Maternity Tour (Part 2)

After the emergency room 'entrance tour' which we will use if we were to come in between the time of 9pm to 5am, we took the elevator to go up to the labor and delivery (L&D) area on the 3rd floor.

Patty showed us the nurse station, and she said if we already pre-registered, all we have to do is to give them the mother's name and all the information will come up. [The main reason for pre-register is also to make sure that the insurance company will be notify about the delivery and make sure they will cover the cost.] We walked in to a labor and delivery room (#311) and I was so happy that they have chairs in the room for the mothers to sit. The hospital has a total of 22 available rooms for L&D. These are each individual rooms with attached bathroom. The rooms are new as the hospital had remodelled and added this new wing to its existing building 2 years ago. Patty said most of the time, this will be the only room that the mother will spend time in. It will be the L&D and recovery and postpartum room. Unless if another mother comes in for L&D and not enough room is available, then a postpartum mother will only be moved to another postpartum room (in the old wing).

All the mothers sat down and Patty started explaining the procedure. When the mother check in, the nurse will ask her to change into the hospital gown (opens at the back). The nurse then will monitor the mother's bloodpressure, her contraction and the baby's heartbeat for 20 minutes. She will then inform the doctor accordingly and wait for his/her advise. With the doctor's permission, the mother will be allowed to walk around the hospital or use the jacuzzi [mother can only use the jacuzzi IF her water bag is still intact. Used to reduce labor pain]. Water birth is not available so the jacuzzi is only used to reduce the stress and pain during labor. There is only 1 jacuzzi for all the mothers, who choose to use it. [note: the jacuzzi can't be use for delivery of the baby as in a water birth]

Patty then showed us the bed's function. Since the mother will labor and delivery in the same room, the end of the bed by the leg can be removed to convert the normal bed into a delivery bed. There is a pair of stir-up for the mother to rest her legs and a container with a plastic bag underneath for the plancenta collection. I personally think the set up is pretty convenient. If needed, a horizontal bar can be attached to the leg area of the bed for the mother to hold on to in squat position during delivery.

There are two spot lights above the end of the bed. Patty said they used to bring in lights for delivery but with the new wings, the lights were installed in the ceiling and control by a remote sensor that the nurse will hold so she can direct the light to the specific location where is needed the most. It is a very neat remote control, slightly smaller than a tv remote with a small light bulb sensor at the top.

She continued to explain about when the baby arrives [normal vaginally delivery], if everything is OK, the baby will spend an hour or so with the mother before the nurse take him for measure, shots, and other needed procedures. After the initial hour, the nurse will take the baby and place him under a radiant heat light in the same room as the mother]. The nurse will then place a small sensor on his belly to check for his body temperature. She also will give him 1cc of sucrose, vitamin K shot, and prick his heel for blood sample. Patty ensure us that is a small prick and won't hurt the baby. After all is done, the nurse will wash the baby's hair in the sink and then wrap him up and return the baby to the mother. No bath will be given to the baby until his umblical cord comes off. So baby only can be sponged bath during the first few weeks.

For a C-section delivery, the baby will go directly to the nursery and only reunite with the mother 3 hours later after the mother recovered/rested from the surgery. However, the father will be allowed to go to the nursery to see the baby and take pictures and show to the mother. He is allowed to be either at the nursery or the recovery room with the mother. Patty said mother that went thru the surgery will have only clear liquid diet for the first 24 hours, and then soft food diet for the next 24 hours. If the mother can tolerate with the soft food, she will return to her normal diet the next day. Recovering mother will not be in the L&D room. She will be moved to the old wing where all C-section recovery and postpartum mothers will be located.

We left room #311, and walked past the jacuzzi room and then we were allowed a glimpse of the C-Section surgery room from the outside. Since the surgery room is well sterilized, we are only allowed to stand behind a red tape area. Patty continued to explain more about the area and proceudre. We saw a radiant heater inside the surgery room too where the baby will be placed and do the neccessary shots and test.

We walked past the nursery and we saw a baby under the blue light for jaundice. The cot/basinett was surrounded with aluminium foil which will reflect more lights to the baby. Patty explain with this procedure will help the baby to absord more light and reduce his bilirubin and hopefully, the baby will be able to go home together with the mother. [or else, the baby may have to stay a few days more before he/she get to go home] No other babies were there as all of them are rooming with the mother.

Then Patty showed us the old wing where the postpartum C-section mother recovers. The room had two beds in it, one for the mother and one for the father. Room is smaller than the L&D room. Some of the rooms will have full bathroom and others are just 1/2 bath and share the shower at the end of the hallway.

Before ending the tour, we followed Patty to the main entrance or the lobby area where you come in during the hour of 5am to 9pm and she told us which elevator to use to go up to the L&D. Then for those who wished to register, she directed them to the weekend registering counter.