Came up at a baby shower while discussing which hospital to have kids at. Opinions were pretty polarized - some people felt that having a ‘princess’ experience in a pseudo hotel hospital suite was neccessary - others thought it was ridiculous. Even some of the guys (co-ed shower) had strong opinions. Of course, healthy baby was everyone’s stated priority but it appeared that accomodations were discussed a lot more than fetal/maternal health statistics.
I am not sure what royalty has to do with anything, but some women want a calming relaxed environment to have their babies.
The mothers state of mind and ability to relax impacts the birth greatly. Since they might be in that room for hours a nice room is a big bonus. The women who are most likely to choose that sort of birthing room are the type to want a natural birth, which makes the relaxation factor more important than to those on pain meds.
I’ve no idea what this means! What’s a “princess experience”?
I’ve never been entirely clear on what a “baby shower” is, either. I’ve heard it mentioned on US TV shows, but it’s not usually explained. Yeah, I guess I could look it up.
I don’t think the royalty experience had anything to do with it but my two birth experiences couldn’t have been more different.
My son was born in a birthing suite at the Riverside Hospital in Ottawa. It was a pilot program at the time and I spent the entire labour with a single nursing midwife. My father was in the adjoining room and was the 3rd person to hold my newborn son. I was released about 24 hours later after meeting meeting with several aftercare specialists and being given a list of support services available to me.
My daughter was born in Calgary at the Women’s hospital and it was a completely different experience. I had stalled labour, 2 shift changes with people wandering in and out without even introducing themselves and a doctor who was obnoxious during labour and wouldn’t show up to release me until I threatened to leave without his signoff. Unfortunately my own doctor was on vacation when I delivered so I had his on call guy.
Oh dear lord, no. I don’t care about being pampered at all…I just wanted to have the baby and get out of the hospital as soon as I could. I really didn’t care at all what the room was like or what kind of meals they were serving me. While I was there, my husband brought me some lox and bagels from my favorite deli, and sat and ate them in my utilitarian hospital room with my baby and I was happy as could be.
It’s a party given for a mom-to-be where she is given gifts of things for the baby (clothes, nursery furniture and whatnot). They are usually held in the early afternoon on Sunday so you get a light meal and goodies. If you’re unlucky, you also have to sit through several rounds of tedious party games.
Princess Experience?
Can you explain that? Don’t princess’s get good doctor’s at the finest hospitals?
Prettier curtains? Fancier food? Maids?
I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.
The nursing staff regarded me as kind of a princess because, while I could have stayed in two more days (I had a c-section), I left because I didn’t like the menu selections.*
I didn’t really have to tell them that. Probably should have kept my mouth shut and just said I wanted to get home to the rest of my family.
If it had been more like room service in a hotel, I probably would have stayed. That, actually, would have been pretty nice for a couple of days.
*Macaroni & cheese and tuna casserole. Really?
This was me. Unfortunately, I chose to squeeze the kid out during a mini-baby-boom at the hospital, so I was in the 3rd bed in a 2-bed room - there was just no space. Fortunately, I was released about 24 hours after she was born, so the cozy quarters never really became an issue.
Regardless of the circumstances, I don’t want anyone making a fuss about me. I appreciate help when I’m sick or hurting, but beyond that, nah. When I retired, I made sure my boss knew that I didn’t want a ceremony or anything. We settled on a cookies-n-punch party thing where they gave me gag gifts and a few people said nice things.
That’s why I never dated royalty - I couldn’t handle all the to-do…
To clarify, this is the “baby shower.” The “princess experience” would be where you’re treated like a fairy-tale princess for the day.
Baby delivery is a big money maker for hospitals. It’s a (fairly) low risk medical procedure with (mostly) positive results that insurance pays for. So, hospitals compete with each other to be the one that mom’s choose when giving birth. One way for hospitals to sell themselves is by selling a pampering experience along with the birth. It’s not really pertinent to the health of the mother or the baby, but it is a sales differentiator.
What, people call you “Your Highness” and drive you around in coaches pulled by horses?
Plus, I think prospective parents think of it as less a “princess” experience as much as a “what can we get that will be most comfortable and freak us out the least?”
So, decent food, a non-hospital feel, and the impression that Mom-to-be is going to be treated more like a guest and less like a brood mare with no say in anything (and hearing stories from older relatives, this can be a BIG fear) seems like it would definitely be reassuring.
I read somewhere that once a family has a baby at a particular hospital, they tend to go to the same place for care of the rest of the family. So it’s a way to build a relationship.
Also, the hospital where my brother and sister-in-law had both of their children had a policy of giving a special dinner to the parents. Lobster, steak, whatever they wanted. (And this was catered by local restaurants, not the hospital cafeteria.)
Please, please can this not become yet another area where a woman wanting anything more than the basic minimum becomes a spoilt demanding self-obsessed bitch, as has happened with any bride who wants more than to get married in a hole in the ground whilst self-flagellating for having the audacity to draw even that much attention to herself?
I’m expecting my first baby in January, and frankly all I want is for them to get her out of me safely and let me out of hospital as quickly as they can, but c’mon, if you’re pushing a person out of your genitals (or being sliced open so that said person can be lifted out through your tummy), I think you’re entitled to be pretty bloody demanding without being considered a “princess”.
I’ve never had a baby, but I stayed overnight in the local women’s hospital after surgery just a few months ago and was very surprised that the (private) room I was in looked an awful lot more like a hotel room than a hospital room. Take the standard hospital bed and IV pole out, and you wouldn’t have known the difference. It even had a nice bathroom with a shower. And I was asked what I wanted to eat for dinner. Gobsmacked, I was. And also wondering what the bill was going to be like …
We didn’t use the princess word, the OP did.
So I’m understanding the hospital competition thing, but what’s ‘princess’ about it?
Are they just more pleasant rooms? Better food? Room Service? (From where? The hospital kitchen? Huh?) Servants? Bigger tv’s? Wifi?
Is it a striking difference? Or just more pleasant?
I think the princess remark needs some explaining, so we know what we’re talking about here.
OP?
Some delivery places market themselves as deluxe accommodations. Rather than looking like a traditional hospital room, they’re designed to look like a fancy hotel room.
http://cedars-sinai.edu/Patients/Programs-and-Services/Obstetrics-and-Gynecology/Treatment/Deluxe-Maternity-Suites.aspx
http://www.uamshealth.com/birthingsuites
http://www.libertyhospital.org/Service/MaternityFacilities/Index.htm
Yeah, I gathered that. I’d just never heard the term “Princess Treatment” and the reference to “Royalty” in the thread title. “Deluxe Maternity Suite”, on the other hand, pretty much does what it says on the tin and makes perfect sense to me.
Oh, duh!
I get it now, it’s not some new thing, just inflammatory language to describe an old thing.
Apologies for not understanding, my bad.
Carry on…