For capacity reasons, it is unfortunately not always possible to admit a parent as well. However, please speak to the ward secretary beforehand to clarify the availability of a room. In principle, breastfeeding mothers are given priority for joint admissions. There is also the possibility to stay at the Ronald McDonald House on the hospital grounds.

Of course, parents, your life partner, relatives and friends have the opportunity to visit you during your stay in our hospital. However, we hope for your understanding if only parents or immediate relatives have access to the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, children under the age of 14 cannot usually join their siblings because of the risk of infection; however, exceptions are possible in individual cases.

Our visiting hours:

• on wards 3.1 and 3.2  at any time. However, in the interest of the patients, please be considerate of the lunch break from 12:00 to 14:00.
• on intensive care unit 3.3: 09:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 20:00 hrs.

Other visiting hours are possible in special cases at any time by arrangement. Please contact the respective ward nurse.

Contact

Ward 3.1 
Phone: +49 (0) 89 1218-1305/-1306

Ward 3.2  
Telephone: +49 (0) 89 1218-2305/-2306

Intensive Care Unit 3.3
Telephone: +49 (0) 89 1218-3305/-3306

In the afternoon or early evening, your heart surgeon will visit you and talk to you in detail about the upcoming operation. This informative talk gives you the opportunity, in addition to the information provided by your ward doctor, to talk to the surgeon and ask him or her individual questions about the prospects of success and the risks. We hope to alleviate your concerns, fears and worries so that you can look forward to the day of the operation with confidence. On the evening before the operation, the anaesthetist on duty will also visit you and, after a brief physical examination, discuss the anaesthetic information/transfusion sheets, possible special examinations and the course of the anaesthetic with you.

In the evening, you or your child will be given a sleeping pill and we ask that you then

• no longer get up out of bed or no longer carry your infant around
• Nothing to eat from 10 p.m. and nothing to drink from 12 midnight.

On the morning of the operation, you or your child will again be given a sedative to reduce any nerves.
Please do not eat or drink anything afterwards and above all please stay lying down. Of course, this also applies to children of all ages. As a “food substitute” you will receive an infusion, which is often started the evening before, especially for infants and small children. Should the start of your operation be delayed or the appointment even have to be postponed, we ask for your understanding. But don’t worry: Our team will inform you and discuss the further procedure with you.

At around 07:30, depending on your schedule, your child or you will be taken to the operating area, where your anaesthetist and the anaesthetic nurse will be waiting for you. You are welcome to accompany your child or relative to the lift.

After the operation, further care is provided in the intensive care unit of the Department of Congenital Heart Defects and Paediatric Cardiology. You will receive the relevant information and explanations from the nursing staff. The doctor in charge will then be happy to provide information about the course of the operation and the current state of health.

A few hours after the operation, you or your child will still be artificially ventilated. As soon as the circulation has stabilised, the attending doctor removes the breathing tube and you can continue breathing as usual and about four hours later you can also drink and eat a little. As a rule, you will only stay in the intensive care unit for as long as is absolutely medically necessary. Afterwards, you will again be transferred to the nursing ward where you were welcomed before the operation.