Delivery

Best advice I can give you is to go to the hospital were you will give birth and talk to the nurses and staff in the Labor and Delivery area. They will tell you first hand what the answers are to your questions. Every hospital is a little different.

Good Luck!

Hi S.,
We moved here a few years ago from Europe. I'm not sure where you are but I'm in NJ and having a baby here was a completely different experience than my firstborn in Switzerland.
As everyone else has said, hospitals differ....but from what I've heard it's generally a given that your baby will be taken from you not long after you've given birth to be bathed etc. etc. For me this was heartbreaking but everyone I spoke to clearly thought that I was a bit strange for being upset that they would take her for about 2 hours....the attitude seemed to be 'whats her problem'. Anyway, I was told there was no way that they would change their minds on this so I gave up. My husband could and did stay with the baby for about an hour, after which he came back to check on me saying that she was sleeping happily in the nursery but they wouldn't bring her to me until they were happy to do that which was after about another hour.
In the hospital I went to, you stay in 48hrs after you check in...not 48 hours after you give birth. I arrived at 7am but didn't give birth until after 10pm so I was told to check out 33 hours after giving birth. I believe that if I had wanted to I could have checked out earlier than that if my baby was doing fine.
There was no problem at all with my baby staying with me for as long as I liked in my room.
For me, pain medication was given on demand. The only different thing from my Swiss birth experience was that here they asked my husband to leave the room for 15 minutes while they gave me the epidural.
I'd recommend that you look up about Birth Plans. You can get a lot of examples on-line. Personally I didn't write one.
I wish you the best of luck with your pregnancy and birth experience. I also wish you the best of luck with your settling into the US. It's never easy to move to another country but it definitely gets easier and more fun with time. I also worked before moving here and then went to being a full time Mom. It took about a year before I realised that I'm so unbelievably lucky to have the job I have today, Mom to two wonderful girls and expecting my son in June.
All the best,
M..

1)Do they take the baby away from you after he's born?
You can request that the baby stay as long as possible. Sometimes they must take the baby for a short time though.
2)Can the father stay with the baby during checks?
Yes...You can go as well if you're feeling up for it.
3)When can you go home after a normal delivery?
You can stay most places, in NJ up to 48hrs. I'm not sure how short you have to stay.
4)If you have to stay, does the baby stay with you in your room?
I highly recommend the baby staying with you..I had both of my kids stay in my room with me. I loved it.
5)How does it work with painmedication?
If you want it get it...if not don't. I did both..My first I had an epidural and the second I went all natural. I perfered natural..
6)Do they wash the baby after birth? Yes...I think you can ask them not to if you want the "stuff" (not really sure what it's called) rubbed into their skin. It's suppose to be really good for their skin.
7)Can the father cut the umbillical cord?
Yes
8)I also read all kinds of things about a birth plan, what is that and what do I do with it?
It's what you write about with regards to how you would like the birth to go. Like a C-section if all other options are out. No pain meds...the baby staying with you in your room....things like that.
Good luck!!!!!!!!!1

My advice - hire a birth doula! If you can't afford one, find a student doula who will work with you for much less. These women are well trained in supporting women through hospital births. They are not medical professionals, but will help you personally and emotionally. Keep looking for other birth classes - or insist they let you go alone. There is no Lamaze law stating that your spouse has to be there. The hospital you choose can also greatly affect your experience - some are more supportive of natural birth, while others push you into making bad choices. I also had my child at home (in the US), so I very much understand the concerns you have being forced to now give birth in a hospital! Please send me a private message if you want to talk more.
Best,
L.

Hi S.,
I think you got answers to most of your questions, but I just wanted to add a comment about pain meds. If you end up with a c-section and are on IV pain medication, once they take you off the IV, you have to ask for pain meds when you need them, don't wait too long. They never told me I had to ask, so once I did I had a lot more pain to deal with which caused other problems.

Hopefully that advice will be completely unnecessary, but I added it just in case.

Also, different hospitals have different types of delivery and recovery rooms. It's nice if your hospital has private rooms for you after your child is born, then your husband (and maybe your son) can stay in the room with you, and you only have to deal with people you know, instead of another new mom's family and friends as well. The hospital you deliver in is usually determined by the one your OB is affiliated with so you can find this out ahead of time. They have tours for expecting moms.

Lastly, there are some Lamaze classes where they do one 4-hour session. This might be a better option so that both you and your husband can attend.