Has any one delivered at LICH or Roosevelt?

[evillager]

Hi There-

I'm trying to decide on which birthing center to deliver at. Can anyone out there tell me of their experiences delivering at the birthing centers of either Roosevelt Hopstial in Manhattan or Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Individuation]

You might get more responses on "Finding Your Tribe," but I've known a LOT of people who PLANNED to deliver in the birthing center at Roosevelt. I've only known one woman who actually did, and she had the world's most uncomplicated pregnancy and had delivered her first in her car on the West Side Highway. EVERYONE else I know was risked out for little or no reason.

LICH I don't know about.

The homebirth midwives I know recommend transfer to St. Vincent's, so to my mind they might be more natural-birth friendly--if they get a lot of transfer mamas.

[Nan'sMom]

As far as I know, there is no birthing center at LICH and the mws can no longer be the primary care provider at a birth there. Or is the Brooklyn Birthing Center affiliated? I have heard of several people (friends and friends of friends) who signed up at Roosevelt to give birth at the birthing center and none of them actually got to deliver there. One was induced with pitocin (in a hospital room) since her water broke before contractions started, one was risked out when her baby turned breech, had ECVs and turned back (ended up with a c-section since they don't deliver vaginal breeches at that hospital) and so on. I read on a website that the birth center's c-section rate is 22%...not sure if it's true or not but that is what I remember reading and I remember thinking how high that was. Also from what I understand you have to agree to a 30 minute electronic fetal monitoring when you enter the hospital in labor and the results are another test of whether you are allowed to use the birthing center.

If you are planning a natural birth, you might consider whether homebirth might be a safer option for you. There are many hb mws in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

[Altair]

I have had cllients at both. At SLR, things worked out well in the birth center for uncomplicated labors. As soon as something slightly out-of-the-norm happens though, you're stuck with a very traditional hospital experience. And of course, BEING in a hospital means you'll more likely have an out-of-the-ordinary experience. Compared to a real BC, the BC at SLR feels very clinical.

I'm not a fan of LICH. As a PP said, it's not the same as in the past when you could have a completely midwife-attended birth. Their after-care is notoriously bad.

Are you in Brooklyn? The Brooklyn Birthing center is AWESOME and Joan Bryson is an awesome HB midwife who also has privleges at the BBC.

[evillager]

Wow, thanks for so much for the great info. There are so many heavy things to consider!

[Maujer]

I delivered at LICH last summer with a midwife and a LICH nurse attending. Was a great experience. True, the birthing center is closed (you can rent the rooms for $500/night now, which shocked me until I learned that most New York hospitals charge more), but the regular L&D rooms are spacious and clean and nice. My midwife was there the entire time and the nurse periodically checked and monitored.

I think St' Luke's has a posher reputation, but the only people I know that have used midwives there all ended up having interventions. Not sure what that says... but if you look at cesearean rates for NY hospitals you'll see that they are generally lower at the lower-income ones -- probably because there's less intervention.

Take that as you will -- I had a very positive experience at LICH.

[geography]

Brooklyn Birthing Center

Have you looked into the Brooklyn Birthing Center. I would recommend Katherine Abelson specifically. You could google BBC and phone her directly. They have a birthing pool, wooden floors and walking space, a room for taking a shower, a personal family room, a refrigerator for your own food, etc. It's immaculate. No shoes allowed inside the labor facility. I think they accept most insurances. If you are transferred to a hospital, the midwives will transfer with you and oversee your hospital birth. That is rare.