Hospital Tours

Dad and I went to visit the hospital where we are currently set to deliver at. St. Luke's Roosevelt near Columbus Cirlce in Manhattan. My Dr. whom I love, delivers there but I have been feeling anxiety because I've just heard horror stories about how rundown the hospital is, how mean the nurses are, and how overcrowded it is. That has stressed me out! Then I started thinking ok what if i give birth during a blizzard? Baby is due at the end of January and we have had blizzards and snow storms during that time and its not pretty! I'd have to figure out how to get to the hospital. People say i'll have plenty of time to get there but still..it has me worried. So daddy and I have been considering "shopping" around for hospitals and deciding where we feel more comfortable delivering at. We toured St. Lukes and to be honest, it wasnt that bad. Maybe it was because it was a Thursday night but it wasnt crowded at all. The tour was very reassuring because they have a NICU and they promote immediate skin to skin contact with mom and baby which is something I'm pretty adimant about. They also have a Birthing Center which allows for a natural birth which I had considered but didn't like how "old" and cheesy it looked. But its still an option because my current Dr. has priviledges there. The regular birthing floor was fine but the nurses didn't seem warm at all and it seemed very chaotic. Something I don't like. I would like a calm and peaceful enviornment. The only down fall is that the post partum rooms are shared and if we want a private we'd have to pay $850 out of pocket. That's a whole heck of a lot of money! I could get my designer stroller with that! But we'll see. Also they don't let the daddies stay with the mommies overnight so thats really disappointing.

Next we toured Holy Name which is down the road from where we live. Its such a sweet little hospital and very pleasant. Its Catholic oriented and they had a beautiful chapel and the birthing floor was so calm and peaceful. Its exactly how I imagined my experince to be. Also the rooms have balconies and are huge AND they let daddies stay with mommies the entire time even overnight :). But the major downfall is that it doesnt have a NICU. I feel like we'd be more comfortable in a hospital that had a NICU because what if the baby swallows miconium, or what if i develope gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia later on on pregnancy? That baby will need the top docs he can get and I dont know if HOly Name can provide that. Also, another major negative was that they don't promote immediate skin to skin contact. I was saddened by this. They are the type to rush the baby away to the warmer, have him admitted, checked out and THEN given to mom. Um, hello I want my baby with me immediately for an hour and THEN you can admit him/her and do what you need to do. St. Lukes was all for this but sadly, Holy Name doesnt seem to be.

Our next tour will be hopefully soon and it will be at Hackensack University Hospital which is about 10-15 minutes way from us. Its a really prestigious hospital (and Teresa Guidice gave birth there on the show ;) and the website looks perfect. They have a top rated NICU. Hopefully they promote natural birth, daddies staying with mommies, and immediate skin to skin contact. We'll see!