St. Anthony's or Mercy?

Veillance

I really love my doctor but I'm not too familiar with my only two options for where she will deliver. I can go with Mercy or St. Anthonys, I feel like I only hear bad things about Mercy being over crowded, impersonal, and too hectic while I hear almost nothing about St. Anthony's. Can anyone share some additional info?

nevertune

I've heard NOTHING about St. Anthony's as far as delivery and OB care, mind you, but I worked with a bunch of people who swore it was a terrible hospital for other care. I live right next to it and they've scared me from ever going. Again, though, that might have nothing to do with baby delivery.

I delivered at Mercy last time and never felt things were impersonal. Sure the nurses changed shifts, but they were always very sweet and helpful. I never felt unattended. Maybe you can find some reviews online through google?

sarajo430

I am actually delivering at Mo Bap, but I have gestational diabetes and am seeing the specialists at St. Anthony's because my doctor claims they are the best in the area. I have no idea what labor and deliver are like there, of course, but I have had nothing but amazing experiences so far at their Perinatal Center. The doctor we see and all of the nurses have been so incredibly sweet. At my first appointment while sitting in the waiting room, a mom brought in her newborn to visit all of the nurses she had become so close with while going to the Perinatal Center weekly during her pregnancy. That was reassuring to me. 

Sorry I can't be of more help! 

futuremrspadawan

My doctor's office is at St. Anthony's, and I went to the Perinatal Center constantly for extra screenings, but I delivered at Mercy.  I never found it to be impersonal or overcrowded.  Mercy is my hospital of choice, L&D or anything else!

Veillance

Thanks all, I'm thinking I'll go with Mercy. I've searched for more info on St. Anthony but what I find is so minimal, I flat out asked my doctor which hospital she preferred and she said Mercy simply because it was more equipped so that kind of sways the decision. We are taking a tour of both hospitals in January so hopefully we have a solid decision by then!

RedBird11

I live like 10 minutes from St. Anthonys but I have decided to deliver at Mercy. Like you, I have not heard much about St. Anthonys as far as labor and delivery. But I have heard a lot of good things about Mercy. 

kristine526

RedBird11 said:

I live like 10 minutes from St. Anthonys but I have decided to deliver at Mercy. Like you, I have not heard much about St. Anthonys as far as labor and delivery. But I have heard a lot of good things about Mercy. 

This. I'm not due until May, but my options are also St. Anthony's or Mercy, so in reality, my option is Mercy, because St. Anthony's is not an option unless I'm literally dying and won't make it down 270 to Des Peres Hospital. I've heard, and have had many friends/family members, even my mom, have really bad experiences at St. Anthony's. On top of that, Mercy is completely renovated, is one of the best hospitals for their maternity care in St. Louis, and has a level III nicu instead of St. Anthony's level II (just in case). JMO, but it's not even a question.

LuckyCharm0914

I was involved in a car accident recently and was taken to St Anthonys for evaluation.   I was amazed at the care I received! They were so nice in labor and delivery, gave me a complete check up- ultrasound,  monitors, everything.   I had been at Mercy earlier in the day and been treated like crap. While in St Anthonys, I mentioned why I had been in to Mercy and they looked at all those issues as well and actually treated them for me. I would definitely ddeliver there.

stlmomma27

Veillance

stlmomma27

kristine526 said:

RedBird11 said:

I live like 10 minutes from St. Anthonys but I have decided to deliver at Mercy. Like you, I have not heard much about St. Anthonys as far as labor and delivery. But I have heard a lot of good things about Mercy. 

This. I'm not due until May, but my options are also St. Anthony's or Mercy, so in reality, my option is Mercy, because St. Anthony's is not an option unless I'm literally dying and won't make it down 270 to Des Peres Hospital. I've heard, and have had many friends/family members, even my mom, have really bad experiences at St. Anthony's. On top of that, Mercy is completely renovated, is one of the best hospitals for their maternity care in St. Louis, and has a level III nicu instead of St. Anthony's level II (just in case). JMO, but it's not even a question.

This is true, but St. Anthony's has renovated also. Very personal, quiet and clean. The things I have heard about Mercy is that because it is so busy, the nurses aren't as friendly and it is not as intimate and personal.

Casey&Katy

My Dr. is part of the St. Anthony's group and I delivered my first as St. Anthony's 5 years ago. I have no complaints about the experience and all of our nurses were so nice and attentive.

erikaL10

I had the same choice with my Dr, St. Anthony's or Mercy.  I had always planned to deliver at Mercy, and when my water broke at 30 weeks 5 days my Dr told me to go to Mercy because of their NICU.  I spent 10 days on bed rest at Mercy on the high-risk floor. LO was born at 32 weeks and received excellent care in Mercy's NICU.  I would never consider going anywhere else next time.

Laragphib

Go tour both facilities to give you a better feel for the care, what the objectives are, how you feel with their rooms/staff/policies.

I toured Mercy (the only place my OBGYN delivers) and feel so comfortable with it! There is a reason there are so many places to deliver, each delivery and woman is different, so do what feels right after you see both. Good luck

Beevol

I work in Maternal Medicine and used to work on the St. Anthony's L&D/OB floor. I also worked other areas of that hospital as well as OB at Barnes (but am thankfully, no longer working for any hospital). St. Anthony's is not the hospital I would want to go to for getting my appendix out or really any other adult medicine issue if I could help it, and I hated working there except for their L&D/OB floor which was a gem. Seriously, they have good nurses in L&D and follow procedures and protocols like champs, the L&D/OB department is tiny and very Catholic - take that to mean whatever it means to you.

I've never worked at Mercy but I have a lot of friends who have worked L&D there and they all speak very positively of the hospital and it's OB department. I know that they've recently renovated and it's supposed to be very nice, but I've never been. 

In your shoes, I think I would lean toward Mercy but I echo the encouragement to tour both places and ask questions. I delivered at MOBap and it was an absolutely excellent experience aside from the tiny post-partum room (my nursing care was gold standard and I felt incredibly empowered by my relatively crappy 3 day long labor because of their nurses, plus I had excellent lactation consultants). 

Disneygeek77

All three of my babies were born and Mercy and I truly don't understand when people say the received impersonal care.  Everyone that assisted me were wonderful.  They do serve a higher number of patients so maybe that leads to a higher number of complaints ?  

I also had three c/s so I have been there for a total of 12 days.  

I also want to emphasize what others are saying about a good NICU.  The smaller hospitals simply can handle some problems, so those babies are transferred to Children's or Cardinal Glennon and it is very difficult to be recovering in one hospital while your baby is in another.  

AR1313

I am delivering at MoBap because of all the good things I have heard. I just switched my OB at MoBap and I love it there. My sister had a great experience and everyone i know says they would go there. But it you are going to choose between St. Anthony's and Mercy, go with Mercy. I have heard from several people that St. Anthony's is not good for deliveries. I actually switched from St. Anthony's to MoBap. My new OB agrees that St. Anthony's is not good for having your child there.