Not confident in hospital

We didn't have security or anything at the hospital I had Liz at. All hospitals up here encourage rooming in with baby unless there are complications.....(like when I had my c-section and was totally out of it when i had Nick).

With Liz I was on my own (except for when the night shift nurses took her to weigh her and stuff). THere was no maternity ward at the hospital. We were in a regular room. There was no baby room. THe night shift took her to weigh her and stuff and would keep her until feeding time so i could sleep. They did not have to do this, they wanted too, since having a baby there was a welcome break from the ordinary stuff.

THere was no security guard, although there were cameras. We were totally on our own otherwise.

my hospital was a little bigger, but not much, the nursery was behind the maternity nursing station, one incubator

rooming in with baby is normal here too

although there should be something for special needs just in case

I would go to a bigger hospital. With the problems that Kayla had when she was born, I was thankful that we were at a large training hospital an they took her if I needed to rest for a bit. The nurses in the childrens hospital that is connected to MCG wanted to take her even though they did not have to.

I would go else where. When I had Kieran, he and I had security bracelets and the only door into the maternity ward could be insantly locked down.

I don't blame you Lenora. I would go to a bigger hospital as well. The hospital I had all three kids in has a system called HUGS and it is a security bracelet put around the baby's ankle (very light) and they tell you where you can walk with the baby and if you go past the points an alarm sounds and all door to the maternity floor will lock and all elevators will stop making it impossible for anybody to take a baby. Here they also only have rooming in features unless there is something wrong with the baby or you and then they will care for them in the nursery. I have a friend that is a postpartum nurse at the hospital I was at and she was working the nights I had the kids and she would come in and look after the babies for a couple of hours while I had a little sleep. I hope you find a better hospital that gives you peace of mind. When you are going in to have a baby it can be stressful and the last thing you want when you are trying to recover and enjoy your new baby is to have to stress over if somebody is going to take your baby.

If you are uncomfortable definitely look for another hospital.

The maternity floor of the hospital I'll be at only has one entrance that regular people can use. You must be buzzed in and out. The baby has a security bracelet on their ankle and an alarm sounds if you get too close to the doors and they all lock down. They room in unless there is complications but they have an actual nursery. Actually this hospital has the only private NICU in the state, where every baby in the NICU gets their own room.

Start looking for a place that you're more comfortable.

I only got asked the domestic abuse questions on my VERY first appt and then it was just a questionairre. After that no one's asked me anything like that.

We not only had security bracelets but Elizabeth had an additional bracelet around her ankle that would set an alarm off. They had a special tool to remove it. Of course this is a fairly large hospital. They said they'd delivered 330 babies so far in October when I was there on the 14th.

I think I would consider going elsewhere too. The rooming with baby is pretty much the standard though from what I can tell. It would certainly be much more difficult after a c-section.

Wow that's a lot of babies for the first half of the month. I think my hospital did MAYBE 100 babies all month last month. They only have 14 rooms on the L&D floor.

we have six rooms in Labour and delivery, eight beds in all

i had never heard of the security bracelets, they sound wonderful!

we had matching bracelets but that was about it

We had that security bracelet thing, too. They had one on his leg with a number that matched my armband. They put that on just as soon as he was born. DH had to sign something saying that he saw them put the bracelets on and that the numbers matched. Every time anyone came in or out, they had to check to make sure our matching bracelets. They had sensors all over the hallway. If I went to walk out in the hall, I couldn't go past a certain point, or it would set off the buzzers and lock up the entire floor.

I would also check out a different hospital. I had all 3 of mine at the same hospital, and this year due to events they even shut down the nursery and have only one small room set up for special circumstances.
We had security braclets on both of us and alarms. If babys came off it sounded a huge alarm and every door on the 1st floor was locked. The night I had Dillon, I was changing his clothes and heared the alarm, boy was it LOUD. About 2 seconds later, I had a ton of people in my room, apparently I tugged on his alarm braclet to much when changing his socks. I was freaked out, they were checking our #s and asking if everything was okay etc.. It was quite an expierience but I was glad they had that kind of security.
We were told to never leave baby alone, always check badges of doctors or nurses etc who came in the room and to place the bassinet on the left side of the bed because it was furthest away from the door into the room.
If you don't feel secure having your baby there, travel where ever you need to! I would! Good luck

Where I had my children they have the bracelets with numbers that match the mom's and the dad's. Onlyt he mother or father can go into the nursery with the baby. They can take another person in with them but a parent has to be there. They also have the security anklet on the babies. They put the bracelets ont he babies and parents AS SOON as they are born. They have you check the numbers and every time the baby is taken from you or brought to you they check the numbers and have you check the numbers. The anklet thing is great. If you go too close to an exit with the baby an alarm sounds and all the doors and elevators on the floor lock down. When Zach was born they asked if they could use him to check the system. So we all went out to the hall and tried to wheel him out and it is definately secure!

We roomed in but the nurses took him every evening so I could sleep while they weighed and bathed him. Then they brought him back to nurse. So I did get a couple hours of sleep. This was also nice b/c they would get him out of the isolette for me when it was hard to get up. Our hospital has a nicu, a step down nursery and a well baby nursery. All c-section babies go to the nicu for 6 hours of observation after birth. My kids both got released earlier than the 6 hours b/c they were fine. I thought it was crazy at first but it's nice b/c they have plenty of time to check their temps and breathing. It's common for c-section babies to have more fluid in their lungs b/c they aren't squeezed through the birth canal.

Do you have the option of going to another hospital? The one you're talking about...is it a VA?