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I don't recall asking questions, but our tour was a slideshow/movie and Q&A, and then they took us up to the maternity ward so we could see actual rooms.

I asked about things we could bring, food, birthing ball, etc.

Ask if they recommend that you bring anything (mine recommended some pillows from home), make sure you know what to do / where to go when you are in labor, find out if you can pre-register so you don't fill out paperwork when you arrive, and ask if there are specifics that you want (eg birthing balls).

Following, we have ours on Wednesday. Our hospital "tour" is advertized as a virtual tour, with PowerPoint, a video, and a Q&A period. Our hospital has a video and FAQ on their website, which answered a lot of my questions already. @LindsayinNY: check if your hospital website has the same.

I do plan on confirming when they want us to call triage/show up (based on contractions per minute, etc.). It seems different hospitals have different policies, and ours isn't clear. I also plan to ask: if they allow skin-to-skin before weighing and tests, and if the nurses offer and encourage different labouring positions. The birthing rooms at our hospital have jacuzzi tubs, and although I'm not interested in a water birth, I want to confirm how and when can it be used. I want an epidural at some point, but I'm not sure if they make you stay in the bed after you get it. If you have any expectations for medicated pain relief, I'd clarify their policies, including how soon you need to request it. It might take awhile based on availability of the anesthesiologist.

I had no questions because the tour was so in depth. We had a class with a powerpoint and snacks, the nurse answered a bunch of questions, and they pointed us to some things on the maternity floor. They didn't just want us ambling around, so it was more like "this is where the lactation center is, here's how you check in" etc.

most of my questions regarding how things are done were answered by my dr and her NP, though, since they only deliver at two hospitals in the area

I'm pretty jaded after my last experience. My obgyn practice delivers at 3 hospitals and I toured all of them, plus a 4th that I heard rave reviews about, but was much further from my house.

All of the tours went through the actual labor/maternity wards and also answered almost every question I had (were there tubs, were there showers, birthing balls, did they allow you to have a hep lock and walk around during labor, etc).

I was surprised that the hospitals closest to my house (which don't have great reviews online) talked a great game and I chose one to deliver Lo #1 at----my actual experience was NOTHING like I'd been "promised" in the tour. I had a terrible nurse who insisted I lay on the bed from the first minute I was admitted--she insisted I had to have constant fetal monitoring (even though my LO's heart rate was steady) and would come bitch at me if I "moved too much" in the bed and made the heart monitors shift on my belly. I was not allowed to walk around (this was pre-epidural), I was never given a birthing ball.

The whole thing was totally ridiculous. So now I feel like I can't believe anything I hear in tours anyway. Word of mouth reviews are best, I guess...and then it's just luck of the draw about which nurse you get.

My main concern was NICU.