Patient care at Burnaby Hospital's Maternity Unit

We were at the hospital for 3 and a half days.  I don't have much experience being at hospitals but I was overall very impressed with the patient care at Burnaby General.  The staff were very knowledgeable and friendly and I don't know if we could have made the transition home without their help.

Several doctors, including my Obstetrician served me, while the nurses and pediatrician served baby Tristan.  In and out they came checking to make sure I was on my way to recovery and checking that Tristan was healthy.  Giving birth to Tristan was rough on my uterus and I bled a lot.  The first 24 hours I had major blood clots and they had to put me back on IV therapy to control the bleeding.  I also couldn't pee because of all the swelling so I had the urine catheter tube in me for 48 hours after delivery.

The nursing staff at Burnaby General helped us with breastfeeding, showed us how to bathe Tristan, answered all our questions and concerns, and gave us access to all sorts of supplies including diapers, towels, pads, clean linens, pillows, breast pump, baby formula, pain-killers etc.  Jean-Louis and I always joked about how we are finally taking advantage of the MSP that we pay every month.  We're typically healthy and probably only visit the doctors at the clinic once every year or two.  This pregnancy and having Tristan has totally made us use the MSP services :)

We would like to thank Johanna, our assigned nurse in the birthing suite, and Brooke, Nadia, Noreen, and Jill from the Maternity Ward.  These girls are awesome caretakers!

Last but not least, we are thankful for our assigned visiting nurse, Donna.  Within 24 hours of being discharged from the hospital, we were contacted by Donna from the Fraser Health Department. She contacted us first by phone to see how things were going with the baby and myself. She was very concerned and it was very helpful and reassuring to talk to her. She then visited us at home soon after and gave us a truck load of reading material about taking care of the baby. There is so much to know! Donna weighed Tristan and we went through breastfeeding again. We were so tired and she could tell. She also complimented us on all our efforts, which was nice to hear.  She then followed up during the week with more phone calls and then again the next week.