Fairview Riverside vs The Birthplace

berg1282

I'm a first-timer and I want to have a natural, unmedicated childbirth. I took the tour at The Birthplace and loved it, but my OB only delivers at the Riverside Hospital, not the Birthplace.  Does anyone have experience with one or both? Did you use a midwife or OB? I would love to know the difference between the Riverside Hospital and The Birthplace.  I'm tempted to keep my OB and go to Riverside, but I don't want to have any interventions.  Thanks!
Update: It turns out that all of the OBs and midwives deliver at the Birthplace, but in the end I decided to go with a midwife.

MesmrEwe

First - don't white knuckle it - as my college Developmental Psych professor used to put it "The only time it's not a natural delivery is if the baby comes out your mouth!"..  You trust your OB for a reason, you know that they support you in wanting to not have any medications or interventions regardless of where baby decides to be birthed, but if the need arises (I've yet to meet a L&D nurse, MW, or OB push these), they're there for that exact reason for you and baby's health.  While I'm not a fan of Riverside (personal reasons - nothing to do with L&D!), many bumpies have had very positive (natural) L&D experiences there if you search the archives!  At the end of the day though, it's where you personally feel the most comfortable being regardless of if your OB is on.  I would also add that your OB may or may not be on-call when you deliver so you could end up with someone you've never even met before at either location. 

AKB090609

I delivered at the birthplace in 2012, and will again in under two weeks. I felt that I got great care there and have been told that they have only improved since then. The doctors and nurses were very good at explaining any interventions, what they were and why they were needed. They always gave me a choice and let me feel in control. (The only things I didn't get a choice in were having to be hooked up to an iv(strep b+) and using O2 when'd baby started having decels.

berg1282

Thank you for your help. I'll search the archives and see what else I can find.

wombat 3

I delivered at Riverside for both of my children and had good experiences with their care. My DD was born at 37 weeks and needed NICU care and the NICU there at Amplatz is awesome. I felt that they followed what my preferences were and didn't push for other things. As far as natural unmediated deliveries, my son was born after being induced at 41 weeks, which was good since he was 10.5 pounds and my daughter was a c-section for health reasons.

JGY

I think you'll be fine either place in terms of the team respecting your birth preferences, so I'd focus on having a provider/provider group that you really trust.

The only facility-related thing I would take into consideration is if you were wanting a water birth.  The Birthplace is part of Allina, and they recently suspended all water birth across their system.  But that would be my only reservation about delivering there.

 

MsMacual

I agree with JGY- it really comes down to your provider and finding someone who is supportive.

I delivered our son at Fairview Riverside in October of 2011 and had a great experience.  I used the midwife group from the U and had one of their OBs assist.  The L&D nurses were great.  They received their Baby Friendly certification soon after I delivered so most of those practices were in place and I found that the recovery nurses were really helpful in helping us to get started with breastfeeding.  They also offer water births (or did- might want to verify that they still do).  

Our second son will be delivered at St Francis and we are using the Park Nicollet midwives.  I switched because we live a lot closer to this hospital.  JGY is correct that Allina recently suspended waterbirths- I've been told that they could have a new policy in place at any time, but I'm not assuming or expecting that it will happen before we deliver.  I've had several friends and colleagues who have used the birth center and all seemed pleased with their experience.