[atpeace]

DH and I are going to a tour and a pre-registration appointment at our hospital this Saturday (it's mandatory). One of the points of the appointment is to "ask questions and learn about our Birthing Services" (according to the intro sheet), so I'm wondering what sorts of things I should ask. I'd like to make a list of questions...any suggestions?

PS We have a team of midwives who will be delivering the baby (in Canada, the midwives have hospital privilages replacing the doctor, and midwifery clients don't deal with nurses or doctors, we're just using the facilities of the hospital...so I'm not sure how the hospital policies apply to me).

Did anyone go on such a tour/appointment and was it helpful? What did you ask/learn?

 

[blastomom]

We found out quite a bit at our hospital tours. They helped us decide between our two options. One only allowed 2 people to enter the labour room. Not two at a time, but two total. So, if your SO and your doula are the two that you designate, your mom/sis/friend/etc. cannot see you once you enter the hospital until well after birth. Great for those who don't want anyone else there, but for us, we wanted my mom and sis to be involved in at least part of the experience. If I knew I was going to have a quick labour, then fine, but I was there for many hours and it was great to have my family near for support. The same hospital discouraged rooming in and required a pede's authorization if that is what you wanted. They also recommended trying "not to disturb the nursery nurses too much by calling for your babies too often" because at times there might be an 8-1 ratio of newborns-nurses and they were "quite busy". Needless to say, we choose a different hospital.

 

[MamaRabbit]

What are your hospital policies regarding routine procedures, i.e. IV, monitoring, etc.? What positions do moms use for birthing? What am I allowed to do during labor?

 

[huggerwocky]

Ask to how to get a copy of their policies. I suspect very often they just pull them out of anywhere whatever is most convinient. Would be good to have them in writing. If there's nothing writing there are no policies,right?

 

[laneylue]

Not sure what all applies to you, but you can ask about:

Rooming-in -(where the baby stays with you the whole time)
Pacifiers - do they offer them or not (mine does not which is good)
Tests such as hearing, blood tests, etc. - will the baby stay with you?
Circumcision (if you are having a boy)- oh wait, it's cananda so maybe not necessary
LCs on call?
Visiting hours
Birthing tools (balls, tubs, etc.)
If you plan on having a radio or something, do they have plugs you can use (one hospital I toured did not, we would have had to use batteries)

Hmm...that's all I can think of right now. Congrats on your baby!

 

[Jowchar]

In most places in Canada, a doula is considered part of the birthing team and therefore does not count as a visitor in the L&D room. Check this out with your hospital

Ask about birth balls, squat bars, showers and labouring tubs

Ask about their newborn procedure policies,and make sure you decide upon these beforehand.

Ask about breastfeeding friendly initiatives- Breastfed babies should have NOTHING by mouth- this includes water, formula, sugar water and pacifiers.
You should definitely check about their rooming in policies and make sure that your partner will be allowed to spend the night with you.
Ask if they honour birth plans

Ask about thier C-section rate, their episitomy rate, How much experience do the nurses have with regards to natural labour support techniques (assuming this is the route you are taking)

If you have a doula, you should speak with her and go over what things are important for you to ask during your tour.

There are a lot of things to consider here!
best of luck

 

[shoefairy3]

Ask about Nursing gowns

The hospital i went to threw out their nursing gowns *grrrr

And since i wasnt prepared i had to bare all when nursing....not the greatest of situations when people are coming and go out the recovery room

 

[Naughty Dingo]

Ask for the admissions packet. Beyond the hospital preregistration/registration, most birthing units require you to fill out all sorts of paperwork upon arrival. Much of this can be done ahead of time and is a huge disruption and distraction when you are laboring and having to answer questions between/during contractions.

Also ask about the availability of birth balls etc. and if you should just bring your own. Some places only have a few and if other laboring Mamas are using them, you are out of luck.

Use their answers about how freely you can labor (ie, if you have to have an IV, monitoring, restriction to your labor suite etc) to determine just how late you need to arrive at the hospital. It may be to your advantage to stay at home as long as humanly possible. If you know you want to labor in the water, and they won't allow it, well then plan on doing much of your labor in a space where that is OK.

HAve a good tour, I hope yo are pleased with your facility. The hospital where I had my first two is extremely mother/baby/NCB friendly and I had good experiences.

ND

 

[mary3mama]

With our last pg, the tour was a 'group tour', which was less than ideal. I did ask quite a few questions and it became apparent very quickly that a) asking if you had any questions was rhetorical, and b) that the nurse started cringing every time I opened my mouth.

With our first pg, the tour was handled one-on-one by one of their most experienced L&D nurses. She was fantastic. She answered all our questions, never seeming flustered by anything. She also sat in one of the labor and delivery rooms with us for about an hour just chatting.

Basically with that 2nd tour, it helped me gain the information I needed to write my birth plan. Then I took that to my OB who signed it without hesitation and it became part of my record. I guess what I'm saying is that the tour gave me the appropriate 'ammunition' so that I didn't have as many battles to fight during labor.

 

[Mimi37]

All of the above and...

Ask about limits on guests, visiting hours (including your partner/dh), and whether you will have a roommate in recovery. Do they have one room where you stay start to finish or do you shuttle from birth room to recovery room (which is often where you get stuck with a roommate, which is then the reason behind the policy where DH has to go home and leave you at night...)

And will they let you eat/drink?

 

[atpeace]

Thanks everyone, I've compiled all the questions and am actually getting excited for tomorrow! I warned DH that I might get snarky and need to be hosed down if I start criticizing their policies!

: Pointless policies always get me riled up...Thanks again!

 

[atpeace]

Our appointment went fabulously! We were astonished at the very liberal policies and family-centered care that is provided at this hospital...it was much friendlier to our preferences than we expected! YAY!

Plus being a midwife client, I don't see any doctors or nurses during our stay, and we get to go home in 4-6 hours after the birth (we have the option of staying 48 hours if we choose). I love midwives!

Thanks everyone.