'Visitors' during childbirth

摘要

Visitors" during labor and birth is a controversial topic. Many clinicians like to restrict the number of visitors. Some units even have visitor "control" policies, which is an appropriate name in some cases, since controlling the number of visitors and sometimes the entire situation is often the goal. Some units also limit visiting times; some allow no substitutions once support persons are identified. Still others are locked, requiring visitors to press a buzzer and request entrance. In the 1960s when women demanded that their partners be allowed to be with them during labor and birth, unit policies changed dramatically. So did unit practices.