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The term "run interference" is so much more accurate than I think folks who've never done this realize. My wife submitted a birth plan that explicitly stated no

The term "run interference" is so much more accurate than I think folks who've never done this realize. My wife submitted a birth plan that explicitly stated no drugs except in the case of emergency. After the fourth time one of the floor nurses asked my wife if she was ready for her epidural I ended up gently insisting she not step foot in our room again. On three occasions I physically barred entry to the room to a lab tech that thought 3am was an appropriate time to do routine blood draws. Twice I caught and stopped a group of 10 (!!) med students about to enter the room for no medically obvious purpose. To the extent that there was any peace during or after my wife giving birth it was because I was belligerenly guarding the door.

ralphc 3y ago
I applaud all that with the possible exception of the routine blood draws. Not for childbirth but both my wife and I have been in the hospital and appreciated the monitoring. Things can go south quickly on many medical issues, wouldn't a timely blood test catch things early?
- Spooky23 3y ago
  It’s difficult unless you know how the hospital works. If you’re recovering on the standard medical floor, they follow some idiotic process ordered by a hospitalist whom you’ll never see. Basically you’re there because some rule says so. If you’re on an OB floor, ICU, PACU, or dedicated unit, you’d better know why she’s there and they are doing those blood draws as you’re putting mom at risk for a variety of problems. If all is well, she’s going home in a day or two, and being an obstructionist is just delaying that process and an actual good nights sleep.
- forgetfreeman 3y ago
  I'd say it's situational. In this particular instance my wife showed no signs of any complications before, during, or after the birth and the labwork was as much to do with billing our insurance as anything else. They still got to do all of the labwork they wanted, just a few hours later at a more reasonable time of day.
adamsb6 3y ago
Same here. Prior to birth my wife and I were told by the medical professionals that baby will be waking up frequently for feedings, and we need sleep too, so we should sleep when baby sleeps. After a C-section once my wife were back in our postpartum room, no one seemed concerned at all with her sleep. Every 15-20 minutes there was another visitor. At this point she had been awake more than a day, had a few hours of extreme exertion before a pivot to surgery, and was full of pain killing narcotics. She could barely stay awake. I ended up being her sleep guardian. Every time I heard the sliding door to our room crack open I was on my feet to turn people away. In retrospect it was good exercise in being assertive with authority figures in service of others. I think I’ll be doing plenty of that as a father.
- salad-tycoon 3y ago
  Next time chat with nurse and doc. Nurse facilitates discussion, gets order from doctor to relax the rules (maybe no meal delivery, no room cleaning, decreased vital signs, bundled care, etc) and ask for a sign placed on door asking for “no entry-see RN first”.

ralphc 3y ago

I applaud all that with the possible exception of the routine blood draws. Not for childbirth but both my wife and I have been in the hospital and appreciated the monitoring. Things can go south quickly on many medical issues, wouldn't a timely blood test catch things early?

Spooky23 3y ago
It’s difficult unless you know how the hospital works. If you’re recovering on the standard medical floor, they follow some idiotic process ordered by a hospitalist whom you’ll never see. Basically you’re there because some rule says so. If you’re on an OB floor, ICU, PACU, or dedicated unit, you’d better know why she’s there and they are doing those blood draws as you’re putting mom at risk for a variety of problems. If all is well, she’s going home in a day or two, and being an obstructionist is just delaying that process and an actual good nights sleep.
forgetfreeman 3y ago
I'd say it's situational. In this particular instance my wife showed no signs of any complications before, during, or after the birth and the labwork was as much to do with billing our insurance as anything else. They still got to do all of the labwork they wanted, just a few hours later at a more reasonable time of day.

adamsb6 3y ago

Same here. Prior to birth my wife and I were told by the medical professionals that baby will be waking up frequently for feedings, and we need sleep too, so we should sleep when baby sleeps. After a C-section once my wife were back in our postpartum room, no one seemed concerned at all with her sleep. Every 15-20 minutes there was another visitor. At this point she had been awake more than a day, had a few hours of extreme exertion before a pivot to surgery, and was full of pain killing narcotics. She could barely stay awake. I ended up being her sleep guardian. Every time I heard the sliding door to our room crack open I was on my feet to turn people away. In retrospect it was good exercise in being assertive with authority figures in service of others. I think I’ll be doing plenty of that as a father.

salad-tycoon 3y ago
Next time chat with nurse and doc. Nurse facilitates discussion, gets order from doctor to relax the rules (maybe no meal delivery, no room cleaning, decreased vital signs, bundled care, etc) and ask for a sign placed on door asking for “no entry-see RN first”.