Britpick Question

[amberfocus]

What do you call Labor and Delivery at the hospitals in the UK? Same thing or is it different? Since I know ER for us equals A&E for you, I thought L&D might be a different term as well.

Comments

[dreximgirl.livejournal.com]

If you mean Labor and Delivery as a term for like a ward within a hospital we generally call it the maternity ward. But if its the act of being in labor and delivering then its the same thing.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the name of the ward. Thank you!

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Oh, and we spell it 'labour'. Also, the medical specialisms differ: obstetricians and gynaecologists are different specialist physician roles (we don't have anything called an OBGYN). And most births are attended by midwives, not nurses - and depending on the mother's choice and the smoothness of delivery there may not be need for a doctor's involvement, or only at a very minor level.

(Not that I have ever given birth, but I used to train midwife union representatives, so learned quite a bit about how things work in maternity wards!).

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks. And I don't ever bother with the switching to British spelling. I'm not that much of a purist, but I do at least like to call things by their names.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

No problem! Thought I'd give you the option just in case - some of the authors I Britpick for want spelling-pick services as well, and some don't, and it's not always easy to remember everyone's preferences :)