Montgomery Hospital vs Pennsylvania Hospital vs Uni of PA Hosp.

I'm interested in hearing responses too. I am currently at the HUP practice but not certain if I want to stay there. For DS1, I went the the Bryn Mawr birth center (ended up in Bryn Mawr hospital, though). Ideally I would go back, but now that I have to care for a toddler, it seems a lot farther to get out there (40 mins). I am at Penn anyway during the day, so it's easy to get to HUP for prenatal appts. It's still a good 40 mins to get there for the birth, though.

Anyway, what I know about HUP is that they are happy if you work with a doula, they have some midwives in the practice, but the midwives are on call only 2 out of 7 nights, and also from 8am -5pm M-F. So, depending on when you go into labor, you could get one, but far from any guarantee. I also have not met them yet, so no idea what they're like. Other drawbacks are that they want to monitor you with the belts every 30 mins, which seems ridiculously frequent, and you apparently could have to share a room (? still not so clear on this one, whether that's for labor or recovery). They have 14 labor rooms, of which about half have whirlpool tubs. They say if you want a tub, you should let them know when you're on the way to the hospital, because most women don't use it, and it would be a shame if you got a room without one and wanted to have one.

I have only had one actual appt with the practice, so I can't say too much, though I was pretty satisfied with the responses of the doc I spoke with, and their close following of my early pg experience (I have history of ectopic and early loss).

What I have heard about Pennsy is that they follow a model where you really could get one of a number of people for your labor (more than just the practice you are seeing). However, no personal experience to speak from, so I'm curious about hearing more. I've also heard that there's a birthing suite for the low risk, but it's just one suite, so no guarantee you'll get it.

Drawback of Montgomery hospital I've heard is that it has less capabilities to deal with infant issues, once the baby is born, if that is a concern for you. I can't remember how they classify it, but maybe it's that they don't have a NICU. Not sure. I would be curious to hear how often you have to "check in" with them, or whether the midwife can just use a doppler to follow the baby's heart rate. Please speak up anyone who knows! Also, what is the quality of postpartum care?

Looking forward to hearing more from others!

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Pennsy uses the laborist model, so yes, if you're under an OB's care, you get whoever is on the floor that night. That being said, Penn Midwifery, which delivers at Pennsy, has midwives on call at all times. I talked to my midwife about the laborist model, and it's only for those under an OBs care. I'm still guaranteed to get one of the midwives from my practice. (That being said, there are about ten of them, and I actually haven't met them all.)

ETA: I delivered my first with a solo practice midwife at St. Vincent's in NYC, so this is my first experience in this area.

My experience at Pennsy was great, especially considering I knew so much less than I do now. I was under the care of an OB, but since I was low-risk, I was assigned a midwife (and I have since switched to be her patient; by coincidence, my OB left the practice) and she fully coached me through an unmedicated delivery, respecting my initial wishes even when I had doubts during some of the most intense phases. The L&D rooms are nothing special, especially compared to others I've seen in magazines, but that was/is of little importance to me. The postpartum care was great--there were always at least 2 lactation consultants on the floor and all of the nursing staff that helped me offered breastfeeding assistance. I later found this to be significant--my SIL delivered at Bryn Mawr Hosp and got ZERO b-feeding help aside from my own imput (and I was no 'expert' at the time). Rooming-in is the norm. Many rooms are doubles, but in my case I did not get a roommate until just before my release, and I've heard similar stories. Renovations of the postpartum floors were underway when I delivered--I do not know if construction is complete yet--it was to be phased as to disturb as little as possible.

Like a PP, I've only ever heard horror stories from HUP, but I have to believe there are some good experiences too.

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I don't know about the capabilities to deal with infant issues - we didn't have to use a NICU, thank God! Their website says they have 4 level II NICU beds, but I don't know what that means. http://www2.montgomeryhospital.org/maternity/82

I was a VBAC, so they did require continuous monitoring for that, so I stayed at home until I felt it was prudent to get there (we're about an hour away). I think it depends on your situation.

I thought the postpartum care was great. Much better so than Doylestown, where DS was born, and people sing the praises of Doylestown maternity nurses (they were nice, I just liked the nurses at Montgomery better), so that's good, I think. They definitely did more to prevent problems than at Doylestown (giving me advice/supples on what to do BEFORE problems arose). Plus, they didn't keep trying to steal the baby and lthey let my midwife and the one nurse who was with me during labor and delivery handle everything (i.e. I didn't have everybody and their mother coming in to bother me and the little one, trying to check for dilation, offering me pain meds, etc. - not during labor or afterward) Honestly, I stayed for less than 30 hours postpartum, so there wasn't much going on! They seem to be really midwife-friendly, too. Here's their midwifery page from the website: http://www.montgomeryhospital.org/ma...se_midwife.htm

One drawback that I do know of is that they are a bit backward if you have a c-sec. That is, they don't have an operating room right there, you have to go wherever the main hospital operating rooms are, so you have to be transported away from the birthing center and then it takes longer to be with the baby.