Looking for natural-birth minded doc for St. Barnabas in NJ

[dariamaria]

Anyone have any recommendations for a doctor who encourages/supports natural birth that is associated/delivers at St. Barnabas in Livingston, NJ????

OR I could deliver at Monmouth Medical...if anyone knows of doctors for that hospital........

Taryn, Can you ask Dana from ICAN about Monmouth Medical, if she has any suggestions or recommendations????

Dana, can you give me more info about renting a tub???

[Taryn237]

I see you made it to MDC Dar Welcome!

I talked to Dana from ICAN. Here is her response:

Hmm... I'm not sure that there really are any. St B's has about a 90% epidural rate with their vaginal births. My friend Michelle works there and Lisa delivered there (both should be attending!). We can see if they know of anyone. How can her insurance limit her to 1 hospital? St B's is in the Alanticare Health system (something like that) and they have plenty of better hospitals in the state.

[meganmarie]

I would be very surprised to find there was anyone NCBfriendly at that hospital, sadly. Its not just the epidural rate, its the climate of defensive medicine. Read the book "Pushed" by Jennifer Block - she spent a bunch of time shadowing and interviewing the St. Barnabas hospital maternity staff, its a real eye-opener. You don't have to drive far in NJ to find someplace better to deliver!

[kimilia]

I agree with the above posters. I changed practitioners at 34 weeks to avoid delivering there once I did my research. It is really, really difficult to get a supportive atmosphere for NCB at that location.

[Eliseatthebeach]

Originally Posted by dariamaria

OR I could deliver at Monmouth Medical...if anyone knows of doctors for that hospital........

I use the Center For Women's Health and delivered at Mommouth Medical. They are midwives though, not doctors.

[dlm194]

Originally Posted by dariamaria

OR I could deliver at Monmouth Medical...if anyone knows of doctors for that hospital........

Taryn, Can you ask Dana from ICAN about Monmouth Medical, if she has any suggestions or recommendations????

Hi Daria, this is Dana.


Try Dr. Giovine at Monmouth. I've heard awesome things about him. Otherwise, I'd try the Avon midwives listed above. Honestly, even if it's closer, I would avoid St B's like the plague. Even if you have a doctor that would consider allowing a natural birth, they won't let you eat or drink there which is very important during labor to keep up your energy. I believe you can rent a tub to labor in at Monmouth. I highly recommend the tub!

[dariamaria]

Tub Rental at Monmouth

Dana, could you give me more info about renting a tub at Monmouth??

Originally Posted by dlm194

Hi Daria, this is Dana.


Try Dr. Giovine at Monmouth. I've heard awesome things about him. Otherwise, I'd try the Avon midwives listed above. Honestly, even if it's closer, I would avoid St B's like the plague. Even if you have a doctor that would consider allowing a natural birth, they won't let you eat or drink there which is very important during labor to keep up your energy. I believe you can rent a tub to labor in at Monmouth. I highly recommend the tub!

[Lil'M]

St. Barnabas is really as opposite as you could ever get from a natural birth and breastfeeding start. I live 5 minutes away and chose to go 25 minutes away to give birth to dd2 because of all the bad experiences my friends have had at St. B. They do not have rooming in! You can not keep your baby with you at night, although I've known people to sometimes manage it by claiming the baby was nursing when he was really sleeping. It would be an uphill battle all the way.

[Taryn237]

Dar I've heard good things about the Monmouth midwives too. I think that is who Meg is using and they will let her have her twins vaginally as long as both aren't breech I believe. I don't think Monmouth would be more than 45-50 min. from you so that shouldn't be a problem (especially since there won't be beach traffic in Nov ).

Here is Dana's ICAN site that has rates for all NJ hospitals: http://romancathanachronism.typepad.com/ican_somerset/

Mon. cesarean: 27.4
St. B's cesarean: 49.4

Mon. episiotomies: 1.3 (this is the lowest rate in NJ for a hospital w/ a maternity ward)
St. B's: 25.8

All I can say is Wow! Dana has more listed too you can check out.

[Eliseatthebeach]

Originally Posted by dariamaria

Dana, could you give me more info about renting a tub at Monmouth??

You could try nurturecenter.com I think I rented one frome here for use at Monmouth. I can't remember if it was here or waterbirth international, which does not rent out tubs any longer (if they ever did).
Waterbirth international has some some availiable for purchase, but are quite expensive. The ones that cost less cannot accomodate the heaters and are not recommended.

[JerseyJen]

Originally Posted by dariamaria

OR I could deliver at Monmouth Medical...if anyone knows of doctors for that hospital........

I used West Long Branch ob/gyn and they are supportive of NCB and were going to let me deliver in a tub (with my husband in there with me)...all the Doctors and the midwife were supportive of this. I believe only Doctor Giovine is the only other area doctor that will do this. His partner, Dr Belkin will not deliver in a tub afaik. My information comes from the doula who assisted me and does a lot of deliveries with Dr Giovine.

The L & D nurses at Monmouth were awesome. My son was "stuck" and I was pushing while three nurses lifted me up to try to change the angle and one was massaging my perineum...that's service! I unfortunately went in for a C section, but even then they still adhered to my birth plan and asked us before giving a vit K shot, I was not offered drugs over the course of 18 hours of labor and I ate and drank whatever I wanted. I have some lingering disappointment about not having a normal birth, but I really feel like between my midwife, doula, nurses and eventually my OB, if this baby was gonna come out "the front door" then they would have made it happen.


Go for the tub if you can!
I rented mine from a woman up in Montclair.

[meganmarie]

Mon. cesarean: 27.4
St. B's cesarean: 49.4

Mon. episiotomies: 1.3 (this is the lowest rate in NJ for a hospital w/ a maternity ward)
St. B's: 25.8

So if I am reading this right: a 1 in 2 chance of ending up with a surgical birth; and, if you are in the lucky 50%, you still have 1 in 4 chance that your vaginal birth will include cutting into your perineum. Translation: only 38% of women (a MINORITY!) get a St. Barnabas delivery WITHOUT having a scalpel used on them in some way. I find that...horrifying.

[dlm194]

Originally Posted by dariamaria

Dana, could you give me more info about renting a tub at Monmouth??

For some reason, I thought someone mentioned that they had a couple tubs stored there now. I'm not positive about that but it's worth a call to the hospital. I think most women rent tubs and bring them in. I don't know of anyone off hand but I'm sure if you posted about tub rentals here, women could tell you who they rented from.

You could also contact this doula (Rosemarie): http://mothertomotherdoulas.com/

She attends a lot of deliveries and Monmouth and knows her way around that hospital.

Oh, and I have heard good things about West Long Branch Ob too so I think there are a couple good options at Monmouth which are far better than anyone at St B's.

Megan ~ sad statistics, aren't they???

[Carma]

I had a natural birth with my second child at Overlook, which is probably almost as or equally bad with CS-rate and epidural rate. But my ObGyn also delivers in St. Barnebas. She is very hands off and supportive of birth without medications.
No perineum cutting, she massaged my perineum, no pitocin. Not as good as a doula maybe. But it worked out for me.

Carma

ps.1 St. Barnebas hospital is known for it's NICU, I had to go there when I had preterm labour with my first. That might also be one of the reasons they have more C-sections, because they get more high-risk patients.
ps.2 Overlook does do rooming in. Also my husband could sleep on a sleepsofa with us. And the room was private. Is that also an option for you?
ps.3 PM me in case you are interested in the name of my ObGyn.

[njbeachgirl]

At monmouth- I would recommend the Center for Women's Health midwives, (had my first baby with them), or Dr. Giovine (he was backup for my homebirth midwives for my 2nd birth, though I did not end up needing him!)

Are you trying to have a VBAC? I heard Dr. giovine is the only one who does not require continuous monitoring....

[Taryn237]

Dar - I've met the doula Dana recommended and I really liked her, not sure if you hired one yet. Let us know what you decide

njbeachgal - I like your siggy. The 'delayed vax (maybe forever)' part is kinda my stance too. All I know is that at DS's next visit he's not getting any, beyond that.....????

[dlm194]

Originally Posted by Carma

ps.1 St. Barnebas hospital is known for it's NICU, I had to go there when I had preterm labour with my first. That might also be one of the reasons they have more C-sections, because they get more high-risk patients.

That's a good point which many people assume... I'm glad you brought it up because I debunked that right here

But you are right that St B's has an excellent (level III) NICU which most babies will probably never need. But thank heavens it's there for when babies truly do need it. Incidentally, Monmouth also has a level III NICU, just like St B's.

St B's delivers the most babies in NJ which is why they are probably the most well known.

[Carma]

Originally Posted by dlm194

That's a good point which many people assume... I'm glad you brought it up because I debunked that right here

But you are right that St B's has an excellent (level III) NICU which most babies will probably never need. But thank heavens it's there for when babies truly do need it. Incidentally, Monmouth also has a level III NICU, just like St B's.

St B's delivers the most babies in NJ which is why they are probably the most well known.

It is very odd indeed that there is no difference on C-section rate between level III and level I NICU hospitals. It seems very logical to me, that people with twins/triplets and other risks go to a hospital with a level III NICU and also have a higher CS-rate. I guess it is not signicifant compared to other reasons, whatever they are. It does make the level I NICU hospitals look even worse.
One of the reasons I think is also that in the US people sue very easily, when a doc. does a C-section he/she did 'everything he/she could'. Many ObGyn in NJ are not doing Ob. anymore because they can't afford the insurance.

Carma

[dariamaria]

Re: doula

Any recommendations beside Rosemarie? She's not available around my due date :-(

Originally Posted by dlm194

For some reason, I thought someone mentioned that they had a couple tubs stored there now. I'm not positive about that but it's worth a call to the hospital. I think most women rent tubs and bring them in. I don't know of anyone off hand but I'm sure if you posted about tub rentals here, women could tell you who they rented from.

You could also contact this doula (Rosemarie): http://mothertomotherdoulas.com/

She attends a lot of deliveries and Monmouth and knows her way around that hospital.

Oh, and I have heard good things about West Long Branch Ob too so I think there are a couple good options at Monmouth which are far better than anyone at St B's.

Megan ~ sad statistics, aren't they???

[njbeachgirl]

Dorothy Haines http://www.yourbestbirth.org/

She used to work with Rosemarie- I had her for both births. she's great!