Visitation policy of children in L&D/ Mother Baby/ LDRP

[MemphisOBRNC]

I would like to know what the visitation policy is for children in L&D/ Mother Baby/ LDRP at other hospitals and where the hospitals are. My hospital is in Memphis, TN. Our policy is siblings of the new baby can be any age but all other children (related or not) must be 12 or over. This even includes siblings of the parents. This causes a lot of dissatisfaction to patients, visitors and staff. I would like to compare our practice to that of other units. Please include at least the city and state in any reply. (Feel free to include any visitation for NICU, as well. Who is allowed to visit in NICU? Does at least one parent need to be present for other visitors to enter? Is ID required for non-parental visitors?)

[jennylouwho]

I just had a baby, so I can tell you that in the hospital that I delivered at in NE Ohio, it was siblings of the baby or over a certain age (12 I think). Much better than the year before when it was no one under a certain age, even siblings because of the fear of H1N1. I did get way less visitors this go around, probably due to the fact that many family members have young children, but thanks to free hospital wi-fi, I wasn't too bored. Yes, bored, I'm used to chasing my older two, lol, and since they only came for small amounts of time (because I didn't want them to be the crazy runners in the hallway) I really was a bit bored - it's pretty easy to just sit there and nurse your baby all day when you don't have your older one's to watch! :lol:

[MemphisOBRNC, BSN, RN]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. This helps a lot.