Sharing...

Most of the time after the birth of a baby the new mum is so wrapped up in her new bundle of joy that the world around her seems to stop. After recently having my 2^nd baby I had this reinforced when I had to share a hospital room with a first time mum. Needless to say after one night I was totally over it and was begging to get home. These are a few things that I think can really make or break a co room friendship.

Visitors...

 The amount of visitors and the amount of noise they bring affect everyone in the room.  If you have so many visitors that they no longer fit in the room and are spilling into the hallway then you have too many. This is not a family BBQ, it is a hospital. In my hospital room I was at the non bathroom end of the room so every time I needed to go to the toilet I had to hobble past this huge crowd of people holding my sanitary products and hoping they couldn’t see my newly stretched belly wobbling under my pjs.

Shared bathroom...

When walking into your shared bathroom you should not be reminded of what living in a really bad share house would be like. This means keep your toiletries by your bed or at least in a neat pile on the sink. Dirty towels on the floor are definitely not cool and keep in mind that others in the room might appreciate a shower before 11am. So leaving it set up for your shower and then never taking it isn’t very good sharing.

Use lights sparingly at night...

Hospitals are not very restful at the best of times, especially at night. With the constant nurse visits and trolleys being wheeled around it can be tough to get unbroken sleep. That is why turning the room’s lights on every time your baby gurgles or you need to go to the bathroom is a bed idea. There is generally a light above your bed for those very reasons. Waking everyone in the room every hour is a bad idea, especially in the maternity ward.

Phone etiquette...

I understand that mobile phones are just a part of society now and trust me, I don’t leave home without mine. But there has to be some phone etiquette used when sharing a room. If its past visiting time and others in the room are sleeping, that is not the time to start chatting loudly on the phone to the visitors that couldn’t make it. Same goes for keeping the phone on loud just in case someone wants to congratulate you at 2am.  

Luckily I was able to go home after one night but I pity the people that have a stay that’s longer then that!