Maternity Unit Tour

We took the maternity unit tour today at the Fairview Southdale Hospital where I am scheduled to deliver the baby. Its a tour to familiarise you and your family with the hospital, from things like parking to the floor on which the maternity unit is situated; what to do and whom to approach when you arrive in labor; a peek into the labor and delivery room; the nursery and the post partum unit (which unfortunately the nurse conducting the tour could not take us to because none of the rooms were empty). It prepares you to a good extent so that you are comfortable about knowing all the above when you actually arrive there at the stressful labor hour and know exactly what to do. I couldn't help but draw comparisons between the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento, CA where Vansh was born and this one. The rooms in Sutter were bigger and had more comfortable chairs and recliners for the mom to be and the spouse. I had spent a lot of time on the rocking chair while in labor with Vansh and that is not available in the rooms here. but I guess its okay one because I am almost counting on the fact that I'll have a much much much shorter labor this time (with Vansh it was 53 hours from start to finish ..phew!!) and two because they do have birthing balls which is also helpful. Secondly, the cord attaching you to the screen where they monitor the fetal heart rate and contraction rate is just 6 feet; in other words, that's the radius of your freedom of movement and they do not have cordless monitors for the same. Which means, if they decide to constantly monitor the fetal heart rate (which once again I hope, they don't this time - with Vansh they had to because my water had broken before labor began and that is considered a condition for constant fetal monitoring); I wouldn't have the freedom to take walks in the corridors; again something I had done a lot the last time - kind of took my mind off to see all the nurses and other people bustling in there with activity. Well to be optimistic, lets hope I wouldn't have too much time to do that either :)

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