OlympianCity
Registered User
I just wanted to share with you all my experience with St Paul's Hospital ...but if you have paid your deposit, then just be very firm and clear to the nurses what you want when it comes to feeding your child and ASK questions always
so here it is...
So, i had a vaginal delivery in August at St Paul's.
Well, as this was my first pregnancy, i honestly did not know what to expect in a hospital. I just assumed that a private hospital would respect my concerns and wishes. But in reality, it was not the case.
1) when it comes to breastfeeding, they do not seem to encourage it, nor they have the support for it. So, i was lying in the delivery room, waiting. it was about 6pm . One nurse came up and checked my progress, and casually asked if i was going to breastfeed. I said "of course", and i said "so I assume you will place the baby in my arm so he can begin sucking as soon as possible, right? Or at least after you guys have finished cleaning and checking him, right?" Then nurse says, "no, you will get to feed the baby the next morning". What? she said i needed the rest. But even in their hospital pamphlets they say "one way to success on breastfeeding is to start breastfeeding asap".... well, i guess there is no point of argument in a delivery room right. Nor i had the energy to think twice about it.
Everything went well and i got to meet my boy at 9:30pm that evening. after about 1-2 hours resting in the delivery room, 2 nurse assistants pushed me back to my room to rest.
2) the next morning i woke up, not knowing what to expect. I assumed there would be a nurse coming in orienting me, at least telling me how i could see and feed my baby. No sign. Soon my OBGYN came at about 7:30am to check on me. After he was gone I called a nurse via the phone on the bed and asked her what am i supposed to do next. She answered with an impatient and cold tone - "check the schedule on the wall". What wall? "there's a piece of paper glued to a wall in your room"...
3) the schedule says "feeding time - 8am -9am" . I knew that I have to walk to the nursery to feed my baby, but no one has told me where the nursery was. I had to walk to the reception desk outside my room to ask about it.
4) the real nightmare began here : I knocked on the door of the nursery and told them my name. The nurse at the door answered coldly " we have already fed your child" and she almost walked away, if my husband and I stopped her and demanded an explanation - cos I was planning all along to exclusively breastfeed my child. She said " well, no one showed up to feed that child so someone had to feed him, right? And did you tell us you want to breastfeed him" I said " i told the nurse in the delivery room i was going to breastfeed. And no one in this hospital ever approached me to ask me what i wanted"...The nurse just said (again, coldly), "well, we were not informed at all'.
5) oh well, i don't know about you, but when you have a husband who has chronic severe eczema and food allergy , plus his doctor has advised me to exclusively breastfeed the baby for at least 6 months, hoping that formula dos not trigger any kind of possible allergy, you would be really upset when your plan on breastfeeding fell through on Day ONE.
6) oh, to make the experience worse, did i mention that the nurse FORGOT to inform a pediatrician to check on my baby that morning? The pediatrician showed up in the afternoon, and well, luckily he had enough sense to come up to us to apologize why he showed up so late.
anyway. gosh. it's been almost 2 months and everytime i thought about this experience i am still very, very upset by it. Thank goodness my baby is thriving healthy .
I just wanted to share with you all so that you would not have to endure what i went through .
If you have already paid your deposit and have planned to go to St Paul's, just remember to check with the nurses about these details, and always ASK questions , and if you think something is best for you and your child, be firm about it.
Good luck to all of you!
so here it is...
So, i had a vaginal delivery in August at St Paul's.
Well, as this was my first pregnancy, i honestly did not know what to expect in a hospital. I just assumed that a private hospital would respect my concerns and wishes. But in reality, it was not the case.
1) when it comes to breastfeeding, they do not seem to encourage it, nor they have the support for it. So, i was lying in the delivery room, waiting. it was about 6pm . One nurse came up and checked my progress, and casually asked if i was going to breastfeed. I said "of course", and i said "so I assume you will place the baby in my arm so he can begin sucking as soon as possible, right? Or at least after you guys have finished cleaning and checking him, right?" Then nurse says, "no, you will get to feed the baby the next morning". What? she said i needed the rest. But even in their hospital pamphlets they say "one way to success on breastfeeding is to start breastfeeding asap".... well, i guess there is no point of argument in a delivery room right. Nor i had the energy to think twice about it.
Everything went well and i got to meet my boy at 9:30pm that evening. after about 1-2 hours resting in the delivery room, 2 nurse assistants pushed me back to my room to rest.
2) the next morning i woke up, not knowing what to expect. I assumed there would be a nurse coming in orienting me, at least telling me how i could see and feed my baby. No sign. Soon my OBGYN came at about 7:30am to check on me. After he was gone I called a nurse via the phone on the bed and asked her what am i supposed to do next. She answered with an impatient and cold tone - "check the schedule on the wall". What wall? "there's a piece of paper glued to a wall in your room"...
3) the schedule says "feeding time - 8am -9am" . I knew that I have to walk to the nursery to feed my baby, but no one has told me where the nursery was. I had to walk to the reception desk outside my room to ask about it.
4) the real nightmare began here : I knocked on the door of the nursery and told them my name. The nurse at the door answered coldly " we have already fed your child" and she almost walked away, if my husband and I stopped her and demanded an explanation - cos I was planning all along to exclusively breastfeed my child. She said " well, no one showed up to feed that child so someone had to feed him, right? And did you tell us you want to breastfeed him" I said " i told the nurse in the delivery room i was going to breastfeed. And no one in this hospital ever approached me to ask me what i wanted"...The nurse just said (again, coldly), "well, we were not informed at all'.
5) oh well, i don't know about you, but when you have a husband who has chronic severe eczema and food allergy , plus his doctor has advised me to exclusively breastfeed the baby for at least 6 months, hoping that formula dos not trigger any kind of possible allergy, you would be really upset when your plan on breastfeeding fell through on Day ONE.
6) oh, to make the experience worse, did i mention that the nurse FORGOT to inform a pediatrician to check on my baby that morning? The pediatrician showed up in the afternoon, and well, luckily he had enough sense to come up to us to apologize why he showed up so late.
anyway. gosh. it's been almost 2 months and everytime i thought about this experience i am still very, very upset by it. Thank goodness my baby is thriving healthy .
I just wanted to share with you all so that you would not have to endure what i went through .
If you have already paid your deposit and have planned to go to St Paul's, just remember to check with the nurses about these details, and always ASK questions , and if you think something is best for you and your child, be firm about it.
Good luck to all of you!
Good luck!