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Touring Labor and Delivery

Why It Is an Important Step

By M KPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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The labor and delivery ward is an exciting place to be. It brings babies into the world. Hospitals are often associated with death and illness. For any couple expecting, it is important to tour the labor and delivery department of the hospital. I would say you should try to go even if it is not your first in case anything has changed with the hospital. That is an easy phone call. Also, you can easily forget the amenities available to you. This is my experience.

First off, they'll explain how the check in process works. Where to go, what to do. My hospital has us go in through the emergency room, and the front desk they will call L&D to come down and get you. You should also call to let them know you are on your way. The tour also showed us how visitors will come in. Some hospitals have a separate entrance for L&D. The hospital where I got my cervical cerclage had a wing for the women's hospital. It was still connected to main hospital, but just a separate entrance. Side note, my hospital also boasted the safety features they have in place. Sad to think about, but nice to see. One of the safety features is a wrist band for visitors daily. They have a different color everyday so no one can just come and go as they please.

The next place my tour took us was to labor and delivery. They explained where everyone starts, the process of c-section or natural delivery, and showed the rooms we would be staying in during the birthing process. For my hospital, everyone starts in triage. That’s just a fancy name for assessing. If you’re scheduled for an induction or c-section, you’ll get ready there and be moved fairly quickly. If you’re a “surprise” we’re in labor, they check to see how far you are dilated and assess if it’s time to admit you. Side note, they let us know many first time parents will get sent home a couple of times. They went over policy for visitors and how long you would stay in after the baby is born. My husband and I used that information to make a decision about visitors and what we want.

They encourage skin-to-skin contact at my hospital immediately. So that was something to keep in mind when thinking of visitors and times. The hospital I will give birth at makes it feel like a birthing center versus a plain hospital.

After the baby is born, you stay in L&D for about two hours. They will then transfer you and the baby to postpartum. Mine is on the floor directly above. My hospital also has a nifty feature called the hugs tag. It's scary to think about but also reassuring. If someone tries to leave with a baby without authorization, it will lockdown the entire floor until all children are accounted for. Once in postpartum, you are there for about 48-72 hours. They informed us we could leave earlier, but they prefer moms stay for 48 hours to be watched afterwards or 72 if they had a c-section.

There were other amenities they mentioned during the tour. There is a community refrigerator if you save easy meals. There is one meal that is complimentary as a family. They have an on staff photographer an easy access to water and a coffee machine for dads. It’s nice to know everything available before delivery because once you get started, you don’t get a ton of information the day of. I do recommend doing this tour early in your third trimester or later in your second because there is a bit of walking. I could have used less walking myself. This also helped visualize what I may or may not need to pack for my husband so he could also be comfortable.

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About the Creator

M K

I am a mom of one angel baby and expecting a rainbow. I know I am lucky to know what happened last time and have a fix for it. Just sharing my experience in hopes to help others in similar situations.

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