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I had to share a room for a few hours but it wasn't at all bad because the poor woman was there alone with her baby.... no visitors at all until her husband(?) came to pick her up! I honestly would hate to have to share a room for a lonvtime though so I hope it works out so you can get a private room.

I had DD in a British hospital. You get a private room to give birth but they move you into the ward an hour or two after. I was lucky/unlucky and needed a blood transfusion, so I got to stay overnight in my private room in the birthing unit.

The ward.... is not fun. It's a huge room with several bays. Each bay has 6 beds with curtains in-between. You are only allowed to draw the curtains at night because the nurses have to be able to see the ward during the day, in case something happens. I was lucky enough to have an end bed next to the windows, so I only had people on one side.

The major cons are the noise and the lack of privacy. I had immediate PPD after delivery and the ward was very hard on me. It was also rough because DH had to leave at night. They don't allow spouses to stay overnight. They also had visiting hours closed when I was there due to a virus going around the hospital. Although overall it did suck, it was kind of nice having those other women around me in a time when I needed someone there. We were all in the same boat together.

@zippylef: Woah! That sounds so crazy! I don't know much about Britain, was that a NHS hospital or a private one (are their private hospitals?) Are they different?

This reminds me of the episode of friends where Rachel gives birth.

@jedeve: It was an NHS hospital. I'm not sure if they're different because I'm American. My primary medical care is on a military base here. I was transferred off-base at 36 weeks because I became high risk.

@Mrs. Tricycle: I haven't had to experience this (and I hope I won't have to!) When my husband and I went to tour the hospital we saw all the birth rooms and there were quite a few, then when we got to the post rooms the lady said if they are super busy (I guess rarely all the rooms are filled!) there is one post room that is shared if all the others are taken. Ok, that's fine I thought, until she then said MY HUSBAND WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED IN THERE! I was starting to freak out and I'm not even there lol. I would be absolutely pissed if my husband couldn't come into my room, who cares if I already had the baby! I guess it's for the privacy of the other person in the room. Still!!!

@jedeve: I know right?! I would try to make a deal with the person I was sharing with or something haha!

@sweetkate: Nope, the lady said if for some reason they have to use that room and share with someone he is not allowed into it because of the other person's privacy. I think it's a bunch of crap. Thank goodness it's the post room, but I'm just hoping it won't be busy so I don't have to yell at anyone when I go it

I had a private room with Charlie.... thank goodness since i ended up having a c-section and stayed 4 nights. there was an extra bed for mr. bee so he stayed with me. he wouldn't have been able to stay in a shared room, and i don't know how i would have been able to get out of bed to change/feed charlie with the pain from the stitches.

with olive, i shared a room because there were no private rooms available. but it wasn't bad at all because i only had a roommate for a couple hours the first night, and then a couple hours my last night. i had the room to myself most of the time.

since it was my second child, i didn't mind as much. but it was a little sad and lonely to be alone after visiting hours were over. if it were my first, i'd definitely want a private room.

the roommate i had on the day i was leaving had a gazillion visitors and was on the phone the entire time.

Shared room for delivery?! Eek, that's just wrong. The Irish set up is broadly the same as the uk- single room for delivery, then private room for a few hours for recovery, then 6bed ward. You can have a private room if you wish to pay for it/ use your insurance to pay, but maternity care is covered by the state so not that many people go private. The care is the exact same anyway.
I had no expectation of a private room so wasn't horrified by the situation. It's company. That said, some of you mentioned needing DH there to help with baby - do the nurses/midwives not help? They do here. I had all the help I wanted during the nights particularly, all I had to do was press the buzzer. DH was allowed stay most of the day.

I had a private room for both children. For my first, I was in a huge birthing suite, then I moved to the OR for my C-section. Then we were moved to Recovery, then a private room.

With my second, I went into labour with her and just stayed in the triage bed until they were ready for me in the OR. I think I scared the girl in the bed across from me as I was screaming so loud. I was 1-1.5 minutes apart lasting a minute each. The contractions were so awful and they couldn't give me anything because it would affect the baby. After the surgery, again they moved me to recovery then to a private room on the birthing floor. They were so busy that night they had no room for me on the PP wing. 14 babies were born that day, 7 of them in the 2.5 hours I was in triage/OR!