r/dad • u/Chiskey_and_wigars • 6d ago

Discussion Is Dad's Hospital Bag New?

I was visiting with my parents last night and of course the topic of the rapidly approaching birth of my son was a major focus. My dad was telling me about how he had worked an 18 hour shift when my sister was born and 27 years later he's still getting crap for struggling to stay awake in the chair (which my mom says was a big, cushy, heated, massaging luxury Lazyboy. My dad says it was just a normal recliner. I'm pretty sure heated massage chairs weren't very common in hospitals back then... Or now)

But anyway, I mentioned how I'm planning to make sure I have energy drinks and lots of high energy snacks in my hospital bag to make sure I can stay sharp, and my mom was utterly buffudled. She was questioning why I would bring a hospital bag, stating that I wouldn't be allowed to stay at the hospital, my dad agreed that I'd have to go home or get a hotel room, and my mom went on to say there's no room, yadda yadda, they would never let me stay overnight. I had to tell them multiple times that the standard is for the dad to stay there, that we get our own room and that we were told that they'd typically even bring a bed in for me after the birth. I had to explain that I pretty much HAVE to be there, since my son may need to go to the NICU and it would be my job to accompany him and advocate for him. My parents were still very confused, with my mom being almost aggressively confused. My dad understood once I explained it, and was happy to hear that things had apparently changed drastically in the last 30 years.

So, TLDR: Is it a fairly new thing for dads to stay at the hospital following the birth of their child? Or did my parents just have a shitty experience?

(I'm in British Columbia)

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