I was a private patient - but in a public hospital (Queensland Health). We were advised against dummies (because of the potential interference with bf), but were told if we wanted our baby to have one, we'd have to bring it in ourselves. I took a couple along just in case, but she wasn't interested in taking it anyway.

It is possible however, that if your baby is taken to the nursery for whatever reason (I had a particularly nasty case of the baby blues for a few days and they took Hannah off me for a couple of hours at a time to encourage me to rest) they may do things with your bub that you might not have exactly wanted - not sure about dummies - but when I went in to check on Hannah, she was sleeping on her tummy, which I was NOT happy about. Just make sure they know what your preferences are with respect to various issues (i.e. dummy use, sleeping positions, the giving of cooled boiled water etc.). Your baby is a patient of the hospital, and you are the legal guardian - what you say has to be respected when it comes to any aspect of care for your baby. Just be very clear and firm about what you will and will not allow them to do.

I'm with the others on the sterilisation myth - if it were true it would be a MAJOR scandal, and is against patient care policy and practices in most developed countries!