Hospital Sign Shaming New Parents For Being on Their Phones Is Not What the Doctor Ordered

Having a newborn in the NICU or a special care unit can be one of the most stressful situations a new parent can find themselves in. So when Dr. Ash Cottrell came across a hospital's sign shaming moms and dads for being on their phones in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) — usually referred to as a Special Care Unit in US hospitals — he couldn't help but detail his frustration on Twitter. He snapped a picture of the sign, which reads: "Mummy & Daddy . . . Please look at ME when I am feeding, I am much more interesting than your phone!!! Thank you."

As a parent who has a little one who needs extra medical attention, Dr. Cottrell said that the poster caught his eye for the wrong reasons. "I'm on SCBU with my 5-day-old," he captioned the photo. "This poster makes me sad." As soon as he shared the sign on Twitter, other parents quickly offered their two cents, and frankly many of them made some pretty good points against a sign like this and shaming new parents in general.

Keep reading to get a look at some of the Twitter responses that address why new parents who have their phones out during feeding times shouldn't be considered the worst thing in the world.