Updated L&D experiences at Kaiser Oakland?

I delivered my second baby at Kaiser Oakland in early November and had a smooth experience.  My husband was allowed to be in the triage and delivery room with me.  He was also able to come and go during our stay in the postpartum room (which was super important for us as we had a 2-year old at home), but not sure if that has changed given recent dramatic spike.  I liked that the doctors would come do all the tests in the room (hearing test, newborn checks, etc) and I felt that they were supportive of trying to get us home sooner rather than later (they told me i could have gone home after the first night if i had wanted to, but we decided to stay an extra night which was no problem at all.)  Overall a great experience.

I had my baby at Kaiser Oakland in early October. It was a scheduled c-section and was there for two nights. My husband was able to stay with me the whole time. He had in-and-out privileges, but stayed the whole time. We wore masks whenever there was another person in the room, and always had one at the ready, as visitors were often fairly unannounced. There wasn’t a rush to get us out, rather the contrary. I wanted to leave, they suggested an extra night (I had had very little sleep). We left. This was my first pregnancy, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I felt that the nurses were fairly responsive, and helped a lot. It was very hard to sleep with people coming in at all hours to check on me and the baby, and I was eager to get home and sleep! 

I gave birth at Kaiser Oakland in early November and they were allowing one support person, so this is probably considered slightly before the latest surge, though I thought they were always going to allow at least one person there. My support person was my husband. I would have considered hiring a doula if I thought they could be in person but I didn’t want to pay for virtual only. My husband read The Birth Partner in advance which I would highly recommend. I also texted a lot with a couple of close friends who had babies recently, one just started doula training and the other just started nursing school. They helped us navigate decisions and were just there for me as someone else to talk to. I delivered at 545pm on Saturday, got to the postpartum room that night at maybe 9pm, Sunday they did all the tests and things, and Monday morning we were ready to go and they got going with all the remaining things before discharge and we left by 11am. I think if I had delivered earlier or pushed for it they would have let us go home on Sunday. I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. Providers wore masks and sometimes shields the whole time. We were asked to wear masks whenever someone was in the room, but since people were constantly in and out of the room, there were times we didn’t have our masks nearby. My husband was given a bracelet and allowed to leave the hospital and come back, which he did to pick up food delivery and to pick up the car seat from our car. I had called Oakland L&D at (510) 752-9300 a couple times before delivering to get info on their current policies. They said policies were consistent across Kaisers in the Bay Area but I know there were times that it varied on whether a support person was allowed for anatomy ultrasounds (Walnut Creek allowed them at least for a brief period even though Oakland had told me no other locations were).

Hi! I gave birth at KP Oakland in September. Like others mentioned, I was allowed one support person - my husband. He was able to come and go, but he only had to leave a few times to go to the car to drop off/pick things up. Staff were always wearing either shields and/or masks, so I felt safe in that regard. I was also asked to keep my mask on, which we did but sometimes didn't have it handy when a person would come unannounced. Masks had to be on even during the pushing phase! We only stayed one night after having a vaginal birth.