Hospital tours

spin25 · September 2013

Why? I don't really understand the point of a hospital tour. It seems like there are only a few places I would need to go, and it's not like there would be no one to tell me where they are. I've been assuming I will pretty much be in my room during the few days I'm there. However, I realize people take tours all the time. Please explain!

botanicalbliss · September 2013

We didn't go on a tour because we had already been to triage for monitoring. We probably would have taken the tour if we hadn't already been there just so we knew where we were going. However, there were plenty of people to point us in the right direction. The tour was tacked on to a "meet the midwives" program that introduced us to all of the midwives on staff since whoever was on call would deliver the baby. We stayed to meet the midwives and bailed when it came time for a tour.

caseyandlizzie · September 2013

Mine was part of our birthing class, and I'm actually glad that we did it. I work 3 floors down from where I'll be delivering, and honestly had never been up there before. I'm glad we know where to check in, since the hospital itself has a seperate registration area, but for L&D, you just go up to the floor, and skip registration altogether. I also found out that the birthing rooms are on a seperate floor from where I'll be staying after I deliver. I also saw that the waiting room up there is SMALL, so that reinforces the fact that I'd rather not have my family at the hospital while I'm laboring since they will more than likely feel more comfortable hanging out in our room with us instead of sitting out there.

I feel better about heading into labor now that I know where to go, and what to expect once it happens.

bobcee · September 2013

It's basically to see if the hospital is the right fit for you. While you tour, they'll tell you about their policies and procedures and you'll have a chance to ask questions pertaining to that hospital i.e. do you give birth and stay in the same room the entire time? does baby room in? Why may baby not be in the room with you? What level of NICU do they have? Can spouse/SO stay in the same room? What kind of accommodations do they have for him? What are the visitation rules (hrs/ number of people)? Do they limit the number of people you can have for delivery? How about in the case of a c section? Do they provide meals for both you and DH? What is the typical length of stay for vaginal vs c section? What pain management options do they offer? What type of security do they have ? When we are cleared to leave what do we need to make sure we have (do you need to bring the car seat in, do they check the installation of it in your car?). Do you participate I cord blood donation?

I know some of these you may ask your doc, know the answer, or be able to find out on your own but it's nice to have reassurance/double check.

Also during the hospital tour is a great time to pre register without having to make another trip. Then you're set and don't have to worry about it.

spin25 · September 2013

Thanks for the info guys. The ob/gyn practice I go to changed in recent years to only delivering at one hospital, so I have no choice in that w/o changing practices. Maybe we will do it after all; I just know that DH will think there isn't much point and I wanted to be able to explain why people do it.

bobcee · September 2013

It's also nice to see what's available in the room. Ours had wi fi so we knew we could bring a lap top and camera to Skype our parents after birth since they are half way across the country. We also found out at that time that we had no cell phone service in the rooms so we let family know in advance so they wouldn't worry if they couldn't get a hold of us that way. Also the rooms had DVD players so we knew to bring some DVDs if we wanted, etc...

bobcee · September 2013

Yep I agree with it being nice to know where to go. Hospitals are huge. Both times I went into labor I headed to the hospital at night after the main entrance was locked. So it was nice to know in advance that we should park in the ER parking lot and enter through there. Also nice to know to go straight to the birth center and we could pass registration and just check in with triage.

At my hospital you go straight from triage to your room where you give birth and then you stay in that room. There aren't separate birthing rooms.

tdmd09 · September 2013

I didn't take a tour. I knew I'd deliver at that hospital regardless. it would have been goods to know what entrance to use (especially if there is a different entrance at night) I ended up going to triage enough that I felt comfortable with the check in procedures. I didn't leave my room after having the baby so I didn't need to know where anything else was, and my baby stayed with me the entire time.

alexisanna44 · September 2013

Bobcee is wise. At my hospital I found out that they could monitor my contractions and baby's heart rate from any other room in l&d so I shouldn't feel ignored while they're delivering another baby.

MadeOfAwesome · September 2013

We did tours at two of the local hospitals (almost the same driving distance). It actually helped us finalize our decision. We got to ask all of the questions we wanted to. The final determining factor was room size. One hospital had teeny tiny rooms with only a pull out couch for DH. Other hospital had another bed. At one hospital, you were supposed to go to the ER (I think) and the other one, you go straight to L&D. It was nice to know exactly what the procedure was and where we needed to be instead of running around trying to figure it out at 4AM. At my hospital, you went straight to L&D, and from the desk, they immediately put you in the room you deliver in. The LDR rooms were all full, so we ended up having to move into a separate recovery room, but it was nice having the larger room with the extra bed for DH.

Kaiene · September 2013

Our tour was part of our child birth class. I'm glad we did it because it was one less thing to freak out about when I went into labor (my water broke at 37 weeks in DH's car). We knew where to go, what the rooms looked like, etc.

NotMrsSmith11 · September 2013

The 45 minute hospital tour was the only useful part of our 6 hour childbirth class, IMO. It was good to see the lay of the land, and they pointed out what things they had and what you needed to bring. For example there were DVD players in the post-partum rooms, but not in the L&D rooms. They provided towels but the towels sucked so we knew to pack our own. Stuff like that.

waterfall213 · September 2013

Our tour was part of our birthing class. It was nice because the nurse went more into detail about a lot of things- visiting policies, what the hospital provides, different instruments that might be used. She also showed us a kitchen that moms and dads get to use and we could eat anything from there for free. I would have had no idea about that because once I was admitted no one ever mentioned it again.

rebaann · September 2013

We went because neither of us had been to that hospital before. You have to go in a different way after 8:00 at night and we didn't want to roll up in labor at 2 a.m. and then try to find which door was open and how to get to L&D. We wanted to make sure if we parked somewhere, Jim would go back and find the car where he left it. We wanted to see the birthing rooms and the mother and baby rooms, which are not on the same floor, where family could wait, and what the rules were for visitors.

AshleyMatt1215 · September 2013

I'm mainly doing it because I've never spent the night in a hospital before and I'm actually very nervous about hospitals in general. I'm hoping knowing where things are and knowing procedures will help my anxiety.

sgautschi · September 2013

I was glad I took the tour because I found out that most of what I was going to put on my birth plan was common practice at that hospital. So now I only have two things on my birth plan versus like 10-20.

MRads · September 2013

I didn't go on a tour, but my dr was at the hospital and my sister had delivered at the hospital 14 weeks prior to B being born. I might have found a tour helpful if those two things weren't true. As it was, my nephew was born March 20 and they changed all the visitation policies April 1, so there were quite a few different things, but still nothing that wasnt hard to Rae in as the nurse was explaining it.

spin25 · September 2013

I knew you guys would have reasons. Thanks!

Hospital tours

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