Good questions to ask during Maternity Unit tour??

[Smittals]

I'm due to have my first baby in Dec at the Rosie Maternity Hospital, part of Addenbrookes in Cambridge. As I live outside their 'antenatal' catchment area, I only get the 30 min tour of the unit as my opportunity to ask questions about what the whole experience will be like there (I really mean the facilities on offer and their policies, Mumsnet brilliant for everything else!). Any suggestions for good questions to ask please? Feeling knackered again these days and brain not working!!

Do they have other lighting options than the big strip ones - trying to relax/sleep with those fluorescents is horrid.

Can you bring music with you? cd/tape/mp3?

(not a maternity question but still a must is: after you've had the baby where can you get a decent meal from?)

How many anesthetists are on duty on a Sunday at 3AM. So, if I want an epidural, will I have to wait for the emergency section to finish? How many theatres do you have? Can I bring my own music? What is your policy on baby sleeping in bed with mum after a long tiring labour and delivery? If I have a section how many days will you make me stay here? How much is the private room and what do I need to do to get one? What are visiting hours? Can my DH spend the night in the hospital with me? What kind of drugs are on offer? What are your policies on monitoring/mobility?

Will they bath the baby straight after delivery?

My ds was taken away with my dh present and bathed when I was still on the table having my c-section closed up. Ds was 3kg and subsequently my peadiatricain friend said that it would have been better if they had not bathed the baby as he was a lowish birth weight and why risk any problems (babies have difficulty regulating their temps).

My dh took photos of my ds being bathed and they are upsetting to look at - he is screaming and looks terrified - he is now 6mth and only now liking his baths (connected?)

Anyway, I wish I had known that they were going to do it and I would have said no to a bath straight away.

just turn yr head away when they're showing you the forceps (i speak as one who has "benefited" from them - really, really glad I hadn't seen them first!)

They don't take your baby for a bath at the Rosie. My baby had her first bath when she was 1 week old and in her pictures she's already smiling! I think they'll bath the baby if you stay longer and specifically ask them to. More to show you how to do it not so much for the bath.
They're very concerned about their temps there and a little hat is part of the list of things you must bring.

What is your policy on eating/drinking in labour? (friend of mine had concentrated apple juice, for example and really felt it was vital to her. I had loads in my bag but wasn't interested til after)

Do people ever bring in their own hired pools here to be sure of a waterbirth?

What single/amenity rooms do you have in the postnatal areas, and how much do they cost? If you're not priority for an amenity room, can you prebook a private room and how much does that cost? (NB prepare for 'snotty cow' stare from somebody at that point, if you're lucky it won't be the midwife. But somebody on the tour will be glad you asked, even if you end up not fancying it, not needing it or not able to afford it).

What is visiting policy in the postnatal areas?

I don't know what your hospital is like, but ours has a midwife led unit, and a consultant unit. At our visit, we went round the midwife led unit, and were given lots of details and shown all of the options available to us. We then walked quickly through the other unit, which the midwife dismissed with 'this is where you'll end up if you don't have a straightforward birth, but you don't need to worry about that as you're all under midwife led care'.

In the end I developed preeclampsia, was induced and ended up having an emergency cs, and was in the consultant led unit from start to finish. I would have really appreciated more detail about what happens if you don't have the natural birth you hope for, but as the visits tend to organised by midwives, they are obviously more focused on the unit they lead. So make sure that you know what will happen in every eventuality, so that if you do need more intervention, you're at least prepared for it.

hi smittals! i had both ds-s at the rosie (dec.03 and dec.05), both wonderful experiences! ds1 was unexpected cs, since he was undiagnosed breech, ds2 was vbac but with episiotomy and forceps, as he was v.stuck (had cord around his neck 3 times...). after c-section i had to stay in for a week. would have been released after 2 days, but ds1 had some problems breathing and feeding, so we had to stay longer. with ds2 we were home the next day. wonderful!
at rosie they have pool, mw-led unit, and i think 2 theatres. on both occasions i found the staff v.experienced and helpful: with ds2 we had many false alarms, so we got to know all the mw-s and doctors there .