what do i need to know to be prepared for hospital birthing???

[amberlina]

I will be at Sierra Vista Regional in San Luis Obispo. I have a great OBgyn, and the hospital/nursing teams there seem excellent. i had a emergency appendectomy there over a year ago, and it was the best hospital experience ive had.

The birthing center and mother/baby floors are really nice and wonderful. They have 2 lactation consultants there to work as they promote breastfeeding first and foremost. We went on a tour with a nurse who had been there for 20 years and told us about how all diff women choose to give birth, and different aspects of the birthing experiences had by women there. it was really nice and informative, which suprised me. the atmosphere was really relaxed and warm. they said that after baby is born, she will go directly on my chest or belly, unless i want them to wipe her down (apparently they say some women are squeemish about "goo") then she stays on me, and they expect me to try and start breastfeeding in the first ten minutes... its a rooming in hospital so they told us the only reason she wouldnt be with me would be because i request her to be taken to nursery, so i could rest or shower (if alone, dh/visitors not there)... we went by the nursery, and not a single baby was in there, though there we at least 5 women rooming there with their babies. the nurse said the nursery is pretty much always empty, which is "how it should be"... they also told us that everyplace the baby is taken (hearing tests, etc) dh or grandma is encouraged/expected to go with, and that they would never take a baby unless there was a set time/plan, IE baby has hearing test appt at 2:30 kinda thing...they dont "whisk" babies away....

so, given all that info, Im not planning to do a real birthing plan as I trust my OB completely, and his counterpart oncall. dh wants to cut umbilical cord, which im pretty sure isnt a problem but i need to make sure, and the main stress is that i want him to room in with us, which I cannot be "sharing" for this to happen. they say they do the best to get us our own rooms, but women who have special needs get them first, IE stillborns, twins+, NICU/preemie babies, etc....

is there anything i need to know about what else occurs during this process..? i see so many women talking about birthing plans and what they want and i dont know the pros and cons of things like "eye goop" and why it wouldnt be alright for the babies nose to be aspirated... so maybe im naive/new at this, but i need to know if theres anything i "need to know" KWIM? thanks for any advice:)

[SMKelley]

That sounds a lot like my hospital/experience.

I would suggest though speaking with your OB about how you feel on receiving an episiotomy. I received one while birthing my son and I didn't know until I was being stitched up. :banghead: I was not happy about it but it was simply a "standard" practice that we never discussed.

You probably want to talk about/mention cloth diapers too if you plan on using them from the start.

[SMKelley]

OH. My nursed asked me a million times if I had a BM (after the baby was born) and I ended up lieing because otherwise they weren't sending me home! :blush:

[njbeachgirl]

LOL@BMs.... I don't think I went for like a week :giggle:

Definitely ask about/research:

-routine use of IV or heparin lock

-are you allowed to eat and drink during labor?

-do they want you to have continuous external fetal monitoring?

-what is considered failure to progress? (slow labor is NORMAL for a lot of first time moms!) under what circumstances does the doctor want to augment labor or perform a c/s?

-when would dr. want to induce for big baby or post dates (past 40 weeks gestation, it is normal to go longer though!)

-how is the pushing stage managed- can you just push with your contractions or are people going to be "coaching" you

-is the third stage (birth of placenta) managed-- do they routinely use pitocin
to get the uterus to contract after birth? (not generally necessary)

-pain meds- if you are trying to go natural, it can be difficult when someone
keeps offering an epidural or a shot of something.

-episiotomy-generally not necessary but a lot of drs. still do them
-eye goop
-hep b vax at birth
-delayed cord clamping and cutting

There is a really great book called "the thinking woman's guide to a better birth" that can be very helpful in researching these decisions.

Good luck! I am opting to have my 2nd baby at home but I did have a nice hospital birth with my daughter, she was delivered by a midwife in the hospital. Remember they are working for you. not the other way around :thumbsup:

[Proud Mommy of 2]

I have never made/used a birth plan with my kids. I was 19 with my first and he was 6 weeks early...so it was all new and unexpected. However, I just told the dr's what I wanted and they were pretty good about doing it. My actual OB though was a jerk and never told me til hours AFTER delivering that he did do an episiotomy. :banghead: So yeah...I made sure to tell my new OB I had with my DD that I wanted to try and avoid that at all costs....but still didn't do a birth plan. I trust my new OB a LOT more and feel comfortable that she will respect my wishes in the delivery room, minus in an emergency of course.

My :2cents: .....just go into the hospital with no set expectations other than to leave with a healthy mommy and baby! You'll be so excited just waiting to meet your LO that in the end you really won't remember much else going on except that first moment you laid eyes on them. Best of luck to you!

:goodvibes:

[FinnegansMom]

LOL@BMs.... I don't think I went for like a week :giggle:

Definitely ask about/research:

-routine use of IV or heparin lock

-are you allowed to eat and drink during labor?

-do they want you to have continuous external fetal monitoring?

-what is considered failure to progress? (slow labor is NORMAL for a lot of first time moms!) under what circumstances does the doctor want to augment labor or perform a c/s?

-when would dr. want to induce for big baby or post dates (past 40 weeks gestation, it is normal to go longer though!)

-how is the pushing stage managed- can you just push with your contractions or are people going to be "coaching" you

-is the third stage (birth of placenta) managed-- do they routinely use pitocin
to get the uterus to contract after birth? (not generally necessary)

-pain meds- if you are trying to go natural, it can be difficult when someone
keeps offering an epidural or a shot of something.

-episiotomy-generally not necessary but a lot of drs. still do them
-eye goop
-hep b vax at birth
-delayed cord clamping and cutting

There is a really great book called "the thinking woman's guide to a better birth" that can be very helpful in researching these decisions.

Good luck! I am opting to have my 2nd baby at home but I did have a nice hospital birth with my daughter, she was delivered by a midwife in the hospital. Remember they are working for you. not the other way around :thumbsup:


I totally agree with this. Do your research, make decisions with your partner/DH/Doula and write it down to bring with you. You may not have the presence to make decisions or to communicate your needs. Your DH/partner might be stressed or frazzled as well. It can get stressful if something unexpected happens so plan for the worst, like a possible c-section or induction or pitocin augmented labor. Make your decisions now about how you will handle those situations and write it down. Do your research about vaccines and newborn tests and everything and don't let the staff pressure you into doing something you don't want.