How much can you personalize the atmosphere in the L&D room?

[Anonymous]

clothes and music are fine. Ask about the scented oils. Some places will have different policies.

[Anonymous]

Why everyone talking scented oils? Trust me, that is the last thing you want wafting through your room and if you do end up getting away with the infused oils you'll forever associate "lavender fields" with the throes of labor. That's if you dont dry heave or puke first.

If you want to bring music or a portable DVD player to help pass the time fine, but once you hit 6/7cm things ramp up (or the doctor will ramp things up for you) and you want care 1 bit about your surroundings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why everyone talking scented oils? Trust me, that is the last thing you want wafting through your room and if you do end up getting away with the infused oils you'll forever associate "lavender fields" with the throes of labor. That's if you dont dry heave or puke first.

If you want to bring music or a portable DVD player to help pass the time fine, but once you hit 6/7cm things ramp up (or the doctor will ramp things up for you) and you want care 1 bit about your surroundings.

PP here whose doula brought scented something (lavender oil maybe) to the birth. I thought it was great and definitely don't associate lavender with the throes of labor. It was very calming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had quick labors but they were unmedicated - and I have to say, although I'm totally the sort of person who would want to personalize the room I didn't care whatsoever and even had zero idea of what the environment was.

Yeah the room environment was the last thing on my mind.

Same.

Same. I have done it twice and couldn’t tell you a thing about the room environment. Also I changed gowns frequently (early labor, late labor, after labor, the evening after) for a 15 hour labor so bringing my own gown would have been a waste.

[Anonymous]

When I did my hospital tour, the rooms smelled pretty funky, so I did bring a diffuser with some lavender and lemon essential oils. The room didn’t smell nearly as bad when I showed up for my induction, but I used the oils anyway and thought it was nice. I asked my nurse to make sure she didn’t have any allergies and the oils wouldn’t bother her before I turn on the diffuser though. I definitely wouldn’t plan to wear your own clothes unless you’re prepared to throw them out immediately afterward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I brought electronic candles, an aromatherapy diffuser, and I had a playlist. The L and D nurses definitely rolled their eyes a bit as I was a total first time mom. I thought I was going to breathe my baby into the world in some sort of Enya type trance. Ended up having complications and I puked, bled, and pooped all over the room. I could not have cared less about the room environment once I was around 7 cm—the only thing they mattered was getting that baby out alive. And the smell of that oil in labor made me want to barf. Unless you have aPerfect, easy, unicorn birth this stuff really does not matter and will not matter to you in labor, especially if you’re unmedicated and trying to get through your contractions.

I’m sorry your labor was so difficult, but your story made me chuckle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had quick labors but they were unmedicated - and I have to say, although I'm totally the sort of person who would want to personalize the room I didn't care whatsoever and even had zero idea of what the environment was.

Yeah the room environment was the last thing on my mind.

Same. Room environment was at the bottom of the list. Surviving was at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I brought electronic candles, an aromatherapy diffuser, and I had a playlist. The L and D nurses definitely rolled their eyes a bit as I was a total first time mom. I thought I was going to breathe my baby into the world in some sort of Enya type trance. Ended up having complications and I puked, bled, and pooped all over the room. I could not have cared less about the room environment once I was around 7 cm—the only thing they mattered was getting that baby out alive. And the smell of that oil in labor made me want to barf. Unless you have aPerfect, easy, unicorn birth this stuff really does not matter and will not matter to you in labor, especially if you’re unmedicated and trying to get through your contractions.

+1000
Exactly.

[Anonymous]

I brought a small portable speaker to play music and was so glad I had it. I never would have thought to turn it on during the most intense phases of active labor (back labor with a poorly positioned baby), but it helped keep me calm(ish) and focused while pushing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had quick labors but they were unmedicated - and I have to say, although I'm totally the sort of person who would want to personalize the room I didn't care whatsoever and even had zero idea of what the environment was.

Yeah the room environment was the last thing on my mind.

Ditto. I labored at home as long as possible in my own personalized home. By the time I got to the hospital/birth center, I was not at all focused on what was happening beyond my immediate space.

[Anonymous]

Very funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had quick labors but they were unmedicated - and I have to say, although I'm totally the sort of person who would want to personalize the room I didn't care whatsoever and even had zero idea of what the environment was.

Yeah the room environment was the last thing on my mind.

Same.

Same. My eyes were closed most of the time, trying to deal with the contractions. The other half of the time I was watching the clock. Dying for it all to be over.

[Anonymous]

FYI. I made a playlist for my first child. I was in so much pain during that damn playlist there are songs I can never listen to again because they trigger PTSD.

first time moms, bless your heart.

[Anonymous]

If you plan to have an epidural and end up not having complications, labor is not what I had pictured at all. It was completely calm, even somewhat boring, I finished some work (as did my husband) as I went into labor a bit unexpectedly, watched some tv, and there weren’t any nurses or doctors in there most of the time. Would’ve been weird to have a playlist going or scented candles

It’s always funny to see labor depicted on tv because it was so different than my experience

[Anonymous]

When I went in for an induction last fall, I had The Crown playing on an iPad because I thought it was going to take ages. Once I got into some serious contractions, I just kept kind of staring blankly at it while in my own head, focusing on breathing. Once I started pushing I ended up having to scream at my husband to turn it off- he had thought I was just SUPER into it, but in actuality, the noise was driving me insane. It still cracks me up that he thought I was that concerned about the British monarchy while pushing. Also, I have no idea what happened in that season.