Too many visitors can also be a problem for the other patient in the
semi-private rooms that seem to be the current norm in the U.S.  Most of the
hospitals in this area try to put postpartum patients in rooms alone, but if
there are too many deliveries (i.e. not enough rooms) then they double them
up.  A close friend of mine described sharing a room with a woman who was
visited by family and friends who smoked, drank whiskey (as the the new
mother), and were rowdy until the wee hours of the morning.  She complained
to the nurses, but nothing was ever done.  I would have been on the phone to
the hospital administrator, and then to the papers if I didn't get any
action, and then out of the hospital on my way home.  My friend took her
baby to the visitor's lounge to escape... One more reason for home births...

Margaret K.K. Radcliffe ([log in to unmask])
Mining & Minerals Engr, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA