Comfort Tools In the Hospital Room

There is such emphasis on what to bring to the hospital -- you can find a hundred lists on Pinterest and other places. While we try to anticipate what a laboring person will need, inevitably, something may be forgotten. Here's a handy list of things you may already have access to simply because you are in the hospital.

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​1-Gift shop suckers: I was at a birth recently where the laboring person wasn't able to eat real food (it was "clear liquids" time), but her baby wasn't being as reactive as we would like. She needed a hit of sugar, yet the applesauce, chocolate pudding, and yogurt she brought no longer qualifed. The nurse asked, "Do you have any hard candies?" Well, we didn't. Being resourceful, I excused myself and ran down to the gift shop and purchased a handful of suckers. Not only were these helpful to keep the laboring person's mouth moist, they gave her body a small boost of energy, and they helped her cope as sucking releases endorphins which have pain-relieving properties.

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​2-Tray table as peanut ball: Many of us know and love our peanut balls. Before these were handy and readily available, we could use the rolling tray table, common to every hospital room, to help get a laboring person into an open-hips position while in bed. I wish I had a picture of this, because while peanut ball pictures are easy to find, tray-tables-as-peanut-ball pictures are not -- hence my offering! The laboring person lies on their side, with pillows under and around the belly, and also some wedged in to support the back. The tray table is adjusted to a height that gives the right amount of open-hip-ness, with another couple pillows to help the laboring person feel comfortable versus having their top leg feeling like it is, actually, laying on a table.

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3-Sheets as rebozos: Rebozos are a useful tool not all parents may know where to acquire. There is a secret, though: in a pinch, a hospital sheet, folded just right, can work very well! For belly-lifting, sifting, of hip-rump vibration (shake the apple tree) fold length-wise to leave a width of about 30 inches. Here's a hint: from the tip of my nose to the extension of my arm/hand/fingers (holding my left arm out mostly, since I am right-handed?) is almost a yard; a yard is 36 inches. I know to make my folds just a little shorter than this distance. When it comes time to push, a sheet can be wrapped around a squat bar to help the pushing person have more leverage by pulling the sheet toward them. ​

​4-Washcloths for moist heat: Sometimes you just need some heat! Take that giant plastic dish-pan thing and fill with hot water (the water from the sink in the room often gets pretty warm). Find a washcloth or two and alternate them -- one where the laboring person needs it -- often on their back -- and the other in the pan. Switch them as needed, refilling the hot water as it cools. Of course I don't need to add remember safety measures here -- especially if the person has an epidural and cannot feel the area where the cloth is being used. 

​5-Cold pack ideas: Often laboring people want cold instead of hot. Consider using a non-latex glove filled with that lovely pearled ice often found in hospitals! The pellets easily scoot into the glove, which can be tied off and offered on one's back, or that grinding area in the front of the pelvis often bothered by a baby in a posterior position. Using that handy plastic pan again, fill it with some ice and water and get a couple soda cans. Pull one out to roll or press against the laboring person's back. When the can warms up, swap it out for the other one. Something else that works is one of those pads they offer after birth that stays cold; if you activate one of those, and run it under water for a few seconds, it feels really cold and maintains that coolness for a while.

6-Newborn diaper for padsicle: While most hospitals do have those cooling pads for the perineum after birth, a trick I learned from working for a hospital-based midwifery practice is to grab a newborn diaper, cut it open at the back and run my hand through the top layer of mesh, and then pour in some of that lovely pellet ice. The midwives I worked with preferred this to the regular self-cooling pads -- and the diaper absorbed the water as the ice melted. A newborn diaper fits pretty well into that mesh underwear if you are low on pads or you haven't found them large enough to handle the many directions lochia seems to be able to flow. 

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​Every doula learns her own tricks according to the laboring person's needs, the hospital's set up, and the nurses' suggestions. It's always a good idea to ask before you go searching in drawers and cupboards. But I have found, if you have a need or an idea, the staff is supportive of out-of-the-box ways to comfort someone in labor. What has worked for you?