To ask about amenity rooms on labour wards?

[TheGentleMoose]

Ideally, I'd like to give birth early in the morning and be home in my own bed that evening - however, apparently I can't arrange this with 100% guarantee that it will happen.

I have epilepsy (and PTSD) and was wondering whether it would be OK to request an amenity room when I give birth, if I have to stay in overnight? I don't want to come across as an entitled mama. I really struggle to sleep in noisy areas due to PTSD and sleep deprivation is a major trigger for my epilepsy. These are both documented on previous hospital admissions at the hospital I plan to give birth in, and I am usually, where available, offered a side room without requesting one.

on the flip side sometimes with a section you do have to stay in hospital for many days dependant on how well your body heals. However you are less likely to be horrendously sleep deprived from the labour.

@Batghee Thanks, I am a bit against cesarean sections for me personally - it would likely trigger a huge PTSD response and I am much better emotionally when I am able to move around and get outside - so the following days would be an issue. There's also all kinds of drug reactions that can occur and being on anti-convulsant medication makes these much more complex and also changes seizure thresholds.

If it's medically necessary I will have one, but I am not planning on having one.

It's daft to think that your baby will arrive in the morning just so that you can avoid an over night stay. Didn't say women with epilepsy can't have children did I but you don't make mention of any partner and what happens if your on your own with the baby and you have a fit that's what I meant not saying your not safe to have a baby just wondering if you had put plans and things in place for when baby arrives so that your not on your own incase you have a fit.

Well if I was you I would have c section your will be knackered and sleep deprived during labour which means you could have a fit hospital probably won't let you go home if you have a fit in the middle of labour it would be much safe for you and the baby if you had a c section less chance of you having a fit. Also depending on when baby arrives you might have to have an over night stay. I would suggest speaking to your midwife they might be able to help.

@Peanutandphoenix Where did I say that I think my baby will arrive in the morning? If you read my OP properly you will realise I said nothing of the sort.

Where are you getting your information regarding less chance of women having seizure with a c-section please? The consultants certainly aren't saying this to me.

talk to your consultant - I had one due to medical grounds - also PTSD following birth - and they gave me a side room for the duration (I ended up having a section)

It was lovely but a bit isolated - especially following a section where I wasn't very mobile and the nurses where busy so didn't come asap when I needed help getting to DD3 (say if she needed feeding etc)

You said in your first post ideally that's when you want the baby to arrive and unless you have some kind of magic wand aint going to happen also doubt you would get a private room because of your epilepsy how can you be watched to make sure you don't have a fit if your in a private room. Have your baby any way you please love but I would think that if sleep deprivation is your trigger for fits and you could be in labour for days your going to be pretty tired and more likely to have a fit in the middle of giving birth or after you've given birth but if thats the safer route for you then go for it. But they may keep you in if you have a fit or you give birth during the night. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Moose, got day that is not 100% guaranteed that you'd get to go home the same day, but if you think it's pretty likely then you might be setting yourself unrealistic expectations.

As a ftm, you've got about a 50-50 chance of ending up with either a section or an instrumental delivery. For either of those, it's very, very unlikely you'll be home same day. Even if you're in the other 50% based tears and complications mean that many don't go home that quickly. I think it's quite unusual for a ftm to not have to stay a night.

It might be better for you to consider this now and prep yourself mentally for it - that chances are it will be at least one, maybe 2 nights, and then if not, you're pleasantly surprised.

@Peanutandphoenix Yes. Ideally. I also said it wasn't guaranteed.

@grayelephant Thank you for the stats. Am doing everything possible to avoid either - I've even got one of those fancy fanny dilators arriving to try and minimise the chance of instrumental delivery.

I do realise that I will probably have to stay in though I am keeping my focus on wanting to get home as early as possible.

I don't work on post-natal so this might be completely unfounded. On my ward (MAU) we do not have patients who are at risk of seizures in a side room unless they have an infection, and then they are monitored closely. It's too much of a risk for the patient unfortunately. I wonder if it might be an option to be in a room (door open) near the nurses station? If there is one of course.

I'm not one of those people who had a wonderful hospital stay after birth, but I did value the help and information from the midwives (when they came!), especially with breast feeding and post natal bleeding. Good luck OP, I hope you get the birth and after-care you want and need!

@PonderLand I am fully prepared that they may say that.

I would love to have help with breastfeeding if that's available - I have found a private lactation specialist and noted down the number in case I struggle. It all depends on medications at the time though.

My issues with staying in hospital isn't that I think they are awful places, it's just that I know our home is seizure proof (almost) and it's quiet so I would get more rest. I really value the NHS and all the staff that work in it.

Amenity rooms are usually on a medical needs basis, so it is likely to be the case that you'll only get one if no one else needs it. It's not really something you can sort in advance, but definitely ask (or get your birth partner to) as soon as you're on postnatal.

I had one for a week after DS was born, then got kicked out for a mum with multiples.

Ours are £130 but that's for as many nights as needed.

Don't see why you need to explain wanting one... if they're free then it's a good thing for them to be used.

Sorry, maybe I misunderstood TheGentleMoose - did you want one for free? That will be decided at the time on clinical need I guess, but you should be able to pay for one if it's available.

I would recommend contacting the head of midwifery services at your unit and explain your concerns. There is a good chance she can help you get the best possible outcome here and use influence on the day.

I got one both times for free. I am a nurse that had worked for the trust in the past, and just (cheekily) asked. I can only assume there was no-one with a clinical need at the time. It was fab although I still didn't sleep because baby didn't sleep worth an ask.

There's a finite number of private rooms available and its pot luck if there's one free when you're there.

Put a request in as early as possible when you get there.

Usually the private rooms have a turn lock but if course you don't have to lock them when you're in there, it's personal choice. I imagine they are easily opened from the outside by staff by a special tool anyway for safety.

My maternity ward would take babies on request in their wheely bassinets to a room next to the mw station if some new mums weren't getting any sleep and look after them there.

I did have both a private room and ward (4 bed bay) experience. The babies weren't so much the problem in terms of noise as some mums, chatting loudly on mobiles etc in the middle of the night!.