Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Toured!

Tonight we had our hospital tour at the OSU Medical Center. I went into it not expecting to see much and certainly not expecting to be impressed. I have been around and in hospitals all my life, just because of so many family members in the medical field, and really have no problem with them (except for the fact that they overuse the colors Teal and Mauve), so I was just going because it was the thing to do.

6 or so other couples were on the tour with us, led by Jill, a L&D nurse. The OSU hospitals are quite a maze, the result of year after year of construction. What appears from the outside to be one large building is actually a series of Halls: Doan, Rhodes, and James that all attach to the Ross Heart Hospital (our answer to America's "Let's Build the Most Impressive Cardiac Hospital Ever" Phase of the early 2000's). Once inside, the signage is pretty good, but it can still get confusing. So, for that reason alone, the tour was well worth it. Jill told us where to park, how to get to the right set of elevators, and how to check into the maternity ward. (All information we will gladly share to any visitors out there!)

This is where it got cool. OSU Maternity Ward has recently undergone massive construction. What we were presented with looked more like a four-star hotel than hospital. Hardwood floors and walls in both light and dark finishes, wide hallways with 12" tall ceilings, and soft lighting greeted us as we moved into the curving corridor and then into a labor, delivery, and recovery room. One wall was an huge window, letting in tons of natural light, with all of the rooms being private with a private bathroom. They provide all sorts of labor support like laboring balls, support bars, and large shower for pain relief. I was also impressed to hear that they are encouraging some of the latest research in skin-to-skin contact with the mother/baby and are pushing the 2010 breastfeeding initiatives. I don't know why I was surprised; this is a teaching hospital...I suppose they should practice the latest in research their faculty and students are learning.

All in all, I'm glad I got to appreciate all the thought and effort they put into the maternity ward at OSU, because I'm sure that the next time I'm there, I won't really care about the hardwood floors or panoramic views...

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Do they have a jacuzzi tub? I was in one for about 20 minutes with Jake before he decided to be born but it was the nicest 20 minutes of my labor with any of my three kids! I highly encourage you to check this out and use the opportunity to enjoy one if it presents itself!

Beth said...

Hey! That's awesome! Some of the rooms have jacuzzi tubs- so pray I get one of those! :)

Mandi said...

this looks just like the room i delivered ezra in! i wonder if the same people did the design? actually, one of my friends was the designer on our hospital here. that last paragraph hits it on the head. ezra was born close to the 4th of july so there were all sorts of fireworks shows going on that you could see out of the huge window wall, but i really could've cared less. i also thought i would use the private shower and ball and cd player built into the wall, but i wasn't in the room long enough...i wish the labour room had been the recovery room...they hadn't quite updated the recovery rooms yet...still in the mauve and teal phase...we are so excited to see you all this weekend! can't wait to see your little mover and shaker! it's so fun to see them moving!