Just popping in and reading threads. I got to this one and wanted to point something out. Hospital property....which means the waiting room, etc...are private property, not public. We can and do remove people for a variety of reasons.
Also, in many hospitals, the maternity ward is being more and more heavily guarded due to a number of issues. In our hospital, the maternity waiting room is behind a locked door and you must be on a "guest list" to wait there.
I think that a PP hit the nail on the head when they discussed the more pressing issue to people in the waiting room....that they'll likely want updates and visits. I agree that if you want to go, sit in a waiting room for 16 hours, and then go home, it won't disturb the mother. But if you want to view the baby, hear the dad say that the baby's been born, visit the mom, etc, then this does disturb the patient. Most babies room in now, so "seeing them through the nursery window" is becoming a thing of the past. Wanting dad to update the waiting room means less time he's in the room with the new mom and baby and, if the updates are requested during labor, then dad is a distracted coach. Wanting to visit after birth obviously disturbs the patient because you're going in her room. So my question to you would be, if you're going to just sit in a room for 16 hours (or longer) and then go home with no interaction from the couple, why does it matter what day you do it? The honest answer is that you *are* expecting *some* interaction from the couple. And that's the part that is the real issue.
On the books topic, I'm currently reading the Alchemist series. It's written for teens, but I picked it up because I liked the cover and now I can't put them down.
