Visits

It is important to maintain as much regular contact with your child as possible whilst you are away from home. 

• • Hospital visits can bring you a tremendous amount of pleasure, but they can also be a source of stress, and may be upsetting for both you and your child. 

It can help if you are able to plan for your child’s visit to try to minimise problems:

• • With small children it may help if an extra person is able to come along, in addition to your partner, family member or friend.
  • An extra pair of hands can be helpful, especially if your partner wants to spend some time with you without having to worry about supervising a child for all of the visits as well.

Children will probably be used to seeing you in bed, so this will not be so strange for them. 

• • If there are tubes or other medical devices on display, this may be more off-putting for them. 
  • Allowing them to look and explore as much as is safely possible should help to satisfy their curiosity and help them feel more comfortable with the equipment.
  • Also if you are on the ward, seeing other patients who may be unwell could be frightening for a child. 
    It can help to talk to children about this.

If you are mobile, visits can be made more enjoyable and private by using the Family Room (near St David’s ward)

• • It may be possible to use the outdoor play area, but please bear in mind that this is part of St Francis ward, with access only through that ward, so this is at the discretion of St Francis ward staff.

Thinking about the timing of visits may also be important:

• • Young children are usually most cranky at the end of the day and you may also be more tired in the evenings.
  • Arranging earlier visits wherever possible may help make it a more enjoyable experience all round.