Moms usually stay in the maternity ward for three nights. A caesarean section involves five nights. Visitation is limited but the rule is not strict.
“It used to be very busy and there were a lot of visitors. Now, since corona, it is actually much less. And we often only see three or four visitors at the same time,” says head midwife Nathalie Vanbelle.
The Sint-Jozefskliniek in Izegem is a relatively small hospital and patients often consciously choose this.
Christian Vandeursen, head of gynecology department: “It is mainly the personal guidance, the small scale. Also the homely atmosphere that makes people like to come to our hospital. We also notice this in the satisfaction surveys, it used to be the case in the old maternity.”
The renovated maternity unit cost approximately 2 million euros. The team has been expanded to six gynecologists. Last year there were about 400 births.