Giving birth on Maui

We recently had a baby at Maui Memorial Hospital. We felt it would be helpful for expecting parents on Maui to review our experience.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 at night. If you come before 8pm, there’s a free valet service on the oposite side of the hospital than the ER. We were required to check in and fill out a little bit of paperwork. (keep in mind that well before the birth, you need to register at the hospital.) This took around 5 minutes, then we were wheeled up to labor and delivery. This is also the time where you can request your own private room for after the birth.

We had our own room (a few of the rooms have been recently remodeled. They initially wanted to put her in an old room, but we knew it, and asked for the better one. It’s worth taking the free hospital classes and tour beforehand for familiarization.)

We received regular attention from the friendly, knowledgable nurses. She was placed on the Fetal Heartrate Monitor, which feeds info to the nurses station.

The hospital staff was very understanding of our specific needs and concerns outlined in our birth plan. They allowed us 3 visitors to stay throughout. They also allowed for us to turn most of the lights off, use electric candles, play music, and bring in snacks and drinks. (bring food! It could be a long haul! We also brought coconut juice and Emergenc-E packs for energy.)

It was a little difficult for her to move around with the monitor cords and IV, but she still walked around and got into different positions. Having 3 visitors as her support team was great! We all had our own jobs to do, and we took turns making her comfortable (if that’s even possible.) one of our visitors was our hired Doula, Monique Paris. She was amazing!! She deserves an entire post devoted to her. Later…

Though the staff recommended induction, they were supportive of our wanting to go natural. They never rushed us and respected our plan. We asked them to not offer drugs unless requested. This was helpful in keeping on track.

Baby came after many difficult hours of labor. We requested skin to skin contact and immediate breast feeding. The staff followed our plan perfectly. We weren’t rushed to postpartum either! Plenty of time to get to know our baby.

Once in Postpartum, we had incredible care. All of the nurses (especially Sue and Michele) were helpful, kind, and knowledgable. They keep you there for 24 hours from when admitted to postpartum. Food, meds, and all care for the mother and baby are handled.

Baby was taken to the nursery where a pediatrician checked baby and administers shots if wanted. Baby also got her first bath and diaper.

Once the mother is admitted to postpartum care, regular visiting hours are put into place. Right now it’s 8am to 8pm. We’d requested a private room when we first came to the hospital. It cost an additional $138 per night (beginning from when you first arrive to labor.) in our opinion, it’s been worth every penny.

The first few days with a baby can be difficult on an exhausted mother. Our baby was taken away to the nursery between a few feedings when mom was really tired. Thus is a nice perk to being in the hospital. Another perk is having regular attention and initial infant care training.

The only negative thing is that people came a little too regularly with paperwork and interruptions right off the bat. Within a few hours of birth we had people cleaning the bathroom and room with stinky chemicals, people with clipboards needing signatures, etc… My wife needed sleep, and so did I. It was poor timing in my opinion. They need to streamline this process.

A few things to remember closer to the end:

• you can’t leave without a proper child seat in your car.
• make sure that your birth certificate and social security will be taken care of. (the’re good about this.)
• get health insurance for baby within 30 days of delivery ( if you don’t have insurance for yourself, you have 5 days!)
• make an appointment with your pediatrician immediately. They usually want to see mom and baby within 5-6 days.
• you’ll have to pay before you leave. Our bill came to less than $500 total! We have the best HMSA policy possible. If we didn’t, the bill would’ve been over $6,000. If she had had a c-section or other complications, the price tag would be closer to $13k!