So as mentioned in a previous post, daddy and I are in search of a new hospital to deliver at for two main reasons:
1) After really thinking about it more, we realize that we didn't feel very comfortable at St. Lukes Roosevelt where the lovely Dr. Wong delivers because they don't allow dads to stay over night, and it feels like a zoo in there, it was grimey, and we hear the nurses are terrible! Already our experiences with various technicians have been less than ideal (they have no personalities, lots of them are rude, and no bedside manner).
2) Mama might take maternity leave earlier than anticipated. Instead of working up until her due date, she might work until a week or two before. So chances are she'll go into labor while at home in NJ and the idea of trekking into the city where its not parking friendly let alone during the winter when it will most likely be snowing and God forbid storming!
Soooo, we decided to look for a hospital we like close to home (since we realized a comfortable hospital with nice staff is IMPERATIVE). We have toured two so far and mom was CERTAIN that Hackensack University Medical Center would be IT. But after touring our third option today, momma sadly realized that it is not the place she'd like to deliver. It was a gorgeous hospital, state of the art, nice staff, but mom realized that not all hospitals follow the "6 Evidence Based Care Practices for a Normal Birth". http://www.lamaze.org/Default.aspx?tabid=251 And sadly, Hackensack didn't follow them as closely as mom likes. Particularly, they wisk the baby away right after birth for a couple of hours to "do tests in the nursery and so mom can shower and rest". Um, I'm sorry but I want baby next to me at all times, and I can rest with baby on my chest, thank you very much. St. Luke's Roosevelt (the zoo), and Holy Name (the no NICU hospital) both advocate for babies always being by moms side. In fact they said the nurseries are almost always empty. However, sadly at Hackensack the nurseries were FULL. All these poor babies all alone without their mommas and daddies by their side broke my heart. The hours after birth are the most essential and precious bonding time for baby and mom and this hospital is not conducive to that! And after talking to the nurse who gave us the tour, she said its policy and they MIGHT accommodate us if we wanted the baby with us after two hours. TWO HOURS! This alone started giving me anxiety and I was heartbroken as I immediately realized that this hospital is not our hospital. Bummer!
So defeated mom and dad went for lunch and discussed the next step. We decided on looking for a doula. Perhaps a doula would advocate for us and be the professional one to tell the staff that we want the baby by our side. As soon as we got home we hopped on the internet and started emailing local doulas. Upon researching mom stumbled across this hospital near us called The Valley Hospital. After reading about it and reviews, it honestly feels like its the perfect fit for us. They offer holistic nurses, they highly stress the 6 Practices for a Normal Birth and they have doulas on staff!! Bingo!! Check it out: link here So we can't wait to schedule a tour of this hospital. We will pray its a good comfortable fit. After that, the next step is finding a natural child birth friendly doctor with low c-section rates. We can't wait!
Cross your fingers that FOURTH times a charm in our search for an acceptable hospital to deliver our precious cargo!
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