neonate is what we're looking for. Alansplodge (talk) 22:34, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

Basically unrelated to the current question but a related medical term which I recently became aware of was the Neonatal intensive care unit. I had the occasion to accompany someone to visit her two prematurely born babies at an NICU. Each of two babies needed surgery before they could be brought home, due to Pyloric stenosis, and the surgeries were done on separate days. In this case there were no viewing areas but there were what I would call cubbyholes where the mother could sit alone with one baby at a time. I had the privilege of driving her home from the hospital with one of the babies, which had already undergone the procedure. I assume the second surgery was done successfully and she got a ride home with that baby but I have no information on that as my role was merely providing transportation. But I found it a very moving experience; I was deeply touched by the experience. I hope this meandering account of personal reflections does not constitute a misuse of the Reference desks and further calls for the Reference desks to be shut down. Bus stop (talk) 19:40, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

For what it's worth, the opposite of using these nurseries is the practice of Rooming-in, i.e. the newborns sleeping (or not sleeping) next to the bed of the new mother. Interesting that we have a stub on that, but not on the acquarium-style nurseries. --Carbon Caryatid (talk) 23:02, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

In the UK, babies only end up in "neonatal" care if they're unwell to extremely unwell. Otherwise, they'll stay on the postnatal ward, with their mums. Or go home. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 16:10, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

“For You” news

On my Iphone, which i don’t know much about, there’s a news site called “For you.” Is that something that Apple does or what? It is sometimes really trash infotainment and id like to contact them if i knew who they were and how to.Rich (talk) 23:51, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Is this the app you're talking about? (You can see an image of the app on a phone on one of the pictures that cycles through their main page.) If so, the app is made by Fusionex, which appears to be a Malaysian data analytics company. They have a "contact us" section on their website. The app doesn't seem to have any connection with Apple aside from being available on their app store, and you should be able to remove it if you don't like it. -Elmer Clark (talk) 05:26, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

Good thanks, they’re pretty bad, Western Journal even.Rich (talk) 03:48, 22 January 2019 (UTC)