Private room v. ward

[Murtette]

Hello

This is my first pregnancy and I am being induced tomorrow (will be 40 + 13). We've just found out that there are some private rooms available at the hospital we're now going to (the maternity unit at the original hospital closed on Sunday - bad timing!) and was hoping for some advice as to whether it was worth asking for one or not. I've read some of the other posts on here about this topic and am trying to work out whether I'd prefer to endure the noise on the general post-natal ward or the risk of feeling abandoned if I'm in a room by myself. What was more important to you? From what I know, the general post-natal ward has 20+ beds in it divided into "bays" of 4 or 6 beds (so could be very noisy) and visiting hours (inc for DP) are only 11am - 7pm (hence the concern about feeling lonely/abandoned).
Thanks!

I had a room on my own when I had DD1, and even that was hell on earth, after a 2 sleepless nights (long slow labour) I was then kept awake by the sounds of the phone ringing on the nurses station, the call bells and sound of other peoples babies crying for another 2 nights. I went home purely because I needed some peace and quiet and sleep. I can't imagine how bad it would've been on the ward it's self. This was one of the many factors in my decision to stay at home to have DD2!

Not much help am I? Sorry.

If you want my advice, unless your induction is clinically required (ie, they aren't just doing it because you're "overdue") then stay at home, have lots of sex and jiggle the baby out, and get the midwives to come to you and sleep in the comfort and tranquility of your own bed.

yes but point is staff select who gets the room,usually on needs basis

if vacant - no problemo.just ask
if in use, depends on availability

but by all means raise the preference with MW

oh yeah...thanks for the clarification on that

Scottishmummy you wear asking for clarification about 'private'room ie is it a single room or fee paying. In my case the hospital has a booking form that you can pre book a room for a fee. There is no guarantee that you will get the room because somebody may have an emergency and quite rightly they get priority. There are a couple of single ensuite rooms off the main ward.
I was so glad I went to the ante natal classes just for gettting that info alone!!!

Bit of a consensus on this one. Private room. No question. You've got the rest of your live to chat to random strangers about your baby.

I spent a lot of my pregnancy in and out of hospital and before I sussed the private room situation/medical insurance was stuck on a six-bed antenatal ward for five days at a time. It was hell on earth. No sleep from bleeping monitors, shrieking women and, memorably, one woman who spoke not one word of English and insisted on leaking her amniotic fluid and blood all over the carpet tiles rather than the bed - driving the midwives mad and leaving us all with a room that stank of an abbatoir for days afterwards (and no, it didn't get cleaned, unless you count me pinching a bathroom cleaner from a cupboard and spraying the area).

I had a private room and it was the best thing I ever did. My own en suite bathroom (the loos for the shared wards were a Hammer Horror gore-fest and the shower cubicles were covered in coils of hair and blood and shit) and fridge and peace and quiet. Not having the nurses in yelling distance made no difference to me as I had my buzzer and my experience of the ward was that you could yell all you liked - if they were too busy/couldn't be a*sed to put down their book (Cecelia Aherne was obviously a gripping read!) you weren't going to be looked after.

Private room meant no one else's visitors, noises, babies screaming, food smells. I had peace and quiet and a window I could open. I spent the last month of my pregnancy in the hospital at the end and I used to walk around a lot to alleviate the boredom and I'll never forget the noise and smells from the ward - babies shrieking, mothers crying, water jugs not replaced. Equally, visiting friends when they had their babies and were on the wards and they were desperate/begging to leave.

Get a private room if you can. If you find you hate it and you want to move to a ward the odds are they'll be able to move you over pretty quickly. Someone would probably gladly swap with you!!

Best of luck.

ha ha ha am laughing at the luxury of 4 bed wards! When I had DD1 there were about 12 people on the ward, the space was so tiny that if I moved in bed I elbowed the person in the bed next door!! I'll never forget the look on my mum's face when she visited.

Had a section so was in for 3 nights - DH found out about a private room so I got to go there for the remaining 2 nights. It was great to have more space and some privacy but I did feel a bit about the whole thing, and imagined everybody else on the ward outside going 'who the hell does she think she is having her own room'. Also agree with someone else who said that I didn't get as much attention from the staff as I did when I was on the ward.

With DC2 I had a VBAC and got to go home a few hours after giving birth so no need to stay over

The medical point about midwives/doctors keeping an eye on you isn't about being in yelling distance. Its about the fact that midwives will have to come past you every once in a while so if you're not in good shape (and you may not realise that's not the case, because hey, you've just had a baby and have no idea how you're meant to feel) they should spot it. That won't necessarily happen if you're tucked away in a private room where no one comes by. It was never something that would have occured to me as an issue if my doctor sis hadn't been concerned about it. I agree, they are all well capable of ignoring you when you need some help!

I agree with everyone that from a general comfort perspective, there is no contest, much nicer to be in your own room, but this might be an extra factor that people should take into account, even if the risk seems a bit remote.

reading this has made me contemplate self-discharging!