Stavanger Hospital Tour

(This is Arthur)

As part of our birth class, Hilary and I met up with the instructor (Wendy) and the rest of the class for a hospital tour. The hospital in Stavanger has 2 separate floors where babies are delivered. We started on the 7th floor, which is called the fødeloft (birth loft). This floor is ran by midwives and is where you will deliver if you have a normal pregnancy and delivery and will try for a natural birth.  At the entrance to the birth loft was this quilted banner titled "Welcome to the World".

There are blue and pink push pins placed in every day of the year so you can see all the boys and girls that have been born at the hospital this year. An interesting note, all the couples in our birth class are having boys. Wendy mentioned that it has seemed like there have been waves of groups with similar genders. Looking at the board there were groups of blue pins and pink pins throughout the year where you could see waves of girls followed by waves of boys.

The birth loft rooms are very similar to the experience you would have if you delivered at a birth center in the US, it just happens that it is located inside the hospital in Norway. There are 4 rooms which all have a full size bed to allow mother and father to rest together throughout the labor and delivery process. Not having a hospital bed and hospital equipment in the room made it feel a bit more comfortable than you would expect for a hospital delivery room. 

Each room has a birthing tub which might be nice for Hilary since we don't have a tub in our house. Apparently it is uncommon to have bathtubs in Norwegian homes. A great perk was that each room has a window and a great view of the fjords and mountains in the distance.

After we left the birth loft we went down to the 1st floor which is the traditional delivery floor. These rooms were standard hospital rooms, but most of them still had a birth tub and a view of the fjord out the window so that was nice. If there are any complications or reasons that the labor/delivery is not progressing normally, you would be able to head straight down to the 1st floor to receive any necessary medical intervention. Across the hall from the delivery rooms was the infant warmer and equipment in case there were any issues with the baby.

And last but not least the tour would end with an opportunity to try the Nitrous Oxide/Oxygen Gas that is available in all the rooms as a pain/anxiety relief option during delivery. Wendy didn't have to ask the group for volunteers twice. I had Nitrous when I got my tooth pulled and that stuff is awesome. I was happy to be the guinea pig for the group!

If you have never tried Nitrous Oxide, DO IT!!! It's like having the perfect buzz. You are immediately calm, relaxed, and a little fuzzy. Oh, and you tend to laugh alot, which is why it's nicknamed laughing gas. The best part is it wears off in minutes and you are back to normal. On the day of delivery I will make sure to test the Nitrous to make sure it is safe and working properly for Hilary. Just a little sacrifice that a man has to make for his wife.