Delivery Expectations

What to expect on booking into a hospital to have your baby.

- Midwife Tina Otte

Whether you’re having a planned caesarean or a vaginal birth, this is what you can expect once you walk into the maternity ward.

CAESAREAN BIRTH

If you know that you are having a c-section delivery, your doctor will give you set instructions on what to do at home in the 24 hours before admission.

You will be told to stop eating and drinking between 10 and 12 midnight the night before – if you are being done in the first part of the morning. However, if you are due to have your baby in the afternoon of the following day, then you will be allowed to have tea and toast between six and eight in the morning that you are due to have your baby.

Most hospitals will give you a list of what to bring in for yourself as well as for the baby. Some hospitals have ready-to-buy packs of the essential toiletries that you will need for the both of you.

Some moms prefer to wax or shave before admission, but shaving can be done by the medical staff.

Check-in may be done in the labour or in the postnatal ward. These days, paperwork has become a lot more streamlined, and you might be able to do most of it in advance. Upon admission, you will get a hospital file, with a number and stickers with all your information on.

You need to have your medical aid details with you (if you have a medical aid) and your identity document.

You will be asked questions relating to your medical history – allergies, illnesses, and so on. You will need to sign certain forms including consent to have both surgery (they will specify exactly what is to be done) and a spinal/epidural. Your baby’s name tags will be written out – please check that the name and the number on the tag is the same as yours.