NOTE: While we do not advise going to hospital for admission during prelabour (although check-ups may be required), we realise that some women will arrive there during this phase. The following information is not meant to imply that prelabour is the time to go to hospital, but merely to give you some insight into what might happen if you do go and the level of attention you are likely to receive until labour establishes.
This information is based on what to expect in an Australian context. If you live in another country, the procedures may be slightly different.
Birth centres
Delivery suites
Ringing the Delivery Suite
Knowing how to get there and where to park
When you arrive at the hospital
When you arrive at the Delivery Suite
Hospitals use various terms to identify the main facility where women give birth. These can include Labour Ward, Labour Suite, Birthing Suite, Birth Care Centre (not a birth centre) or Delivery Suite. They are all essentially referring to similar facilities in private or public hospitals which are set up to enable close monitoring of mothers and babies during normal labours and labours with complications (or variations from the norm). They are staffed by midwives and doctors. For simplification and to reflect an emerging trend, we use the term Delivery Suite, which tends to be one of the more popular names at present.
There can be many variations in delivery suite admission procedures, depending on the individual hospital. This information is a guide only and indicates an overview of what is likely to happen. Always ask your hospital or caregiver about their routine admission procedure so you are clear about what to expect.
Ringing the Delivery Suite
ALWAYS phone the hospital before leaving home so as to: