First class at the hospital

Tonight Kaniz and I went to our first prenatal class at Women's College (WC), which was actually more of an information session where the audience (pregnant women and their partners/friends) could ask questions of a panel comprised of an obstetrician, a family practice doctor, a couple of nurses and an anesthesiologist. Overall, I would say the session was fairly informative since we were able to ask questions specific to the setup at WC.

A few interesting notes:

• Cord Blood: If you've sat in an Ob-Gyn's office waiting room lately, you've probably seen some sort of literature on umbilical cord blood banks. Cord blood is blood from the placenta and the umbilical cord, and the idea with saving or banking this blood is 'biological insurance' in case your baby is diagnosed with a blood or immune-related disease. This procedure isn't covered by OHIP (universal healthcare system for the province on Ontario, where we live) and can be quite expensive ($1500 upfront plus annual payments of $100 for upkeep). Someone asked what the doctors' personal opinion was in terms of this practice.. and basically, the response was that you shouldn't sacrifice in order to do this. It would be a better idea to invest the money in a good car seat and stroller since you're more likely to get into a car accident with your kid in the car than your kid getting one of these diseases (odds are 1 in 150,000).
  
• Hospital bag: Given the number of items you're advised to bring to the hospital, I was wondering what kind of bag or luggage we would need to bring to the hospital. Turns out that a lot of people end up bringing big suitcases. Also, one of the nurses suggested bringing a smaller bag for labour into the hospital and leaving a larger bag/suitcase in your car's trunk for post-delivery.
  
• Paediatrician: Turns out we should be looking for somebody now - I'm putting that on Kaniz's list of to-do's! If you live in Ontario, check out http://www.cpso.on.ca/ and do a doctor search for paediatricians accepting new patients (make sure their office is close to where you live!)
  
• Family visits: WC does not allow more than 2 people into the delivery unit (e.g. your partner plus a support person like a doula).. the staff advised us to discourage family and friends from hanging around during the delivery since this puts pressure on the mother-to-be and on the family. For post partum visits, minimum number of visitors are recommended.

For more info on the above (and a host of other topics), check out http://www.cps.ca/ (Canadian Paediatric Society).

Ok, so admittedly a pretty boring post, but somewhat informative, no? I'll try to think of something a bit more exciting for the next one.