support person consent

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

do any of you obtain consent from the support person/significant other/father to attend the delivery? ours is signed by the primary support person, the secondary support person, and by the mother herself. each signature must be witnessed, dated and timed! been doing this for years. please let me know if your unit does this and if so, what stipulations are on it?

Specializes in ER.

They sign a consent to attend their own delivery? No we haven't done that.

no, they sign the consent to allow the others (father, coach) to attend their delivery. the coaches also sign that they will leave room if needed.

I have never heard of such a thing. Never done that at any of the hospitals where I've worked, nor have I ever heard of such a thing anywhere until your post!! :eek:

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I second Miss Shay. I never heard of such a thing.

Specializes in ER.

We have never done it, and I hate paperwork but I think getting clear early on about who is staying for the delivery and who isn't is a good idea. We generally see an entourage want to hang around for the big event, and getting it in writing and up front would prevent the neighbors and the family dog from sitting in.

My unit has that same permit form. Mom signs it stating who can watch the delivery. The observors sign it stating they will leave if asked and not hold the hospital liable for any injury to themselves. My manager says we will be getting rid of it soon.

Cindy

Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Cindy,

Why will you be doing away with this form? We used it where I worked, and found it quite useful in terms of clarifying expectations of support persons, and preventing excessive numbers of people in the delivery room.

We do it in the private hospital where I work prn. I like it; think it clarifies things.

I don't know why we will be getting rid of it. Most people think it's just extra paperwork. It can be a pain if there are alot of observors. Some moms have dad plus both sets of grandparents then you have to go around and get 5 people to sign the form.

What are some of your thoughts on the number of people watching the birth. Do your hospitals have a limit? I don't think mine does. I guess if there are too many people in the room staff could ask some to leave but I'm not sure.

Cindy

Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I once worked in a birth center that placed no limits on the number of support persons a laboring mom could have. (Not the same hospital I mentioned in the post above.) Each suite had a private patio accessible through French doors. I went in at 3pm shift change to assume the care of a patient whose delivery was imminent. Her husband and mom were at her side and doing a wonderful job of supporting her. When the baby was born, a cheer went up from a crowd of people standing out on the patio. I had been so caught up in the delivery I hadn't noticed them before. There had to have been 10 people out there, some of them snacking and having soft drinks. I thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever witnessed in OB. These people were not support persons, but spectators who might as well have been at a NASCAR race. I got rid of them as quickly as possible, leaving the new family and grandma to bond in private.

Specializes in ER.

When I worked OB the official limit was 2 but families always questioned why. Always wanted just one more person than we really had room for. So I changed the way I presented it. I said youcan have as many as you want, but they all have to fit on that side of the bed, and once the sterile cover comes off the table no one can leave or enter until the table is removed. And don't touch anything on a green cloth as it is sterile.

That made them police themselves, brought down the # of people to 3 max, and stopped traffic during the actual delivery and recovery period (usually) because they could understand why all those rules were in place. But now that they've redesigned the L&D area the rest of the tribe just waits outside the door and the brave ones sneak the door open "just a little" to see the poor Mom pushing, and we have no one with the time to negotiate with them if the head is just coming out, (or even better a newborn resuscitation).

Assholes. I have changed my complete opinion on visiting policies since experiencing L&D, I think it should be a locked unit just to stem the flow of visitors. And what about the people who can't seem to figure out that if the baby was born at 8am that mom must've been in labor all night? No, she had it just in time for everyone to get the chance to visit on the very first day!!

:(

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