Landstuhl L&D

I delivered at Landstuhl last May. L&D is much better than the mommy and me ward. You have private rooms, showers, tv, etc in L&D. Once you deliver and are back on your feet, you get the option to shower then it's off to the mommy and me ward. Once you get there you have community bathrooms and showers. You will probably have a roommate in your room which will keep your husband from staying with you. It will only be 24 hours since you have had a child previously, for me it was 48 hours. We got a room in Landstuhl billeting for my husband so he didn't have to drive all the way home (north of Sembach). The staff is wonderful at Landstuhl! I wish I would have had a private room, but it was only a couple of days and in the big scheme of things it wasn't that big of a deal.

I delivered my now 7 month old daughter there. It was a very differant experience for me having ahd 3 other children in a civilian hospital in the states. They do have a shower, I got to shower after I had her before I went to my room, You will share a room and there is only one bathroom/showeroom. That was the worst part if you ask me, I didn't have anyone there with me and after just having a baby you need to go change quit a bit and to have to take the baby with you while you shower and use the facility was h*** o* me. They also expected because I had 3 other children that I just knew exactly what to do, well, my youngest at the time was 6 so it had been a while and this is our first kid in the military (big differance) all in all it was a good experience. Everyone else I know who had there babies there had good experiences there as well. If you need something don't be scared to ask. I guess that was my problem, I am just to independent. Good luck!

I delivered there via C-section last June...my daughter was born 8th of June...it was not bad. I had to share a room with someone but there is a curtain in between. I didnt like having the community bath, but the bathroom was always clean. They also have a private bath inside the main bathroom where you can shut the door. The bathroom has a sink,shower, and toilet. I used that one to take showers. There are one or two private rooms on M&B..it just depends on what they give you. I had my first baby in the states so I was nervous about LRMC because its more like a German hospital as far as the room/bath set up. It wasnt bad at all though. The nurses and techs were nice. We had a good experience. They do give you towels, a wash basin, and soap. I would bring my own shower gel because they only had baby shampoo at the time. (i got the job done though) The wash basin is good because you can use it to put all of your toiletries in when you go to the shower. It'll be fine, especially since it's your second, you'll just be thinking about getting home and how in the world you're going to manage two small children! (Thats what I was thinking about anyway :0))

I just had my (now 1yr old) there.

Pro's- they speak English, they were very supportive of my birth plan, L&D is state of the art gorgeous facility with private LDR's and fold away equipment almost looks like a hotel room. They have a lactation consltant on staff and a bunch of volunteers that can come help if you need BF help.

Con's - the whole Post-partum ward basically. shared Bathroom that was at the other end of the hall from me. ONly one shower I could pull the crib into so I either had to pee and shower with the door open to the hall or leave baby unattended. Shared rooms although I didn't have a roomate just having another bed in an already cramped room made visiting hours with the kids uncomfrotable and cramped. And The visiting hours period.Elmendorf didn't really have them my kids and hubby could stay the whole tim eif we wanted. Here I was on my own.

feel free to ask more directly I'm glad to share. got lots of resources now

My baby is a month old and I delivered at LRMC. I would have preferred much better to go to the German Hospital for a variety of reasons. But regarding your question about the mom and baby ward, I DID NOT like the "communtiy toilet AND SHOWERS. (the showers are right next to the toilets.) I was agrivated that I had to run down the hall, right after having a baby, to go to the bathroom. Especially with all the fluids I was pumped up with. I was going to the bathroom every hour. I had my older daughter stay with me the first night, which in it self was another agrivation because they didn't have a reclining chair for her. If I didn't have her with me- I would have had to cart the baby to the bathroom WITH ME! (Which I had to do on occasion the next day) NOT FUN!
Hope this helps with your decision. If you have any more questions, I will be happy to share my experience with you.
B.

Hello...I delivered at Landstuhl in Oct 07. You probably met with Cookie???? The L&D is very nice (from what I can remember). I wasn't there very long, lol. My son was quite in a hurry...lol. They have the showers in the same room as the toilets, but are private. Mmmmm, if you're giving a natural birth you may end up sharing a room(after you have the baby), but if you're having a c-section, then you have your own. I had a wonderful experience there. We're stationed in Turkey so my husband and I had to "storknest" there.

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

~L.

I've heard mixed reports about L&D at Landstuhl, although our experiences with the pediatric ward were very good. I delivered my twins at St. Johannes krankenhaus in Landstuhl last summer, and I would highly recommend it if it's an option for you.

I have had two babies at base hospitals in the states and my last child was born in a German hospital here. The difference was like night and day! If you have a choice DO NOT have your baby at a base hospital. The German health care system is far superior when it comes to birthing babies. Don't get me wrong LRMC is not a bad hospital, but the American mindset towards L&D is hurry up and get the baby out doing what ever interventions are necessary to speed it up ultimatly resulting in a HUGE c-section rate. The rate of sections in German hospitals is so much lower because they will only intervine when it is very necessary. If you have already had a baby at a German hospital you will NOT like your American L&D experience!!!! We plan to have another baby soon just so we can have it in a German hospital because the whole experience was sooooo much better than the American hospitals.

Hello,
We just moved from Germany and I had my 6 month old daughter at Landstuhl after having my first one in a German hospital. Landstuhl wasn't bad at all. You may have to share a room in the Mom and Baby ward. There is also a shared toilet and showers. There is a big bathroom with a shower and toilet in it in the shared bath so you can lock the door and have it all to yourself. But the L&D ward is very nice and you have your own room with a shower in the room. They usually move you pretty fast afterwards though so ask to take a shower before they move you if you are able to. All in all it wasn't too bad. Good Luck. If you have any questions for me just let me know.
G.

Hi D.. Yes, I delivered my first child at Landstuhl and my experience was not very positive. I am only writing this to give you my experience not necessarily to be negative. I had a very hard delivery (because my daughter was 10.8 lbs) but they let me push for two days. I was hooked to pitocin overnight and then pushed the second day. The doctor refused to give me a c-sec after I was exhausted so I kept pushing till she finally came out. This was exactly 7 yrs ago so things may have changed a little. The nurses were wonderful but they did a lot of training there as well. I understand and appreciate the need for training on real people but after 6 attempts to get an IV in me I demanded a trained nurse do it. Also, after the delivery I was put in a room meant for three other people to share and I was fortunate to have a baby that cried all the time that they left me alone. I was in such pain after two days of pushing the toddler out that I was very disappointed that they made my husband go home at the end of the day, left the baby at my side at all times, and the ONLY time you could get away from the baby is if you needed to go to the bathroom (and that was one you shared with the whole ward). Needless to say, my experience was horrible and it unfortunately made me angry and not very accepting of my precious newborn baby. Basically, after you give birth they leave you alone and I really needed to rest. Even my husband could only come during visiting hours.

Again, I am not trying to sound harsh, cruel, or negative, I am just letting you know my experience. There are probably tons of wonderful experiences out there about Landstuhl. I am so glad my second child was born in NC. That was a wonderful birthing experience.

Good luck and may your experience be joyous and pleasant. Hopefully in seven years they will have changed thier practices a little. Other than that, the post natal and OB visits I was very happy with. Just the delivery that is still a sore subject for me. The Dr. should never have let me go that long and it has now given me female issues to deal with the rest of my life (down there). Please feel free to write me on my personal email at ____@____.com if you want to know more. I loved living in Germany. We are now in England and its ok.

Nikki

Hello! I delivered my daughter at Landstuhl! She's 7 months old and I had a good experience there. L&D rooms are huge!!! There's a breakfast table, the bed, a lazboy for the dad, tv and your own bathroom. I was in the room for 29 hours and was very comfortable...for what I could be at that time anyways. The M&B ward isn't that bad and there is a shower and bathroom to the rooms, they are connected to the neighbor room but at least you dont have to use the community one unless your neighbor is in it. I stayed there for 4 days the only problem we had was that the individual room was very small and they seemed to be mad that my husband was with me. Which I thought they should have been glad since for 2 days I wasn't allowed to get up at all, who was going to get our daughter for me?? Or help me because it did take them a long time to come to the room if you do need something! But it was ok. I would deliver there again if I have to. The doctors are a plus!!! I loved everyone and they were great in Labor! The nurses were wonderful too, I wanted to take them all with me to the M&B ward! Hope this helps!