"Labour Ward Tour"

Went for the tour this evening, unfortunately the person running the tour (unsure of her title as no introduction was given) was a quiet with an unhappy face and no enthusiasm! Hardly any of the couples could hear her. I thought it may have been due to the time, but another nurse(? ) was quite happy to tell us to 'move down' in a friendly booming voice.

We all crammed into a birthing pool room which was clean and had a huge bath and lots of floor space but we was given very little information. We was informed gas and air was available in the tub, mats on the floor to be on all 4s, yoga ball and bean bag chairs available and that we can bring our own music but if epidural was needed or a complication came up I'd have to move to a different room on a different floor - this sounded stressful especially if you're in the bath!

Disappointingly we cannot book a birthing room and it will be potluck on the day if one is available. We moved down to the ward, well the hallway of the ward if there is a complication during the birth, and was given a couple of complications examples. It felt a like 'get this over with' experience and I felt like a peeping Tom trying to look at the actual (empty) rooms. Lastly we were shown the recovery room, it looked fine (6 beds & chairs for partners) however it felt more of a selling tactic, we was informed if we want a private suite it would be £60 per night or £120 with an ensuite rather than what the aftercare entails. The tour was done and dusted in 20 mins.

As this is my first pregnancy I was hoping for an introduction of what were going to see, alot more information in order to be prompted to ask relevant questions and potentially meet some of the birth midwifes/nurses/doctors to get a feel of who I'd be dealing with on the actual day. Everything the tour covered could have been put on a leaflet with a picture of the birth room, hallway of the complicated births ward and recovery room. Now that I have left I have more questions and concerns than I did previously, I hope my midwife at my antenatal appointments will be less lacking in communication.