SHOULD HOSPITALS BE MORE ACCOMODATING FOR LARGER FAMILES ?

Beth - posted on 10/15/2009

hospitals are there to help you have your child.. its not up to them to babysit your other children..sorry.. Its your responsibility at that end by having sitters ready to be at your home when the time comes..

Sharon - posted on 10/14/2009

Its not just Australian hospitals.



American Military hospitals used to be that bad. I was in the hospital for a shattered pelvis, I was just 15 but they put me in the room with a woman who had just had a miscarriage. We were on the maternity ward because they didn't have a womens ward.



Later they shuffled things around so we were away from the women & babies and it was just us and some female surgical patients. But that first night... omg that poor woman. My mom was in and out to check up on me and that woman was all alone. No husband, no visitors and the crying of babies as the nurses carried them up & down the hall.....



Back then I didn't have a great deal of empathy but I did know it wasn't fair or right for her to be subjected to that. But then again I was a bit high on morphine after being transferred and dropped into the bed with the broken bones.



I've heard that now a days its different. And I know in our larger hospitals here in the US its definitely different. They don't allow those sort of mixups on the hospital floors.



OMG i'm so sorry you both had to go through that. Hell, just having a child in NICU and passing the regular nursery with all the healthy babies was hell. It was just that one time out of 2 weeks worth of visits - but yeah, I can still feel that horrible feeling...

Jodi - posted on 10/14/2009

Quoting Elisabete:

the royal hobart is a laugh for a hospital when i was having a miscarriage i was left for 6 hrs to bleed and given pain killer even though i did not want any as i was in no pain,then after the curet was done i was sent to a room where i could hera new born babies how stuffed is that.there is no other hospitals unles they are private and you want to pay an arm and a leg.

Elisabete, don't worry, it's not just Hobart :)  I had a miscarriage at home and 2 days later I was taken to emergency haemoraging.  I was in the emergency room waiting room for 2 hours (mostly I was in the bathroom of the emergency room), bleeding everywhere, so weakened they had to get me a wheelchair.  When they finally checked me out and realised how much I was bleeding (like I hadn't TOLD them, duh!!), they wanted to get me straight into emergency surgery, but it took them so many needles to find a bloody vein I'd lost that much blood!!  And yep, I was put in the maternity ward too (a room on my own, but right near all the new babies). It's an absolute sad state of affairs, and all we get are state and federal politicians blaming each other, ordering enquiries, reports, etc and doing absolutely nothing about it!!

It is one of the big reasons I have private insurance, but that never helps in an emergency because the private hospitals don't take emergency patients!

Joann - posted on 10/14/2009

So very true Elisabete! When I was nursing I was quite appalled at the number of folks would bring their tiny babies, toddlers to the floors where people were really sick. The nurses cannot do their job effectively when a patient's room is packed with people. That is why there are waiting rooms and rules for children under certain ages not to be in certain areas. Hospitals are not playgrounds-hospitals are where seriously ill people are trying to get better. Hospitals also have a variety of patients--some want more privacy, some don't like the noise, some don't give a rip. It should be about the care of the patient and not the comfort of extended families.

Elisabete - posted on 10/14/2009

i agree..its looking better each day me and hubby did it alone once before .lets hope i dnt have to be induced

Sharon - posted on 10/14/2009

I think it is looking more and more like you should investigate a homebirth.

Elisabete - posted on 10/14/2009

this is what i mean right ,not in emergency ive never been to emergency to have a baby i menan in birthing rooms .liek with me they wont let me go to a birthing suit not a room with a double bed ..casue they count me as high risk pregnancy just cause 4 years ago alomst i had a baby and i had gestational diabetes but ive had another abby since then and i never got it and neither with this one ,i dnt use drugs and their other reason for not giving me a big bed is ..iam over weight by 20 kg iam only 102 kg which is stupid ..plus they wont give me a double bed cause iam over weight but they will a single bed ..lol makes sence lol...the royal hobart is a laugh for a hospital when i was having a miscarriage i was left for 6 hrs to bleed and given pain killer even though i did not want any as i was in no pain,then after the curet was done i was sent to a room where i could hera new born babies how stuffed is that.there is no other hospitals unles they are private and you want to pay an arm and a leg.

Jodi - posted on 10/14/2009

Quoting Elisabete:

,i just think maybe there should be hospitals that catter for larger families ,where a woman has a choice to have all her kids present during labour .

 

Elisabete, I think we'd all just like hospitals with enough beds to go around at the moment, and without 5 hour waits in emergency at the moment, LOL :) 

Jodi - posted on 10/14/2009

Do you have private insurance? I have always found the private hospitals quite accommodating, although I have never tried to get kids into a delivery room, but honestly, the birthing suite at my private hospital (I'm in Canberra) was huge!!

Elisabete - posted on 10/14/2009

hi guys to maria olsens response,i feel blessed to be ablr to have children so id love to have more .
here we dnt share rooms during labour only after labour depending if you get a single room or a share room.i never stay over night i go home within 6 hr of the birth .dnt get me wrong i do not want the nurses to look after my kids i want to be able to ahve my kids in the room with me .my kids would not be in the way cause when i go into labour iam usually in a single room of my own with a single bed and iam allowed to have one child with me and hubby.
to sharons greys response i agree they will not stop em from having a baby but i dnt want to go to hsopital and have them stop my husband from going in cause he has my youngest with him as i would become more stressed and him angry over not being at the birth .
moving is not an option as its expensive and my family is overseas and our friends are the type that would help with baby sitting ..yes i need new friends .lol
and to the response to jodi adams ..
when i go into labour iam the type of woman who has no drugs ,i dnt like to be touched,my husband only has to sit and look at me for me to get calm,i ahve seperation anxiety so i hate being away from him we have been married over 10 years and we havent been seperated yet. my kids are not the type that get in the way they usually sit and play or read and i dnt mind the caos as it keeps me sane i hate silence .having a neighbour look after them was what we did last time but she cant do it now as she has a bad neck,iam having the option of home birth yes on my own as iam not paying $3000 for a midwife and having someone i dnt know well sit with my kid while iam in labour i feel like i have to be nice and chat to them thats just the way i was brough up.
this is one problem i had had everytime i have fallen pregnant same predictament each time a couple of times i actually lost a baby due to miscarriage becuase i over worried .iam in the same zone now but i still get anxious to what will happen.i dnt want to stop having kids iam from a big family ,i just think maybe there should be hospitals that catter for larger families ,where a woman has a choice to have all her kids present during labour .without a sitter as there is many women like me who can do more than one task .iam not the type who sits and screams ,while iam having contractions i make sure my house is cleaned,and while in labour i still like to eb able to chat to my kids or crack a joke lol i guess its a way to pass the time

Joann - posted on 10/14/2009

I don't think so. Most hospitals have hospitality houses or hotels they use to provide housing at a low cost to the family. Hospitals are for sick people and while you want family with you. It may be best to have only 1--3 at a time depending on situation or illness.

Jodi - posted on 10/14/2009

In my opinion, our hospitals are already understaffed, so I can understand their point. They are not staffed well enough to be watching out for your children, particularly during the delivery, when they may be prone to get underfoot at critical moments. It can be dangerous for the children to be undersupervised during labour, and they would be assuming that your husband is there also as your birth partner so it is not likely he can maintain 100% supervision over them. I agree that the hospital can't be responsible for supervising your kids. I believe the hospital has actually catered very well for your needs but have just asked that 2 adults be there, and in my opinion, this is fair enough. If you don't want to do this, then your other option is to consider a home birth.

Sharon - posted on 10/14/2009

I take it you're in Australia.



Here in the USA most hospitals don't allow children in the delivery room and they aren't a babysitting service either so we had to find someone to watch our kids. Not a big deal, between family & friends we were covered.



If you don't have any friends or family - then talk to a friendly neighbor who's kids seem to be clean & neat if they can watch the kids during the delivery.



I'm not sure of the extra adult thing but what are they going to do if you don't have the extra adult? Tell you to stop having the baby?



If you don't like your situation - then its time to move. Closer to family and old friends. Closer to hospitals with more open policies.

Maria - posted on 10/14/2009

Girl, how many more are you planning on having? Lol Seriously, though, the reason may be because some hospitals were built with in-rooms, meaning, you have other patients in the room with you, or if you're only staying overnight as most c-section childbirths do, they have an allowable maximum of people or visitors to provide clearing by the doorway. It's usually a hospital policy that the entry way should not be barricaded or nothing in the way of, in the event of an emergency. Also, to be more considerate of the patient next to you, if there is one.