No Labor and Delivery Tours at Sibley

[Anonymous]

I just called Sibley to schedule a labor and delivery tour and found out that they are gone forever! I was told that they have a full schedule and will be replacing tours in the hospital with virtual tours online. Is anybody delivering at Sibley nervous about this? Did you hear something similar?

[Anonymous]

I had my tour 2 weekends ago and they did mention something like this, but I didn't realize it was imminent!

Here's what we got on the tour, if you'd like a run down.

The person who conducted the tour was an on-staff dietician, and she was not able to answer any medical questions or questions about hospital policy or procedures (which is why I signed up for the tour in the first place so that was disappointing). We saw the L&D rooms and the post-partum recovery rooms (nice to do the tour, but nothing that I wouldn't have gotten from just seeing pictures of the rooms online, I don't think). We were told which entrances to use at what time of day (main entrance when it's open, otherwise the ER entrance). They may have mentioned something about where to park (I filtered that out). And we filled out some preliminary paperwork.

Filling out the paperwork in advance was useful and I'd recommend that, since I don't need to be fumbling to find my insurance policy number & mailing address while I'm in labor, and you might want to do a trial run of getting to the hospital, but apart from that all you do is look in the rooms.

[Anonymous]

I just finished a childbirth class at Sibley, and halfway through the 6 week class we got a tour. However, our teacher said the tours are now suspended because of the risk of H1N1, same as with many other hospitals in the area. She did not say they are suspended forever. Depending on when you're due, if it's after the H1N1 scare has died down, you might be able to squeeze in a tour. I'd keep calling and asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished a childbirth class at Sibley, and halfway through the 6 week class we got a tour. However, our teacher said the tours are now suspended because of the risk of H1N1, same as with many other hospitals in the area. She did not say they are suspended forever. Depending on when you're due, if it's after the H1N1 scare has died down, you might be able to squeeze in a tour. I'd keep calling and asking.

OP here. Thanks for the information! I was told that they are permanently eliminating tours as a cost saving measure. According to the person I spoke with on the phone, the H1N1 scare is not their primary motivation for no longer offering tours.

[Anonymous]

OP, I delivered at Sibley and did not do the tour first.

Here is how it all worked for me.

1. I preregistered anyway (you get this paperwork from your doctor, not the tour, anyway). Note that even though I did preregister, I had to fill it all again anyway and answer the same questions I'd already answered when I got there so I'm not sure what was the point of taking the time to preregister. But maybe it would have been worse had I not preregistered - at least they did have me in the system.
2. The things you may be thinking of as hospital policy (IV's, medication, walking arond, fetal monitoring, eating / drinking, etc,) are actually up to your doctor. How it works is that each doctor has standing orders with the hospital. If you are concerned about something, be sure to ask your doctor about it.
3. Sibley has very nice delivery rooms. They're huge. There is a TV, a couch, a rocking chair, a shower with a chair in it, and it's own bathroom. The delivery bed is giant (not that I used it - I pushed while standing on the floor!).
4. I was on the 6th floor (I think), which has the bigger private room. Let me tell you, they are not "big," so I would hate to see the smaller ones. That said, it's a hospital, not the ritz, so you'll be ok. I got out as early as I could. The cot for your DH will not be comfortable. As you probably know, they also have semi-private (aka not private) room as well. I didn't have to use this, so I don't know about them.
5. When you deliver at Sibley you will be assigned one nurse. The shift change is at 7 AM and 7 PM and sometimes 3 PM depending on how the nurse who is with you is scheduled. If you don't have good chemistry with your nurse, you may request another one.

If you have specific Q's, I'd be glad to answer them based on my experience there a few months ago. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

We did the tour and you're not missing much. You really don't get much helpful info.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP, you don't need the tour. A virtual tour should be enough for you to see the space.