Preparing For The Hospital Experience

"In that moment I felt like he was not quite mine yet, he was the son of his birth parents. So I didn’t want to burst into a room with a suitcase full of clothes."-- Ashley Mendoza

"My experience was awful at the hospital, I won’t sugarcoat it. And it is due to the fact that there is no standard practice within hospitals." – Ashley Mendoza

In this episode, we talk about the topic of “The Hospital Experience”. Our guest, Ashley Mendoza is an adoptive mom and a liaison with Family To Family Support Network. Family to Family is a pro-education, non-profit organization that partners with healthcare professionals to better serve families throughout pregnancy and post-birth. Family to Family advocates for “neutral compassionate care” for all families.
Ashley shares the good, bad, and ugly of her hospital experience and how that led her to become involved with Family to Family to help change that experience for other waiting families.

Here’s what you will hear:

- What to pack, who to bring, and where to go when you get to the hospital.
- What is a "birth plan" and how it can sometimes set us up for unmet expectations.
- Why you will need to look for "the helpers" among the hospital staff.
- How to prepare for what she calls "a proper goodbye".

Links We Talk About:
Family To Family Support Network

About this Podcast

The Adoption Wait podcast was created for waiting adoptive parents looking for ways to feel less alone in their adoption journey. Join author and host Laci Richter (Refuel Your Wait: Find Hope and Overcome Fear While Adopting) as she chats with adoptive parents who have been through the wait. If you are waiting to adopt, these are the conversations that will offer practical advice and emotional support from those who get it.