Question about Picking a Hospital

[tbavrbab]

I've had so many people ask me where I'm delivering...and I've had a few people get grumpy that I haven't picked a place yet.

Here's why.

I REALLY loved the hospital I delivered at with my daughter...they did their best to follow my wishes given the situation we were in. While they badgered me some, now I understand (having read my records) that I probably was not quite as coherent as I thought I was. The hospital I delivered my son at was HORRIBLE...I detest the very IDEA of going back there. I DREAD IT!

However those are the two hospitals I'm currently deciding between. Seems like a no-brainer doesn't it?

Here's the kicker, the hospital I delivered at with my daughter is only a Level IIB at best though they can do slightly longer term care of babies requiring ventilation or CPAP, but in general they don't take care of babies younger than 30-32weeks (they are transferred immediately for really sick or within a week for more stable). The hospital I delivered my son at is a Level IIIA possibly B now and is closely associated with our Children's Hospital which is the Level IIIC. Both hospitals use the same doctors for their NICU, they all rotate out from Children's to serve the other two hospitals, but the equipment is different.

So I have this idea that I'm going to register at both hospitals. I'm going to the one I like so long as I deliver after 31-32 weeks. If I go before that, I'm going to the hospital I detest. I hear things have changed substantially in the last 6 years...but still....I have serious negative feelings about the (lack of) care I recieved in that hospital.

So anyway, I guess I'm asking for other moms opinions here...would you do what I'm doing? Or would you take the hospital you like no matter what knowing your baby could be transferred and you left behind? Or would you try to come to terms with the past and deliver at the other hospital knowing that unless you were EXTREMELY early your baby was going to stay with you? I can't decide which is more important to me...my emotional feelings about labor and delivery or being separated from my child. I have a strong idea that my "feelings" regarding hospitals I'm at aren't going to matter even a teeny weeny bit to me if the baby has to be transferred.

What do you think?

Distances/times: The hospital I like is about 20-30 minutes from my house, the one I don't like is about 40-45minutes (more if morning rush hour). The Children's Hospital is 45-60minutes away (more if rush hour of any time).

[sarlusan]

Will your insurance company let you register at both hospitals? Our maternity admissions have to be pre-certified and they certainly make you pick a hospital when you call. But if you can get around that, I would try!

I am currently on my third pregnancy and my third hospital. First dd came at 32 weeks, it was a level II I think - they wouldn't have kept us if we were a few days earlier at 31 weeks. I liked that hospital experience, but I wouldn't have stayed with it again even if we hadn't moved because I would have been too afraid of having an earlier preemie.

My second pregnancy (delivered at 34 weeks), we moved halfway through my pregnancy, and so I chose the big inner city level III NICU hospital near us just because I'd heard of it. It was a horrible experience for many reasons and so when I got pregnant again, there was no way I was going back there.

Now, I'm 33 weeks with #3, and I'm at a suburban hospital the other direction from us that also has a level III NICU. VERY happy so far.

All that being said, a lot can change and so much can depend on who you happen to interact with when you arrive. Would your OB and peris stay the same? That for me ended up being more important than the NICU staff (although once we finally got to the NICU in pregnancy #2, they were great - it was the OBs, peris, residents, and L&D nurses who I couldn't stand!). But I also seem to be having longer and longer pregnancies, not the other way around, so as I've gone along I've been less concerned about the NICU and more about the people taking care of ME along the way.

If I were you, I guess, I would just hope for the best with the hospital you like. (Assuming your OB/peri care would be the same). Also, if you do end up in an extremely early situation and you decide at that moment that you wanted to try to go back to the dreaded hospital... I'm sure they would take you in even if you weren't registered there!

Not very helpful, I'm sure, but there is my two cents!

[lindberg99]

Does your doctor or midwife have privileges at both hospitals?

[GOPLawyer]

I'm going to the one I like so long as I deliver after 31-32 weeks. If I go before that, I'm going to the hospital I detest.

I like this idea and would do this myself. IMO...more important to be w/ baby. Hospital personnel can always be dealt with/...you can't do anything about being separated from baby.

I also wouldn't register at either hospital. It's not required...I didn't do it (I was planning a homebirth but was forced to go to the hospital as DD was born @ 30 weeks). Get the registration papers from both hospitals and have them filled out and ready to go so you can just bring them w/ you when you go into labor.

I would also have a doula and a birth plan.

[sunflowers]

I delivered my dd at the same hospital at which I delivered my ds 13 years before. I had a horrible experience after my ds's birth but I had no choice since he was early and it was the only hospital available to me at that time.

With dd, I was xfered back to that hospital because she was so early. My local hospital has gained a small NICU for "generally" healthy 33+ weekers (I would have been able to have ds there had he been born 13 years later, lol) but a 26 weeker was out of the question.

I was really happily surprised how much dd's hospital had changed during that decade. They were very BF supportive and they gave me the ability to visit my dd immediately. Both were issues that I battled about back when ds was born. When dd was xfered a day later to the children's hospital, I told them I was going with her and they made the effort to get me ready to go- gave me the scripts for pain and got me discharged in under and hour!

All of that to say that I agree with your plan to pre-register at both hospitals but if circumstances change that plan, you still can travel with your baby to the new hospital. Plus, maybe their policies have changed over the past few years. One can only hope...

Good Luck! I hope you have a very big, very term, very healthy little baby and none of this will matter!

[tbavrbab]

My OB definitely has privileges at both, not so sure on the Peri though...have to ask, I'll be seeing him in a couple of weeks I'm guessing (just got referred over there as a precaution this time around).

The peri may only be at the hospital I like, but it's possibly he's at more.

I like the idea of staying with the baby, I can't fix that, I can only deal with doctors and staff. If the baby is super early and gets transferred to Children's there won't be anything I can do about that...that is a separation no matter what.

Otherwise I think I'm going to stick with my current plan. Though I may just hold onto the paperwork instead of submitting it, that sounds like a good idea. I've got to finalize my doula arrangements and then start figuring out a birth plan...I want two this time I think. One for vaginal and one for if a c-section becomes needed.

Anyway, back to doing some more research on what the ACTUAL chances are of the bad things happening. I am a planner, so I will plan for those things that will never happen and be content with the wonderful full term baby to come

[rosedoe]

My sis is a neo-natal nurse at a Level 3 hospital about half an hour away. The hospital that is in my backyard (it's seriously a 5 minute drive IF I catch the ONE red light between here and the hospital) is only a Level 2. My current plan is to deliver at the hospital right behind my house, however my sister comes to me with all sorts of stories about the little ones she is in charge of, well she did before I was pregnant. Now she doesn't talk to me about it because I am in a positive words only zone or whatever it is she calls it. ANYWAYS...There is a point...What was my point? Oh yeah. My plan is to go directly to my sis' hospital if I go into labor early. I'll call my doc and just tell him "Hey. I was closer to this one because I was out shopping so get over here." He can deliver at both hospitals. My insurance only allows me to register at one, but seriously. WTF are they going to do to me? Not pay it. Not likely. It'll be an "emergency" situation and they'll cover it. Plus my sis lives close by so she can always come to me and then take me into her hospital if she's off that day and if she's there I'm just going to call her cell and tell her I'm on the way.

So I say don't worry about things. If you go into labor early and you believe you've got the time go to the Level 3 hospital. Then again this will be my first baby so what do I know? Good Luck!