What to Expect at the Hospital

When it’s time for you to go to the hospital for evaluation, after parking and being escorted to the triage area for pregnant patients, you will check-in with the Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) who will request basic information about you. Depending on the reason for your visit, you may be asked to provide a urine sample, put on a gown, and proceed to either a triage room or the intake room. You may be seen in the intake room and then sent back to the waiting room. Your wait time may vary depending on the circumstances of the day. Please remember that the triage area is an emergency room for pregnant patients. Patients are evaluated in order of medical priority. You are strongly encouraged not to bring your children with you to triage, if at all possible. 

Once you are in a room, a nurse assistant will get your vital signs (heart rate, temperature, breathing rate, blood pressure). The triage nurse may place monitors on you that will monitor your baby’s heart rate and your contractions. More information about the reason for your visit will be gathered and your pregnancy history will be reviewed. You will then be evaluated by one of the resident doctors or midwives who are in the triage area. They will make an assessment and call your provider to confirm the decision for your plan of care. You may need blood drawn, a cervical exam, a speculum exam, and IV placement, and fetal monitoring. If it is determined that you will be discharged home, you may not see the physician on-call at that visit.  

If you are admitted to the hospital, you will be transferred to an appropriate room. Transfer time varies depending on several factors, including room availability and the number of patients in the Labor and Delivery Unit. The physician on-call will evaluate you after you are admitted to the hospital.