The next big thing after pregnancy is to look for maternity hospitals and plan for the birth of the baby and postnatal care. While making a decision, it is important for the woman and her partner to gather all information they need to make the right choice regarding where they would like to have the birth.
How to get started with choosing your maternity hospital
- Finding out about the facilities and policies of all local hospitals under consideration.
- Talking to family, friends, the doctor and other pregnant women or new mothers with babies.
Questions to ask
Here are some questions that may be on the top of the mind of expecting parents. These can be asked to the health care providers being considered for birthing:
- What is the hospital's policy on inducing labour, providing pain relief and overall monitoring of the delivery?
- What are the facilities available to care of a premature baby or a baby born with an illness?
- Does the hospital allow a tour of their maternity facility to help a couple decide?
- What support does the maternity team provide to help the new mother breastfeed and take care of the newborn?
- Will the baby be kept in the same room as mother or does the hospital have a separate nursery?
- Does the hospital allow the father of the baby, a close relative or friend to be present in the delivery room?
- Does the hospital have suites that allow accommodation for the partner?
- Does the hospital have special rules for visitors?
- How soon can a mother be discharged from the hospital?
Making a decision
Apart from hearing others' experiences about a hospital and understanding the maternity care facilities provided by the hospital, a couple can look into the following parameters too to decide the hospital for birth.
- Accessibility of hospital from home
- Cost factor
- Choosing their trusted doctor from pregnancy term or a new doctor for delivery
- Hospital policy for delivery (access to pain relief, medical intervention, presence of family member at time of delivery)
- Hospital facilities and team of doctors (anaesthetists, neonatologists, etc.)
Did you know Credihealth has the best delivery packages available in your city? Call 1800 1022 733 to find out more.
sources: "Choosing where to have your baby"
" https://www.nct.org.uk/birth/choosing-where-have-your-baby
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