Two other women were sent to the hospital for induction, a treatment to artificially cause labor to begin, because they were almost two weeks past their due date.
I would try to arrive at the hospital within an hour of the laboring woman and her husband to ensure she would have continuous support. This particular hospital is relatively modern with thirteen birthing rooms each equipped with a large shower room and all the present-day technical equipment; a fetal heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, intravenous liquid stands with bags, an infant warmer, a single hospital bed, an oxygen mask for emergencies, and a rocking chair. The standard antiseptic smell of a hospital is slightly muted in this facility which is especially fortunate for nauseous laboring women. The hospital room is generally clean although I did see some rooms with small amounts of blood splattered on the walls, a little disconcerting.
Since I was a beginning doula I tried to pay special attention to everything that happened once we arrived at the hospital. I wasn't able to do much documentation during the labor aside from jotting down occasional notes so I relied mainly on my memory until after mother and baby were resting in the maternity ward (women are taken to another ward within two hours after the birth of their child).
Once the expecting parents arrive at the hospital there are copious amounts of forms that must be filled out. The father usually handles this part as the mother likely won't feel up to it. Once the bureaucratic part is over, mother and father are escorted to a delivery room where the entire labor, birth and first hours of life will happen. The nurse assigned to that particular mother will come in and introduce herself. The nurses are usually wearing the typical hospital uniform called scrubs which are loose pants and top either solid color or with designs on them (storks, for example) and white tennis shoes.
