September 2017 Moms
JNR6510
member
Hospital / Birthplace Tours
JNR6510
member
Is anyone planning to do a birthplace tour? For those who have already done the tour, any recommendations of things you might want to ask if the tour guide has not already covered the information?
Re: Hospital / Birthplace Tours
Some of of the things listed as provided for mothers in labor on the website, we learned weren't actually available in the triage or delivery rooms, such as showers for alternative pain relief. The L&D ward offered showers, but the require that any mom who is receiving any medications such as an epidural or pitocin must be tethered to fetal monitors in the bed in her room. The gym style showers offered on the L&D floor are only available for use if you're not yet in active labor.
My reccommendations:
- Do your homework before hand. Visit the hospital or birth center's website and review the information they have already posted there.
- Arrive early so you are not holding the rest of the tour group up. Plus then you have time to better acquaint yourself with the surroundings and to hit the bathrooms beforehand if you need to.
- If the tour guide hasn't already covered the info, ask if they offer wireless fetal monitoring. Or if your birthplace requires fetal monitoring. Our hospital requires fetal monitoring at all times once the mom has been moved from triage to a delivery room. The cords for the monitor really restrict your ability to get up or move about. If our case I wouldn't be able to use the restroom without a nurse allowing me to be untethered from the corded fetal monitor. So if the ability to move about during labor is important to you, it's worth checking if wireless monitors are available.
- If you have questions about cost / what items the birthplace charges on a per item rate and what things are included in the labor and delivery package, the tour is likely not the appropriate place to ask these questions. This is more of a billing / accounts related question. Get with your guide before or after the tour so they can help you get in contact with the appropriate finance office for those answers.
- Just be courteous in general. On our tour there were only seats provided for the pregnant women. However many of the non-pregnant support folks who were fully capable of standing / walking along during the tour took many of the pregnant women's chairs. That was just rude.
They do apparently provide peanut balls in addition to yoga balls.
Type 1 Diabetes since 2001, MTHFR hetero A1298T
Dogs: Raider 4 yrs, Dex 4 yrs
BFP #2 7/6/16 SCH, D&C 8/4/16
BFP #3 12/26/16 EDD: 9/6/17
My Chart / My Diabetes/Pregnancy Blog
My Type 1/TTC/Pregnancy Podcast:
Juicebox Podcast Episode 118
A1Cs:
1/12/16 6.7%
5/25/16 6.0%
11/2/16 6.1%
3/22/16 5.8%
4/27/17 5.4%
6/13/17 5.3%
"Sugar Fancy Tutu"
- Do they allow water births?
- Do they have birthing tubs, or can you bring your own? Showers?
- How does it work for having visitors? What if there are people you *don't* want in your room? (This happens more than you think. They will block anyone you don't want from being able to go in. L&D and Mom & Baby floors are LOCKED DOWN, at least in my area).
- Can you eat/ drink?
- How many people can be in the room with you? Is there somewhere for your SO/ DH/ partner to relax/ sleep?
- What happens if you need a C/S? Is there a NICU if there's an emergency?
- Do they support supplementing with formula until your milk comes in? What if you decide to exclusively pump, will they provide a pump for you? Will they support FFing? (It took almost 8h for my son to get formula by the time the "dr's order" was approved and sent in. We will be bringing some of the tiny bottles with us this time. I plan to EP again, but it took several days for my milk to come in. My baby won't be hungry in the interim.)
- Is there a policy about photography/ videos of the birth?
You can google and find plenty more stuff, but these are generally the things I heard the most about when I was pregnant with DS1.DS2: EDD- 09.08.17
https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12710138/hospital-tour-experience-and-questions/p1
In all seriousness though, I like @coloradohiker's suggestions. The most important thing is to make sure that their labor and delivery philosophy is in line with yours. Do you get a sense that they won't support your requests, or does it feel like a place where you will be respected and supported? ie: if you really want to be able to walk around but their practice is to automatically strap on a fetal heart monitor right away, it may not be a great fit.
Married 2013
Kiddo #1: Sept 2015
BFP: 1/19, EDD: 9/30
"I'm having fruit salad for dinner. Well, it's mostly just grapes, actually. Ok all grapes. Fermented grapes. Fine, I'm having wine for dinner."
Which brings me to something I forgot- check and see what your hospital's policy on baby rooming-in with you is. At my last hospital, they took DS into the nursery for a few hours to let DH and I sleep/ recover. This hospital is strictly babies only in the room, unless they need to be in NICU. Testing is done in-room as well. So, no breaks at all. Trust me, that break is worth it when your baby is born at midnight, and you don't get into your post-delivery room until after 3am.
DS2: EDD- 09.08.17
@wannabeamongoose, that list is insane.
This time we are taking the tour with our son as part of the sibling class that our hospital offers. Since our new hospital opens in January, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are still doing some upkeep on our current hospital. Rumor has it that they don't even have cots available for dads to room in with mom and baby. However, my only other option for delivery is a hospital that is 45 minutes away without Southern California traffic.