What was the BEST part of your hospital birth? - Page 3

[Emilie]

I was interested in this question because after my hospital birth I took in fruit trays. I knew some things felt wrong. But the After care was awesome!- Once I got my baby back after they had taken him for 3 hours- they were nice.(LOL)
wow. push a button a woman comes running. They were very nice to me( aside from not telling me about circ when I asked- just shushing me)
They tried to help me bf- ( tho none had actually bf!) but the aftercare was nice. It was nice to feel pampered and well- not have to do anything!

My birth experience was terrible- but I did not even know it for sure. I knew people were being mean to me and I was scared etc. I am glad women have had good birth experiences at hospitals. So many of us haven't and I would be heartbroken to think that everyone who birthed in a hospital had a terrible time.

I also wanted to say that I think many of the things that women liked about their hospital birth( being able to freely move, eat, shower, bathe, etc) are things that are just expected at home and it is nice that some hospitals are accomodating to this need of women to birth freely with respect.

The reason I thought of this thread was that a friend was relaying why her hospital c/s was so great! She said the nurse got her camera and took it into the OR and took some pictures. Oh. LOL. That is nice- but not worth birthing in a hospital for me! lol. I appreciate and respect your answers.

Do you think you could have had this same experience without your knowledge?

[Nora'sMama]

What I was most pleased with is how the staff - nurses, doctors, everyone - treated us during labor. I was expecting to have to battle them for everything - instead, I handed them my (brief) birthplan, told them I'd like minimal monitoring, and they totally left me alone! They came in every couple of hours for EFM but they let my doula do it most of the times! And they did not offer to check me...when I wanted a check, I had to hunt someone down!

Then, when after 16 hours of back labor (8 of them at 7 cm fighting the urge to push - which I now feel I should not have fought) I asked for an epidural after discussing it with my doula, they were so great about telling me what they were doing every step of the way. I had a great nurse who stayed with me most of the time from when my epi was placed until I was dilated to 10 and it was time to push.

They were just so much more respectful of my wishes, and KIND, than I expected. I have some minor quibbles with a few things that happened *after* the birth, and a few quibbles with my doula, but the hospital staff in L&D was just fantastic. Never blinked an eye at me not wanting an IV, etc. One nurse told me, after hearing me vocalize through a contraction while I was walking the halls - "you sure know how to handle those!" It was a supportive, hands-off atmosphere, just what I had wanted if I *had* to have a hospital birth.

ETA: No, I do not think I would have had this experience without all the knowledge I had about birth. My knowledge ensured that I:

--hired a doula
--studied hypnosis
--knew (sort of) what to expect and what was 'normal' not just IRT labor and delivery, but IRT hospital protocol
--found the crunchiest CNM in the whole HMO to do my prenatal care
--felt secure laboring without a team of people 'overseeing' me

etc.

The few 'problems' happened when after the birth I was just so in the clouds with elation I forgot that I didn't want Vitamin K, I didn't fight hard enough to keep her next to me when her temperature dropped (they put her under the heater or whatever - DH went with her), etc...I was so exhausted and exuberant at the same time that I just kind of went along with procedures (except no vaccines! and they only had rooming-in so I wasn't in danger of having her taken to the nursery; there is no 'well-baby' nursery at the hospital where I delivered). And then there was the issue of the nurses not giving very good BF advice.

BUT, they were compassionate and treated us very well. They brought me whatever I needed, and the hospital food actually tasted so yummy after being on a strict GD diet and then not eating at all during labor (had no desire to).

All in all I had a very good hospital birth and it would definitely have gone differently if I had just "shown up" without all the prior preparation and study.

[StrawberryFields]

The glorious shower that sprayed from all sides and the workers who brought me pancakes and juice and sandwiches.