Concord Hospital

[lovermont]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with birthing at Concord Hospital. Good? Bad?

[EmpoweringBirth]

Do you have any specific questions?

Overall, Concord Hospital is known to be a good hospital for birthing.

Are there any specific goals/desires you have for birthing at Concord Hospital?

-Annie

[stillnessineyes]

lovermont was posting on my behalf. I will be having my first baby the end of march. I live in Concord, and the OB/GYN I have been seeing works with the hospital. So i plan to have my baby there, but i don't know much about it. From the hand out they gave me I was impressed. They say that your baby gets handed right to you and isn't taken right away for measuring or anything. They say that the prefer if the baby stays in your room. But I was wondering if anyone who had ever given birth there was willing to share what they thought. I'm still early in the whole scheme of things, but i'm trying to get informed- So anything helps...maybe the right questions to ask the doctor even?

[lovermont]

Good to know.
I'm actually asking on behalf of a friend who lives in NH. This is her first baby. When she told me she is reading "Birthing from Within" I thought woohoo! She's currently with an ob and planning on birthing at Concord but doesn't know anything about the hospital. She was looking for reassurance. She said everything she's seen on their website sounds good. She's only 12 weeks so she has time to figure things out still. I said I would post here so she could (hopefully) get reassuring anecdotes about the her hospital of choice.

**eta: oops- cross posted- congrats on writing your first mdc post.**

[Jen_in_NH]

I had my son there last April, and I thought they were great. I love the OB group I had (Concord OB/GYN), and for the most part, the nurses were great. I ended up with a scheduled c-section (since apparently my son is part moose ), and they did make sure I had him right away, and was able to breastfeed as soon as they finished suturing me up. They encourage people to keep the baby in the room with them, and really only come by when they have to or when you ask for help.

I wasn't really impressed with the lactation consultants, but that's a different story.

[hollytheteacher]

Originally Posted by stillnessineyes

lovermont was posting on my behalf. I will be having my first baby the end of march. I live in Concord, and the OB/GYN I have been seeing works with the hospital. So i plan to have my baby there, but i don't know much about it. From the hand out they gave me I was impressed. They say that your baby gets handed right to you and isn't taken right away for measuring or anything. They say that the prefer if the baby stays in your room. But I was wondering if anyone who had ever given birth there was willing to share what they thought. I'm still early in the whole scheme of things, but i'm trying to get informed- So anything helps...maybe the right questions to ask the doctor even?

:

I am so glad to have found you!!!!! You will surely become addicted to this site!

As always, let me know if there is anything i can do for you (i have more presents for you next weekend )

[hollytheteacher]

Originally Posted by lovermont

Good to know.
I'm actually asking on behalf of a friend who lives in NH. This is her first baby. When she told me she is reading "Birthing from Within" I thought woohoo! She's currently with an ob and planning on birthing at Concord but doesn't know anything about the hospital. She was looking for reassurance. She said everything she's seen on their website sounds good. She's only 12 weeks so she has time to figure things out still. I said I would post here so she could (hopefully) get reassuring anecdotes about the her hospital of choice.

**eta: oops- cross posted- congrats on writing your first mdc post.**

Hey there! I know you too! Never knew you were on MDC!! YAY:

[lucyem]

I had both of mine there. I was using the midwives from the Dartmouth Hitchcock clinic. Overall I was very happy with the experiences. My wishes were followed. I said NO ONE in the room except midwife, nurse, doula & DH and they kept all extras out. I had a doula (a fabulous woman) and everyone was friendly and helpful. When I said no vaxes no one batted an eye. We said no circ and no one batted an eye and actually the surgeon agreed we were making the right choice. They encourage breastfeeding. They sell slings. Baby never leaves your room except by your choice. I puked all over DH and they gave him a shirt LOL With both - baby came out and was plopped right into my arms. It was over an hour before measurements and weight were done. With the first I was too dazed to try but with my second I was able to feed him before they took measurements. My first labor was very long and tough. I spent a lot of time there very dazed or asleep. With my second I was up and in the shower while they took and weighed baby etc. I spent a lot of time wandering down the hall and cleaning out their custard supply from both little kitchens on the floor. I love the custard Hmmmmm, I wonder if I can get it in the hospital cafeteria? Anyway I had a good experience there twice. I do think your doctor can have an effect on how things go. So if you are comfortable and happy with your doctor then you are on to a great start. Oh and I also had my gall bladder out there. Once again I was very happy with the staff. I always felt like people cared how I felt and wanted to make me feel more calm and relaxed.

[lovermont]

Originally Posted by hollytheteacher

Hey there! I know you too! Never knew you were on MDC!! YAY:

Yep, yep.
Generally spend more time on tbw but have been spending more and more time on mdc- especially in *my* fyt section

Originally Posted by lucyem

do think your doctor can have an effect on how things go.

ITA. With my first I was with a midwife group practice and ended up with a midwife I didn't know. I have since found out that the hospital and that practice tends to be high intervention- I lucked out with my m/w.
Even with my second birth (with a way more easy going hospital) the m/w was the one who made the birth- she was holding people back (I found out after the fact that one resident was saying: "she's not on the bed! can she be rocking on the floor like that?!! shouldn't she be on the bed!?" and a nurse was concerned that I didn't have a hep loc etc. etc.). So just wanted to second the importance of having a care provider you are comfortable with and you feel will be supportive of whatever decisions you make- no matter how crazy (dd was a lotus birth, for instance).

[clovermom]

I don't have any real experience with Concord Hospital but wanted to mentiont that if you are planning on giving birth in the Concord area and aren't deadset on anything yet you may want to check out the Concord Birth and Wellness Center run by Jeanne Brown, a NH certified midwife.

I was sent to CH for my u/s and it was fine, everyone very professional and friendly. Also a friend gave birth to premature twins there and they provided a room for her and her DH to live in the entire time her boys were in the NICU--I thought that was pretty cool.

[quinbearzmama]

I've had great experiences at Concord Hospital, both as a laboring mom and more recently as a birth doula. They are currently working towards the final stages of becoming a baby friendly hospital (http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/) and every request I've ever had (no circ, vax, residents, etc...) was met without judgment. I did have a very detailed birth plan and felt like everyone whom was involved with my own birth reviewed it several times (and it was a long one). The DH midwives are great, however they have been limited to practicing during business hours, M-F. (Sidebar- I strongly urge everyone who believes a woman should have access to a hospital midwife 24-7 to contact DH and let them know where you stand) However, the OBs with whom I've worked as a doula have been great- most have been lying or kneeling on the floor to deliver the baby per my suggestion of squatting, and never made an issue of it. (I've heard differently about other area hospitals.) And they also allow doulas to go into the OR in the event of a c-section, which is also uncommon at some other hospitals.

Jeanne at CBC is fantastic as well- best of luck to you, mama!

[Conteuse]

I live in Concord and gave birth in Concord Hospital.

Unfortunately, my son's birth had to be a Caesarian. Up until the last minute I'd been planning to deliver him naturally, with the help of one of the Certified Nurse-Midwives who helped me through the pregnancy, but he probably wouldn't have survived it so I ended up getting him "surgically extracted," as I jokingly call it.

For most births, they do practice rooming-in; they hand you the baby immediately; they are very encouraging about nursing; they have a lactation consultant who was a big help to me; and all the nurses but one were very nice and supportive to me. They were also quite polite and respectful to me--like, when we were trying to figure out how to nurse, they would all (except that one) ask permission before touching my breast and all. (That one just grabbed them hard without asking, which I found painful and intrusive, but I found out later you can request that certain nurses NOT attend you while you're there.)

All in all, surgical delivery notwithstanding, I found it to be a very warm, pleasant, nurturing, friendly place. If we'd wanted to have more children, I wouldn't have thought twice about having them there.

The biggest downside was the food. Bleah.

[momnmidwife]

Concord Hospital

Hi Ladies,
I worked as a Doula/Childbirth educator for 8 years in Southern NH and then decided to go into nursing. I now work at Concord Hospital and they are one of the few that I feel match up with my natural/family-centered philosophy. I LOVE working there and I know that the staff has a very open minded approach to alternatives as well as mother-baby centeredness. Though the c/s and intervention rate in national averageish, that depends on the practitioner you get when you birth. But ALL are very caring regardless. I don't post on here often, but I had to pop by and give my input...please let contact me if you need specifics and perhaps I can help you with your decision.