Hospital Tour Thread

meggyme

We have our hospital tour next Monday and I wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. What do you plan to ask about during your tour?

-Wireless monitoring capabilities
-Hospital policy on: admittance (need to be X cm's?) eating/drinking during labor, delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin (ie delaying infant procedures to allow for bonding or have procedures done with infant in arms), child visitors.
-Cord blood donation options.
-Room in vs nursery options.
-What toiletries are provided during stay?
-Are outside food deliveries allowed?
-Is there an anesthesiologist on-site 24/7?
-Lactation consultant hours? How long does it usually take to get a consultation with one?
-Do infant exams take place in room, or taken to nursery?
-Is there a hospital policy on labor pace, ie. is there a time limit before c-section is required?

ETA: I suppose I should add when/where our doula will be allowed with us. Will she be allowed in during triage?

3rdtime_charmed

We had our tour and found these the most helpful:
where do we park?
If we need a wheelchair/help getting out of the car, how do we call for that? (Where is the courtesy phone?)
How many visitors are allowed? And other policies about visitors?
where do we check in?
what are the security/lock down policies?

Some additional for the high-risk folks:
Under under what circumstances would laboring in the OR be required?
where would you recover from c-section? (Eg. PACU or postpartum)
where is antepartum testing done?

purpleteacher82

Wow. FTM and wouldn’t have thought of most of these questions. I think this thread will be super helpful! Thanks for getting it started! 

stmgsam3

I would ask what their policies are when it comes to epidurals.  I wasn’t planning on one with my first but ended up with a scheduled c-section.  Was a bit shocked to hear that husband wasn’t going to be with me when getting the epidural done.  Also, this is a bit for later, but if you have any certain health issues other than that related to pregnancy let them know and realize that this might change what room you end up staying in.  My doctor assumed that my history of sleep apnea was a misprint since I’m not obese. Turns out epidurals make it worse, so the first night I ended up in a different room than I had been shown so they could monitor it (plus it took an extra 5 hours to get from the csection recovery area to that room since they weren’t prepared)

mihaelams1

One thing to ask is if you can get the registration forms in advance (before admittance), so that you don't have to fill them in in between contractions. 
And be prepared that depending on the way the labor goes you might not be able to use some of the features/facilities, even if theoretically they are available. Example: my hospital would have allowed not to be strapped to the monitors while under the supervision of my midwifes, but I had to get them because my water broke and there was meconium. Same for unmedicated birth - they have policies to follow, like hooking you up to Pitocin if you're not progressing fast enough - might be good to ask about the specific rules for your hospital. And sometimes it depends on the OB or midwife even, not on the hospital itself.

navete

Oh man, we just did our third (and final) hospital tour and I wish I had seen this list beforehand 😅. Great questions!

chocolatelemons

@meggyme The hospital I used for my son had separate rooms equipped with tubs and yoga balls. At the hospital we’re using this time, there is a separate natural birthing area with larger beds and the tubs, etc. With both hospitals, natural birthing rooms are limited and have restrictions (ie no epidurals). They also need to be requested. So, I would ask about that if you’re interested.

meggyme

@chocolatelemons I assumed this would be something they would go over during the tour, but I should probably ask about any restrictions or limitations.

ETA: my last hospital had a yoga and peanut ball in every delivery room and did not have tubs, only showers.

kristimh80

Thank you so much for this! My hospital tour is in 2 weeks and would have been clueless. Def making a list of all your questions to take with me!

momofmanyinthemitten

A laboring tub has been a must have for me with my last two babies. I’m not a bath person, but the tub makes the pain bearable for those med-free births. Only a few rooms have one attached, so I had to walk down the hall to it for my last birth.

kbear28

Bump for the FTM's. Reminder to book this and pre register at your hospital. I'm delivering at the same hospital but booked a tour again to see if there were any upgrades or changes. 

Questions:
Visiting hours and age restrictions
Wifi?
Tv and channels (ours was awful so checking this to determine if we bring the laptop)
For the spouse: find the cafeteria and vending machines.

Suggetions:
Pray you dont get a room right next to the nurses station. Those call button notification can be loud and frequent.

Pooka8

We did the tour 2 weeks ago.  I'm glad I looked for the next date in December because it was only offered once a month or LESS.  I'm in a bigger city so NICU, L&D, and Postpartum are all separate floors.  I learned that L&D has 2 birth tubs (only ones in town) but you have to meet a pretty long list of criteria to be eligible to use them and a room with one has to be open (first come, first served if eligible).  I'm just going to guess that being a twin mom knocks me off that list .  

As far as cord blood registry my OB mentioned that if I wanted to do that I arrange it through her, in her office so they are prepared for collection.  We aren't.

One thing that surprised me (I'm not used to large cities) is that parking is paid.  $18 a week or $6 a day.  It's the same building I go for my appointments, I guess I just thought that since it was free during my one ER visit that being a hospital patient would be the same.

I did find it interesting that they don't allow ANY photographs or videos during procedures or the birth itself.  BUT they give you the option of having a third party company that they contract with take photos of the birth (not the birth itself) but the baby, mom, etc.  

They did not show the NICU are to anyone else, I had to ask to see it.  

They do strictly couplet care, Mom and dad don't even have the option to participate in the first bath because it's done in the nursery and parents aren't allowed.  This surprised me.  I did my internship in a small town OB unit for nursing school and moms were always encouraged to participate in the bath.  You (and anyone else on the floor) can watch the bath and what's going on in the nursery from a glass window... that all seemed super old school to me.

The only thing my husband had to comment on "The cell reception is horrible".  Men.