Hospital Policies

If you don’t already know….. You need to understand that hospital policy is often not evidence based and not in your best interest! 

Some examples:

Not eating or drinking during labor

Continuous fetal monitoring

Must dilate 1cm/ per hour or you get drugs

24 hours after you check in you must have your baby

Start pushing when you get to 10 cm

Birthing the baby only on your back

Cesarean because of prolonged labor 

Cutting the cord immediately

Newborn procedures done immediately and not on your skin

Erythromycin eye ointment for every baby

The list goes on and on…….. If you want to follow these policies then by all means do it! But just know, you don’t have to. These policies do more hard than good and are really just guidelines for the staff to follow. You can always decline anything- it’s your birth!