Hygiene in public hospitals - experiences?

for me, i had suffered excruciating hip & back pain for the duration of my second pregnancy. i was in a wheelchair for 4 months out of an 8 month pregnancy. the anesthetist was concerned that an epi or a spinal would only exacerbate my problems, so he recommended general.

compared to my first delivery, emergency c-section where the epi didn't do the job properly, i would take the second again any day of the week and twice on sundays.
 
Liquorice, I think the basic rule should be that a local or general anaesthetic is given based on medical reasons FIRST. Only if everthing is going fine would the mother be given the option of local or general anaesthetic. We see lots of TV programmes where mothers are deliveing babies under local anaesthetic for C-sections, those must be cases where there are no complications. With my delivery, as soon as the midwife and doctor told me that my baby was going into distress and had to be born immediately, I didn't argue and signed the consent forms for c-section. I didn't ask if they were doing a general or local anaesthtic. They put me to sleep and she was born literally 10 mins after I signed the forms. I think if they administered local, it would have taken longer. Added to that, I had further complications. Medical staff told me I lost almost 2 litres of blood during delivery and needed blood transfusions. I think the medical staff would have needed the mum to be completely asleep in order to do their job properly.
 
In my case, I had been induced and was in active labour for 24 hours with strong contractions every 1 - 2 minutes. The chord was wrapped around my daughters neck and she was getting distressed with every contraction. After 20 hours I had requested an epidural. To perform the c-section, they just topped this up and after the doctors made the decision to perform the emergency c-section she was born within 20 minutes. Had I not had the epidural, they would have had to give me a general anaesthetic.
 
Like above, I also already had an epidural (which didn't last long) in my spine, so when 22 hrs after my water broke and i had failure to progress labour naturally, the drugs were too strong and caused my baby to go into distress with each agonizing contraction, and his position wasnt great and unfixable, the doctor strongly suggested a c-section. My epicural simply got topped up in the operating theatre. A few times however, since the first two times I could still feel the doctors test for pain. It actually takes a while for them to do all the cutting, pulling and sewing. It wasn't nice at all. But seeing and hearing my baby screaming and all red like a little monster really made me beyond happy to be awake for the whole thing.
 
1) Did you call the hospital before going in? - I had a scheduled C/S but If you are going the natural way, you can either go there by your own means or call an ambulance if necessary. But women I knew who called ambulance were taken to TKO hospital first, monitored there and sent to UCH for the delivery
2) Did you have to speak to someone through the intercom to enter the delivery suite? - as mentioned by Cara, you cannot go there by yourself. they will take you there from your ward when the time is right
3) At what stage did you tell them your preference for breastfeeding - a few weeks before your due date, they will interview you regarding your preferences
5) There's a list of things to take to government hospitals on this site... like maternity pads with string. Does the hospital insist on any of this stuff? I don't remember getting a list of what to take from the maternal health care centre. Does the hospital provide anything? - yes, you need to bring all listed in the paper they gave you the first time you registered. you can buy most of these in the convenience store inside the hospital
6) Do you have to give them clothes for your baby or do they have standard hospital clothes? - you only bring the going home outfit for your baby, all are provided by the hospital. I also saw some bring mittens as the baby can have long nails and scratch himself
 
Liquorice said:
Carang / Kaikosmom, why did you have generals for your c-sections? Was it your choice or the aneasthetists recommendation? I'm not clear on the benefits / drawbacks versus an epidural or spinal block... Was it okay or would you do something different if you did it again?
Click to expand...

Actually, I opted for the spinal block as that was what had been administered to me in my first earlier delivery by C/S and I believe has less side effects/risks. But unfortunately, that time, spinal block did not work for me. I can still lift my legs after several tries, so the last resort would be general anesthesia.
 
Items to bring along (UCH)

Hi Charade,

It's kind of weird you didn't get the list from the maternal clinic since I've got one on my first visit.
Here they are:
1. Out patient card & consultation appointment slip issued by hospital
2. Your & your husband ID cards
3. 2 boxes of tissues, 1 packet of diapers for newborn baby and 2 large towels
4. 2 packets of maternity sanitary pads (non adhesive), 2 bras, 2 elastic mesh briefs (can be bought at the Rehab Shop located at G/F of Block P)
5. Basic personal necessities, such as drinking cup, slippers, face towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, soap, etc
6. Wet wipes for baby or small plastic basin with a packet of cotton wool (for cleaning of baby's buttock)
7. Woolen underclothes labeled with mother's name for the baby
8. Bedside cabinet of postnatal ward can be locked, please bring your own lock & key if needed

I got the list around June 2010 and will ask for the last updated one when my delivery date's nearer.

Good luck!

deasy
 
MOST important personal necessities for mummies?

eye-patch (to block out the lights that are turned off around midnight and on again around 6am)
and
ear plugs!!!!
 
Thanks so much deasy. I think I must have lost the list. I asked them for another one at my last appointment but they couldn't find an english version. The nurse very kindly translated the Chinese list for me but going by your list she clearly missed out some things. Good to know some of it is available at the hospital store. Tried searching for the store in block s and couldn't find it... Now I know it's in P. thanks again
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