Many women making an adoption plan are worried about how hospital staff and physicians will treat them, and whether or not their time in the hospital will be stressful. Our adoption counselors help a birth mother think through her options about her hospital stay and encourage her to put her thoughts into a formal written birth plan that she takes to the hospital. If there is enough time, our adoption counselors actually place a copy of the birth plan in the hospital chart.
Some birth mothers choose to check into the hospital under an assumed name and to be on a floor separate from the floor where the baby is in the nursery. Other birth mothers choose to stay on the floor where the nursery is located and have the baby kept in the nursery. Still other birth mothers choose to have the baby stay in the room for part or all of the time. It’s totally the birth mother’s choice, based on her preferences.
Our adoption counselors work with the hospital social worker ahead of time to introduce the birth mother to the hospital staff in order to reduce inadvertent pressure from “well-meaning” staff. Another way that a birthmother’s wishes can be respected is by placing a letter into her chart asking the hospital staff to respect and not question her choice.
Birth mothers are counseled on how to respond if a hospital staffer says something inappropriate, and our adoption counselors are always available to the birth mother if she needs them.
Pleasant experiences at the hospital are the norm, not the exception. Photos are taken and often the adoptive parents send flowers and gifts. After all, the birth mother has just given the adoptive parents the greatest gift in the world!
Do you have a story you’d like to tell? Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com. Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.
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