Help! Moving to Montclair in month 7!

Whovian84

Hello NJ ladies, 

My husband and I just decided to move to Montclair from Brooklyn (we've been SO ready to leave the city) but our current lease ends Oct. 1st and I'm freaking out a little about finding a new OB and hospital before I give birth in December. Does anyone have any experience with Mountainside hospital? It's the closest, but if it has a bad reputation then I'd definitely consider going elsewhere if anyone has any recommendations. Also, any OB recommendations? I'd greatly appreciate any help!

KutiePebbles

I live about 5 or so min from Mountainside. I've been there for an ER visit (which I was highly please with) but had my son elsewhere. I have not heard much about their L&D but it is a division of Hackensack UMC so it's probably decent. I chose St. Barnabas to be my delivery hospital because I was high risk and needed a level 3 NICU. I would have had my son their, but he had other plans and I went into labor at work in NYC. After he was stable, I did have him transferred to Barnabas where he spent the next 8 weeks, so I cannot say enough about the NICU or that hospital. I now volunteer there monthly and help admin their NICU FB page so I know them very well and definitely recommend them to other NJ moms. 

I am currently planning pregnancy #2 and will be going back to Barnabas. My OB for baby #1 was horrible and I would not recommend him to anyone (Dr. Sullivan). Since my son was in the NICU for so long, I spent quality time learning about everyone's OBs and getting recommendations for a new one. There are some great doctors that deliver at Barnabas but it is my personal preference to not have a solo practitioner or one that is in a large group. A few NICU nurses and parents recommended Dr. Jose Pinto and Dr. Sarah Little out of Springfield. I am going to them on 8/27 for a preconception appt and will let you know how it goes... and trust me, after having a 29 wk preemie I am probably the most critical patient when it comes to finding a good doctor. They have a FB page with reviews so if you google them you will find their info. Springfield is not too close to you, but it is also not too much of a haul. Just make appointments early because the highways you would need to take SUCK after 3:30p. 

In terms of getting out and meeting some new moms, there are a few meet up groups on meetup.com. One is the Montclair Playgroup, so it might help intro you to some new or veteran moms. A lot of parents seem to be transplants from the boroughs which is understandable since Montclair is commute friendly. Feel free to message if you want to chat. Best of luck with the move and the pregnancy!   

am7rice

If st barnabas is close i would def recommend there. I've delivered both my kids there and will w the third in March. I've never had a bad experience there. I've heard bad things ab overlook LD. Good luck!

tlc11934

I would skip Mountainside and check out St barnabas. They are a too notch hospital about 20 min from Montclair in Livingston. They are nationally ranked for maternal fetal medicine.

Favoritemandms

@Whovian84, I live in Montclair and am due in Nov. Please, PLEASE reach out to me with any questions, I am happy to help. My DH is also a Whovian, so all the better.

When I started looking for an OB, I found out most of them deliver at St. Barnabas and do not deliver at Mountainside. Barnabas is 25 min away, but their L&D is very highly ranked. Mountainside does NOT care for Nicu and high risk babies, so if you deliver at Mountainside and there is a problem, then may treat you at Mountainside, but send the baby out to a different hospital. 

Also, there are a few Montclair specific mommy facebook pages that I have found to be great resources. I am sure they would let you join if you explain your circumstance.

Whovian84

Thank you all SO much for your feedback, ladies! It's a huge help and it makes the move a little less daunting. I'll definitely reach out in the future to connect

BellaV6765

I would recommend St barnabas in Livingston.

newbabymakes4

I also recommend Saint Barnabas, I delivered my son there and had a great experience.  It's about a 20 minute drive from Montclair. I go to West Essex OBGYN if you need a dr reference.

lm45678

Grew up in Montclair, great town!!

I've never had a baby, but I second all the PP's and say to go with Barnabas instead of Mountainside. My OB is Dr. Sonja Youngren who I absolutely love... but I can't tell you how she is in a delivery yet!

sadyy131

I am a nanny in Montclair and I am due in November as well. Definitely reach out if you need any information about surrounding places! I am delivering in st Barnabas because it's a fantastic hospital. I've heard iffy things about mountainside. As far as OBs, if you want an unmedicated birth (no epidural, birthing tub, etc) there is an awesome practice in Montclair called womb keepers and there OBs promote natural birth. Unfortunately, they are not in my plan so I go to Dr. Chervanak in florham park which is like 15 minutes away. He is awesome, I would strongly recommend him. There is a midwife in his practice to who is just a sweetheart. I can't say enough good things about them. And he is the president of the American OB Association. Best of luck!

angetralala

I'm in Clifton, the next town over from Montclair, but I'll be delivering at Overlook in Summit because I'm from Union County and will be moving back to that area before baby #2. Didn't want to have to switch doctors, as my OB is in Cranford. Overlook is very birth-centric and has a terrific maternal fetal medicine division. It's probably a similar distance as Livingston.
If you're looking for support and expecting/new moms, check out Montclair B.A.B.Y. - I went to a breastfeeding support circle there and they have prenatal yoga, Hypnobabies classes, and tons more as well.

DevonMarie

FTM here due in December. I live right next door in bloomfield. Walking distance from upper montclair. I have a few friends that recommended The Center for Womens Health when I moved here. My OB there is Dr. Dickert. (Yes his real name) and he has two midwives, christina and jacklyn. They are ALL unbelievable!! Their bedside manner is perfect. The whole office is very welcoming. They are located 25 minutes north of us. I will be delivering at Valley Hospital. Ive visited a few babies there and loved the atmosphere. All my mom friends have been nothing but happy there. They even have a free of charge holistic program (with epidural if you want) loaded with tons of extras and goodies to help you physically and mentally prepare for birth. I start my appointments in a couple weeks there Wherever you go best of luch to you!!

tmsb827

My cousin delivered at barnabas and had a great experience. I did too but my experience wasn't as good. There were a number of communication issues. The nurse forgot to tell me I had a fever and our baby was moved into NICU and it was just a huge surprise to us and the nurse acted like she told us and we forgot.

Also got put in one of the rooms that was strangely hot...no matter how much you tinkered with the thermostat we were sweating like crazy. Also was one of the only rooms with no shower so that was a bummer knowing that the other rooms had showers. Not that I could shower anyway bc of IV's but H stayed with me the whole time and can't drive so he couldn't go home and shower.

After we got back home, H told me that nurses basically told him that they felt really hesitant to let us take the baby home because I have depression and H is autistic. They questioned that we could be competent parents. After the confusion over my fever and baby being put into NICU, the social worker pretty much told off H for getting upset and said he was overreacting and told me to explain it to him because she said I got it, even though I didn't and I just was at a loss for words. After that, another social worker came in and she was so nice and didn't make H feel bad for being autistic.

After the C-section and I was still in the operating room, I woke up and baby and H were gone and they were sewing me up and I could hear them talking about my medical anomaly and how interesting it was. Not a bad experience, just a strange one. Idn if they knew that I could hear.

Another thing is that somehow, my mom made it past security to the front of the room where I was in labor. The nurse stopped her and made sure I was okay with her coming in but I was upset that they let her in to begin with. I did not want to deal with anyone coming to visit until after the baby was born.

That being said, there were a lot of nice things about the hospital. For the most part they really do try to make you feel welcome and at home. But there were a lot of judgments towards H and I, H thinks it was also because we're young and also don't look wealthy and I think Livingston is known to be a wealthy area at least from what I understand. I honestly don't know if I would like to deliver there again. I love my OBGYN but unfortunately she wasn't able to deliver and the person who stepped in clashed with H. So if I do get pregnant again I might consider switching doctors so I don't have to deliver there again. At the same time, maybe this could happen at any hospital. I do know that Barnabas is considered to be really good though.