Maternity Unit Bans Children

[mrstgrlvr]

No really!!

Has anyone else come across this in their area?

My sister is about to give birth in a Glasgow hospital and it turns out that only sibling children are allowed to visit her and her baby in hospital. All other children are refused. It's their policy and its on their website!

It's causing us some upset in our family as I'll be looking after my sister's (now) 11 year old while she's in hospital having the baby. My neice is understandably keen to see her mum and first sibling as soon as possible, but I have a 2 year old of my own and most of the time have no one else I can leave her with. If we show up, my neice will get in but I'll have to wait outside with a (probably cranky) 2 year old after the 40 mile drive from my house to the hospital. So much for getting out the video camera to capture this special moment in our family.

The policy has never been mentioned in the course of my sister's care either. How many other unsuspecting families travel a distance with their kids, buy gifts etc, to visit a new member of the family and are refused entry?

Can anyone fathom what justification a maternity unit could have for such an anti-family and discriminatory policy? We're talking about family members visiting other healthy family members - not holding a creche in an intensive care unit! I'm really very grumpy about the whole thing.

Wondered if anyone can relate / explain..?

Oh I completely agree with it, sorry. A postnatal ward is really no place for grubby little hands.

But a friend of mine just gave birth in the Royal and there were plenty of kids at visiting time.

Afraid its standard policy at our hospital here in Kent too. No visitors & only 2 birthing partners max in midwifery led unit & delivery suites, & siblings only on the post-natal ward.

Perhaps of you phone in advance & make it clear the difficulties you have, they might overlook it? Alternatively, how likely is it that a short-staffed busy ward will really be keeping that close an eye? I mean, as long your DD doesn't draw too much attention to herself, you'd probably get away with it...

That's always been policy with anyone I've visited in a post natal ward.
I think it's fair enough really I love kids but the post natal ward is not a place for hoards of other peoples children!
If they banned siblings then that's not fair!

If you take children into hospital, you are effectively taking them into other women's bedrooms, because of the ward situation, so it needs a bit of rationing really.

I think it's perfectly valid to ban as many people as possible from hospital wards as well, because they are breeding grounds for disease as it is. Introducing even more bacteria/viruses is a bad idea. At home it's different because it's generally family rather than strangers for the first week or so, and there's more of a collective herd immunity.

If it were down to me, I would even ban coffee shops and gift shops and florists and so on from hospitals, and reduce footfall as much as humanely possible, to minimise infection risk.

I'd ban all visitors except partners and siblings. Have you ever spent any time on a postnatal ward? I have, about 3 weeks in total, and other people's visitors an be a bloody nuisance. Lots of people think it's ok to be noisy, smelly (constantly going out for a fag), comment on other mothers and babies, let their children run riot, eat chinese takeaway right next to someone else's bed etc etc etc.

Theprovinciallady
I was in for nearly 2months so know how annoying visitors can get. One girl had 7 round her bed and she was only in for a weekend, but having the occasional visitor ie my mum, sister and nieces, friends was a lifeline.
They turned a blind eye to my nieces but e went down to the little courtyard so they could run around.

I think there is too much visiting on post natal wards. Every other ward (bar SCBU/NICU/ICU and children's) allows significant periods of the day for patients to rest. Only in maternity are you expected to lose a nights sleep in labour then have to look after a newborn and put up with whole day visiting. When my SIL gave birth visiting was from 8am until 11pm.

wrt infection control a person with an infection in the baby's home will only infect that family, on a ward it could pass to several babies and ultimately shut the ward down.

The babies actual siblings are visiting their mother from whom they have spent time apart, sometimes several days. Most people are used to spending time apart from aunts etc.

Like others have said it is standard policy and has been for many years.
Is there really noone else to look after your DD? No family, friends? Does she not go to nursery?
Or are you just reluctant to arrange it because you feel pissed off with the situation?

It's the same in the Royal Berks (Reading). As others have said, I think it's a mob-reduction measure.

I was quite happy with it I have to say!

Would it be possible for your niece to go in and visit her mum, but for her then to come out and mind your DD while you go in to visit for yourself? Little bit of a faff but managable IMO.

outyougo, when I had DS 2 years ago visiting times were only 2x1hr per day.

I can't imagine having people there more than that, you want that bonding time with new baby.

Most 4 bedded bays that women are in have room for 2 chairs only at the bedside. many units have a 2 visitors at a time policy for this reason, otherwise you encroach on other people.There is no child friendly space and the children need to be hushed and kept still. Other women in the bay may well be exhausted or ill and its not fair to subject them to other peoples visitors disturbance. Plus the infection control issues. You can say who comes into your house, not who visits the woman in the next bed.

Most 4 bedded bays that women are in have room for 2 chairs only at the bedside. many units have a 2 visitors at a time policy for this reason, otherwise you encroach on other people.There is no child friendly space and the children need to be hushed and kept still. Other women in the bay may well be exhausted or ill and its not fair to subject them to other peoples visitors disturbance. Plus the infection control issues. You can say who comes into your house, not who visits the woman in the next bed.

I don't know anywhere that doesn't have that as policy and while I can understand it can be a bit vexing for wider family I wouldn't like it to be changed.

It's the policy at my local hospital - and so glad of it I am too.

in my hospital the only visitors allowed are the baby's father, siblings and grandparents. father and siblings can come whenever, grandparents can come during visiting hours which i think are 2 hours in the evening. my sister is raging as it means she can't come in.

when i had DS there was a complete ban on visitors (except dad's of course) due to swine flu and i was so upset beforehand but it was bliss. 3 days of just me, DS and DH with no family coming in while i got to grips with breastfeeding and hobbled around the hospital bed. was a bit sad that my poor baby obsessed mum didn't get to see her first grandchild for 3 days but she got over it!

I think it's a sensible policy. Rest and recuperation isn't going to be as possible for women having just given birth, with lots of other people's children around.

I was stuck in SCBU for a month, I hated it when entire extended families took over the room, which happened rather a lot. There was a room for visitors to chat, but it was small and if one family was already in, any new arrivals ended up in the main room. Because some babies were very, very ill, 24 hour visiting was allowed in NICU, which was directly attached to SCBU - the hospital did not want to prevent families being able to visit babies who might not make it - but it meant there were upset families trailing through our bit, which was horrid for all of us.

The hospital has since been demolished and replaced, I gather it is more family friendly now.

It sounds reasonable enough to me actually. Most women and babies are only in hospital for a couple of days at the most so there's not really any need for all the relatives and their kids to turn up and visit!

Maybe they could make an exception when someone has a very extended stay for some reason (e.g. those who've mentioned being in for several weeks or even months)? Otherwise I don't see the problem with visitors (other than husband/partner and baby's siblings) waiting until you're home.

I agree with it entirely. I wouldn't want extended family and their children visiting me either. My h and my children are plenty...

I gave birth in glasgow and the rule wasn't strictly enforced (sort of don't ask don't tell). This was 5 years ago though.

When sil had my youngest nephew in edinburgh it was stricter so my db came out and sat with ds for a bit while I saw the new baby, then just before we left he brought nephew out into the corridor briefly so ds could see him.

Same in our hospital. Thankfully they did let my partners son come in even though their policy said they only allowed the mothers own children. But siblings only is a good policy in my opinion. there are already more than enough noisy visitors on the postnatal ward and I found it impossible to get a decent rest after a long drawn out labour.

Not new, DF and her DH had to take it in turns to come in to say hi, while the other had their DTs in the car park.

Infection risk was the hospitals excuse.

They had a lovely time meeting 7 hr. old DD2. No visiting rules after a HB

Same @ the hospital trust near me. It doesn't affect me. But only the mums children were allowed to visit & one child only at a time too

this policy is the norm, I would have thought.

in my experience of 3 maternity hospitals (2 in the same trust in London, one in Ireland) they all had this policy.

I can see it makes it awkward for you, OP but it's to stop the wards getting too hectic. I thought, at first, you meant siblings weren't allowed and I would feel that was a bit unfair.