Birth center visitors?

superMiller · October 2010

We are planning to deliver in a birth center. My parents, friends, etc. are about 1.5 hrs from the hospital. I recently learned that the average first time mom only needs to stay at the bc for 24 hours. And average is only about 27 hrs. I will definitely call my parents, but would you bother letting anyone else know you had delivered until you got home? I'm thinking that span of time will be too short for visitors.

Calabaza78 · October 2010

We're planning to deliver at a birth center, as well. The policy at ours is that you need to be able to feed yourself, shower, nap, feed your baby, and demonstrate that you can get around somewhat before you leave-- it translates to about 6-10 hours for most people, but possibly longer if there are any issues.

We're not planning on having people come to the center, but maybe meeting us back at our place afterward for a little birthday party celebration (we have some very eager grandparents who had a very hard time understanding they wouldn't be in the waiting room like they might be for a hospital birth.) For me as a first time mom, I'm actually really grateful there is a built-in time buffer for me to try breastfeeding and do a little bit of bonding with baby and my husband alone before he gets passed around to excited grandparents and aunts and uncles.

ncbelle · October 2010

With kiddo, I was in the hospital for the required 24 hour stay and had visitors (our parents). I felt great so I didn't mind although it would have been nice to have a bit more quiet time. Kiddo was born in the evening though so we didn't see anyone until the next day - that gave us a bit of down time which was nice.

This time I'm delivering at a birth center - the minimum stay is 4 hours so barring complications, we'll be out of there quickly - not planning on any visitors. Our families are a 4 and 12 hour drive away so they likely wouldn't make it anyway.

honkytonk_kid · October 2010

We're in basically the same situation, except both sets of parents are less than an hour away. Average stay at our birthing center is 6-12ish hours, so I'm not planning on having anyone visit except our parents. We'll probably text/call some friends and family, but they can visit us at home after a day or two. Like pp said, I think I will appreciate the time just getting to know baby, recovering, and breastfeeding.

Temp76535187505890 · October 2010

With my first, I really would have appreciated no visitors the first 24 hours but with #2 I got pretty bored so it would have been nice to have some people come visit. I might be in the minority on this one though.

Tash13 · October 2010

I think it really depends on the type of person you are. I enjoyed having my immediate family (only IL's since my family is out of state) but felt awkward when friends were there. I was tired, really wanted a shower and was clumsily trying to figure out the whole nursing thing and none of those things were made easier by having a crowd around. I would only have people you're extremely comfortable with stop by.

diamondcks · October 2010

The minimum stay at our birth center was 3hrs, but since he was born late evening we stayed for about 10 hours. We didn't have any visitors, and I'm glad, but if we had been there through a whole day it would have been nice to have our family stop by.

patter01 · October 2010

thefases:
We're planning to deliver at a birth center, as well. The policy at ours is that you need to be able to feed yourself, shower, nap, feed your baby, and demonstrate that you can get around somewhat before you leave-- it translates to about 6-10 hours for most people, but possibly longer if there are any issues.
We're not planning on having people come to the center, but maybe meeting us back at our place afterward for a little birthday party celebration (we have some very eager grandparents who had a very hard time understanding they wouldn't be in the waiting room like they might be for a hospital birth.) For me as a first time mom, I'm actually really grateful there is a built-in time buffer for me to try breastfeeding and do a little bit of bonding with baby and my husband alone before he gets passed around to excited grandparents and aunts and uncles.

My thoughts exactly.

pepomntpat · November 2010

At our birth center the stay is from 4-12 hours after birth. We won't be having any visitors there. They can come to the house.

chary412 · November 2010

Our birth center recommends a 2 night stay after the birth so they can help you get set up with breastfeeding and everything. They have little "living room" setups attached to most of the rooms, so it's not hard to have visitors. We'll play it by ear, there's some friends in town we'd like to have come by the next day if it works out that way. We're hoping DH's parents will be able to make it, and they'd come over soon after the birth (they'll be staying at our house, most likely, we both love having them around, they're very calming and helpful). I have a lot of issues with my mom (yay therapy!), so I'll be asking her to wait a few weeks before she makes the trip up to see us.

Want a personalized experience?

Birth center visitors?

Re: Birth center visitors?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards