Should maternity wards limit visiting times?

[aprilgail]

That sounds horrible. I am sorry that that was your experience with having a baby. ALL new Moms should have private rooms. My Mom said that when she had my brother(1971) that the woman that roomed with her had lost her baby. It was horrible for everyone. That poor family that had the tragedy was next to someone who's baby survived and my Mom who felt horrible enjoying her new baby next to the Mom who lost hers.

I was in the bed by the door and you could see the person right across the hall from you while you were in your bed and the 4th day there I was walking to the NICU to see my daughter and the lady across from me was out in the hall and we started to talk and she was happy to hear that my baby was ok because she said she felt terrible every time they wheeled the babies out of the nursery in the morning and I didn't seem to have one.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I can’t believe that there are still hospitals with shared rooms! How is that not a violation of HIPAA? When I had my second the hospital had 90% private rooms, a few 2 person rooms and a few 4 person rooms. I was placed in the last private room and after about 30 min realized the AC wasn’t working and it was 100° outside. When I told the nurse(who was nasty) she said oh well, you can suck it up or move to a shared room. I called my DR at his office and told him to sign my release papers because I was leaving. He called the nurses station on another line while on the phone with me and ripped this nurse apart, made her move another patient and put me in another private room. I would never and will never share a hospital room.

 

[jrmasm]

I can’t believe that there are still hospitals with shared rooms! How is that not a violation of HIPAA? When I had my second the hospital had 90% private rooms, a few 2 person rooms and a few 4 person rooms. I was placed in the last private room and after about 30 min realized the AC wasn’t working and it was 100° outside. When I told the nurse(who was nasty) she said oh well, you can suck it up or move to a shared room. I called my DR at his office and told him to sign my release papers because I was leaving. He called the nurses station on another line while on the phone with me and ripped this nurse apart, made her move another patient and put me in another private room. I would never and will never share a hospital room.

Huh?

 

[Searc]

I can’t believe that there are still hospitals with shared rooms! How is that not a violation of HIPAA? When I had my second the hospital had 90% private rooms, a few 2 person rooms and a few 4 person rooms. I was placed in the last private room and after about 30 min realized the AC wasn’t working and it was 100° outside. When I told the nurse(who was nasty) she said oh well, you can suck it up or move to a shared room. I called my DR at his office and told him to sign my release papers because I was leaving. He called the nurses station on another line while on the phone with me and ripped this nurse apart, made her move another patient and put me in another private room. I would never and will never share a hospital room.

So another new mother had to be inconvenienced because you thought you were more important?

 

[msjprincess]

I can’t believe that there are still hospitals with shared rooms! How is that not a violation of HIPAA? When I had my second the hospital had 90% private rooms, a few 2 person rooms and a few 4 person rooms. I was placed in the last private room and after about 30 min realized the AC wasn’t working and it was 100° outside. When I told the nurse(who was nasty) she said oh well, you can suck it up or move to a shared room. I called my DR at his office and told him to sign my release papers because I was leaving. He called the nurses station on another line while on the phone with me and ripped this nurse apart, made her move another patient and put me in another private room. I would never and will never share a hospital room.

They moved another patient out of a private room so that you could have it? Wow

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's cute that people think women have a laundry list of hospitals to choose from when giving birth. Location and most importantly, insurance, severely limit the options most of us have available.

This is one of the main reasons I feel fortunate living in a metro or at least mine for the most part. There's multiple hospitals to choose from that will take majority of people's insurance. Here it's mostly about what type of experience do you want, do you feel like the particular hospital has high standards, etc. And they are trying to improve things all the time from larger suites, to family suites adjoining the room, from cameras installed in the baby's sleeping area so parents can keep an eye out on the child even while not in the room, to so many other things.

Location is important too but for the most part it's almost a wash depending on where you live at in the metro. For instance one hospital's birthing center (the one closest to me) is 15mins away but another major one is 19mins away from me while another one is 16mins away ---in the end for the most part (traffic exceptions of course if it wasn't an emergency) those aren't big differences.

You could still run into insurance issues I'm sure but it's less likely than other areas I hear horror stories about.

 

[Keeblerelf928]

Our hospital had 24/7 visiting hours but their "posted hours" were 12-2 and 4-8 so if you didn't want to hurt anyones feelings, it was easy to make the hospital the bad guy. There was also a double check system, you provided the names of those who could visit and if they did come, the nurses called down to make sure it was okay. I appreciated the stress being taken off of me of having to tell people no (people pleaser by nature) right after giving birth.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

On the one hand I don't know that limiting hours comes across the best. On the other hand I know that when it came to visiting anyone in the hospital for any reason I'm always thinking about other people in the hospital, the reasonableness of the hour I'm visiting, the length of time visiting, the condition of the person I'm visiting, etc. There's been multiple times for various types of hospital stays it was a "see you when you get home" type thing depending on the situation because it seemed more like I would feel like I was intruding on the time in the hospital.

 

[msjprincess]

This is one of the main reasons I feel fortunate living in a metro or at least mine for the most part. There's multiple hospitals to choose from that will take majority of people's insurance. Here it's mostly about what type of experience do you want, do you feel like the particular hospital has high standards, etc. And they are trying to improve things all the time from larger suites, to family suites adjoining the room, from cameras installed in the baby's sleeping area so parents can keep an eye out on the child even while not in the room, to so many other things.

Location is important too but for the most part it's almost a wash depending on where you live at in the metro. For instance one hospital's birthing center (the one closest to me) is 15mins away but another major one is 19mins away from me while another one is 16mins away ---in the end for the most part (traffic exceptions of course if it wasn't an emergency) those aren't big differences.

You could still run into insurance issues I'm sure but it's less likely than other areas I hear horror stories about.

I live in an area with numerous hospitals to choose from. Unfortunately though, my OBGYn practice only uses one of them. So I really didn't have a choice unless I wanted to switch doctors.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I can’t believe that there are still hospitals with shared rooms! How is that not a violation of HIPAA? When I had my second the hospital had 90% private rooms, a few 2 person rooms and a few 4 person rooms. I was placed in the last private room and after about 30 min realized the AC wasn’t working and it was 100° outside. When I told the nurse(who was nasty) she said oh well, you can suck it up or move to a shared room. I called my DR at his office and told him to sign my release papers because I was leaving. He called the nurses station on another line while on the phone with me and ripped this nurse apart, made her move another patient and put me in another private room. I would never and will never share a hospital room.

I'd say you had two choices--deal with it (which I don't blame you for not wanting to) OR move into a shared room knowing you would be sharing it with someone else even if it was not ideal in the least.

Having someone removed from a private just so you could be put there comes off so rude IMO. It's one thing if the hospital had been able to reserve the shared room as a private room due to a maintenance issue but it's another thing to force an existing patient out of a private room to make room for different patient--reminds me of the scene in Beaches at the dinner scene where the manager (I think he was the manager) said "there's someone more important than you here tonight". In my humble opinion perhaps a discharge would have been the nicer thing to do.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I live in an area with numerous hospitals to choose from. Unfortunately though, my OBGYn practice only uses one of them. So I really didn't have a choice unless I wanted to switch doctors.

That happens outside of birth though. The PP mentioned location and insurance as big limiting factors and I agree that's the most limiting.

My doctor is only at one place. But that doesn't mean I'm limited because that's the only hospital in a reasonable radius or that my insurance is only taken at one maybe two places so I'm left with little choice. If you only will accept that one doctor that's a personal preference rather than a matter of location and insurance acceptance (for the most part).

Most of the women I've known in recent years don't choose a doctor for the purposes of their birth, they choose the particular place--they tour the hospital, go over all the nuiances of the birthing center, any rules, take a look at what makes them comfortable and what would not make them comfortable. If their doctor is able to come to that place they chose it's a very big added bonus but of the 6 women I've known that gave birth in the last 2 years none of them selected the place they gave birth on their OBGYN being their doctor for the birth. They chose a doctor at the hospital and 2 that I know of their selected doctor was unavailable for the actual birth as it turned out (both had premies about a month early).

 

[BLAZEY]

Payment/insurance isn't the issue here; it's just the accepted standard of care. It also may vary from province to province; maybe @kimblebee or @CdnCarrie could mention Manitoba; @marcyleecorgan could mention BC and @mombrontrent could tell us about Ontario. My knowledge strictly applies to Alberta.

I'm in BC, I stayed in hospital for 4 days total, went in and delivered on Monday, discharged on Thursday (2009). I had some major tearing. Four years later my sister was on the same schedule, in for 4 days with tearing(2013), 2 years after that with her 2nd baby was in and out in less than 24 hours(2015). She was given the option to stay until the next day, but she wanted to get home to rest. We had private rooms, but there were semi-private rooms. We both had extended benefits which covered private rooms. Only were charged if there were enough births to have to start doubling up.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I'd say you had two choices--deal with it (which I don't blame you for not wanting to) OR move into a shared room knowing you would be sharing it with someone else even if it was not ideal in the least.

Having someone removed from a private just so you could be put there comes off so rude IMO. It's one thing if the hospital had been able to reserve the shared room as a private room due to a maintenance issue but it's another thing to force an existing patient out of a private room to make room for different patient--reminds me of the scene in Beaches at the dinner scene where the manager (I think he was the manager) said "there's someone more important than you here tonight". In my humble opinion perhaps a discharge would have been the nicer thing to do.

I did not ask for another patient to be moved, I told my doctor to release me. He insisted they move another patient. I was not going to argue that, he wanted me to stay, I wanted a private room with AC since I paid a premium for it and apparently the other patient did not. This was back at a time where you could prepay an additional charge to guarantee a private room.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I did not ask for another patient to be moved, I told my doctor to release me. He insisted they move another patient. I was not going to argue that, he wanted me to stay, I wanted a private room with AC since I paid a premium for it and apparently the other patient did not. This was back at a time where you could prepay an additional charge to guarantee a private room.

Yeah your post didn't come off that way at all....

 

[mjkacmom]

Huh?

There are more with private rooms now, but even though I live in an area with literally dozens of hospitals under 1/2 hour away, it’s still a densely populated area. The ones with the level 3 NICU’s tended to have more shared rooms, since if you needed one, you didn’t have much choice. With my twins, I stuck to my level 2, more likely to get a private room with twins, than a level 3 with multiple multiple births ever day (my friend had triplets and shared a room over 20 years ago).

 

[nancipants]

I'm 20 weeks pregnant with my first baby and very grateful the hospital will be about an hour away from my family members who live in state. I don't want any visitors other than my mother and in-laws. And even then I don't want them staying around for a long time because I want my husband and I to be able to bond with the baby and get some rest before we go home. I will never understand the large groups of people in maternity wards, and even more the people who insist on being in the delivery room. No, thank you!

 

[jrmasm]

There are more with private rooms now, but even though I live in an area with literally dozens of hospitals under 1/2 hour away, it’s still a densely populated area. The ones with the level 3 NICU’s tended to have more shared rooms, since if you needed one, you didn’t have much choice. With my twins, I stuck to my level 2, more likely to get a private room with twins, than a level 3 with multiple multiple births ever day (my friend had triplets and shared a room over 20 years ago).

I was asking for clarification about why another patient was moved.

 

[Lilsia]

Most of the women I've known in recent years don't choose a doctor for the purposes of their birth, they choose the particular place--they tour the hospital, go over all the nuiances of the birthing center, any rules, take a look at what makes them comfortable and what would not make them comfortable. If their doctor is able to come to that place they chose it's a very big added bonus but of the 6 women I've known that gave birth in the last 2 years none of them selected the place they gave birth on their OBGYN being their doctor for the birth. They chose a doctor at the hospital and 2 that I know of their selected doctor was unavailable for the actual birth as it turned out (both had premies about a month early).

I had my OBGYN for years before I got pregnant. They do more then just deliver babies. I wanted someone that I trusted and felt comfortable with, especially since they are the most intimate of doctors. Having a baby is probably the most personal and emotional thing a woman can do. To me, the doctor is so much more important then having a nice "birthing suite". Who cares what the room looks like when your baby and your own life is on the line.

 

[mom2rtk]

This is one of the main reasons I feel fortunate living in a metro or at least mine for the most part. There's multiple hospitals to choose from that will take majority of people's insurance. Here it's mostly about what type of experience do you want, do you feel like the particular hospital has high standards, etc. And they are trying to improve things all the time from larger suites, to family suites adjoining the room, from cameras installed in the baby's sleeping area so parents can keep an eye out on the child even while not in the room, to so many other things.

Location is important too but for the most part it's almost a wash depending on where you live at in the metro. For instance one hospital's birthing center (the one closest to me) is 15mins away but another major one is 19mins away from me while another one is 16mins away ---in the end for the most part (traffic exceptions of course if it wasn't an emergency) those aren't big differences.

You could still run into insurance issues I'm sure but it's less likely than other areas I hear horror stories about.

That really depends on the health plan you have. Some have a large list of hospitals, some are way more limited. And you are also greatly limited by where your OB/GYN has admitting privileges.

 

[Lilsia]

There are more with private rooms now, but even though I live in an area with literally dozens of hospitals under 1/2 hour away, it’s still a densely populated area. The ones with the level 3 NICU’s tended to have more shared rooms, since if you needed one, you didn’t have much choice. With my twins, I stuck to my level 2, more likely to get a private room with twins, than a level 3 with multiple multiple births ever day (my friend had triplets and shared a room over 20 years ago).

I didn't realize that hospitals still double up on rooms with new moms. I "baby" is 17 years old and even then all of the hospitals in my city gave moms private rooms.