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reviews for delivering at Texas Women's Hospital?
I belong to Bellaire Young Mothers and there was a recent post with lots of reviews of St. Luke's vs. Texas Women's and there were some really negative reviews of Women's, where I'm delivering. ?Did anyone here deliver there? ?The two things a lot of people said was that there's a mandatory 4-hour observation period after birth where the baby is separated. ?Is that weird, or really bad? ?The other thing ppl said was that they gave the baby formula even though the mom expressly asked them not to bc she wanted to breastfeed. ?I want to breastfeed, but I'm confused because I thought milk doesn't come in for a few days--what does the baby do in the meantime? ?Is it really hard to breastfeed if the baby has formula right away? ?
Thank you!!?
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Re: reviews for delivering at Texas Women's Hospital?
I delievered at Women's but I did no have a birth plan and was not particular in my delivery. Yes, they have a 4 hour ob. period, but I didn't hardly notice. You are so out of it after delivery. It took them awhile to find us a recovery room, so that was irritating. Otherwise, my experience was ok.
I specifically requested to BF, and they did not feed formula (to my knowledge). Before your milk comes in, you produce a substance called collastrum (sp?) that is REALLY good for the baby. It's enough to tie them over until you get your milk in. Babies are really tired after birth, anyway, so they prob. won't be eating much, but you still want them to latch on and suck if possible, just to stimulate your supply.
Even if they give formula in the nursery (which they might try to do if your baby doesn't feed every 6? hours or something - but I don't agree with them giving it w/o your consent), I don't htink it's a problem to BF afterwards. BFing, in general, is REALLY hard in the beginning (for me). So, just be prepared for that.
My biggest regret for DD's birth is going to Women's. If I could change one thing, that would be it even more than changing to an OB that delivered somewhere else.
In childbirth class they said it would be 3-4 hours until we got our baby back. They also said it was state law and there are no exceptions. Of course it is NOT law and no other hospital in town does it (some do have 1-2 hours of observation, but others have ZERO).
And it was actually 5 hours before they would bring me DD - and no, there was never anything wrong with her. I was not out-of-it, I did not want to rest, I wanted to hold the child I had just given birth to and it still makes me very angry to think about it even 2 years later.
They did not give her formula per my request. I can only imagine that someone simply made a mistake in the other lady's case if it was just one. But when they brought me DD at 2:30 in the morning, the nurse was HORRIBLE and basically accused me of starving my child because I wouldn't allow them to give her formula and said if she did not nurse in the next 15 minutes they would give her a bottle no matter what. I was fortunate that DD did latch on and nurse but I swear the nurse seemed pissed that she did nurse.
They have an outrageously high c/s rate - over 40%. They are very fond of medical interventions which have a tendency to snowball into c/s. None of the nurses I met had any experience with natural birth and no clue what to do.
The most baby friendly hospital in Houston is supposed to be Memorial Hermann in the med center (both hospitals in the Woodlands are spoken of highly as well). At Memorial Hermann, as long as everyone is ok, you get your baby immediately even if you have a c/s, the weighing and bathing and such are done in the room and for c/s the dad carries the baby from OR to your room when you get moved.
Some people have very strong views against formula which is probably why they were pissed. But yes, for some babies, once they use a bottle they know there's an easy way to get food without having to work for it like they do at the breast.
I don't want to offend anyone on here, and I delivered at St. Luke's myself, but IMO Women's does a lot of things without regard to what is truly best for mother and baby. They have an extremely high c-section rate there, which would be my first concern. The other thing is the mandatory observation period, which is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY (unless, of course, you have a preemie or something like that). The best thing for the baby is to be with the mother immediately after birth, especially if you are breastfeeding. The baby is hungry because he or she has not been able to get as much from the placenta during labor. My daughter nursed immediately after birth for over an hour. Her Apgar tests were done right in the room, and when she did have to leave, my husband was allowed to accompany her. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Womens' does not allow that. A friend of mine did actually have her baby fed formula against her wishes, so it does happen, whether or not it is common, I don't know.
I think you are right to question delivering there. I think one of the bigger questions is what are you really looking for in a birthing experience. I know it's not for everyone, but I wanted a natural birth and ended up switching at 30 weeks to a different OB who supported my plans and so I could deliver at St. Luke's. If this is the type of thing you are looking for, you are highly unlikely to get it at Women's; if not, then maybe it will work out for you. FWIW, I was not out of it after delivery and breastfeeding was well-established from the beginning, although I know many people that have had no problems bf even after being separated from their baby. I just think you are right to try to get as much info as possible. Good luck to you!
lord knows I'm no fan of women's policies (one of several reasons I delivered at Methodist) but I do have to say in regards to their c/s rate, that they are also the high risk hospital, and therefore naturally their c/s rate is going to be higher.
loved my experience at methodist (one of my nurses had a homebirth!) and i've heard great things about st lukes. i just opted for methodist because everything is done in the same room, labor, delivery, recovery, pp stay and not having to deal with switching rooms (except to go to the OR for my c/s) was fantastic.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
My 1st was at Women's and I liked it and would have delivered there again if I had still lived in Houston. (moved to Austin).
Of course the Apgars are done in the room after birth -- hello, those are at 1 minute and 5 minutes. They don't whisk the baby off with no regard to you.
And I did have Elena in the room with me for a full hour before they took her to the nursery, and during that time I breastfed her. They took her to the nursery when I had to change rooms anyway, and the time was less than 4 hours. I wasn't out of it, but I didn't mind them taking her to get clean, etc. And yes, my DH could accompany her.
Her sign on her ..container (can't think of the word for that)..isolette? had written that she was breastfed, and no one ever even mentioned formula to me.
Honestly, Julia never did leave my room when she was born here in Austin, but it wasn't as if I was able to hold her either that whole time. She had trouble regulating her temperature so spent all that time in the baby warmer. It was many many hours before she was even good enough to bathe.
As for c/s rates, I'd talk to your doctor about his/her individual c/s rates and reasons rather than the look at the hospital's.
I will say that although the labor and delivery nurse I had was AWESOME,, the post-partum nurses, eh. not my fave. But that seems to be the general trend at a lot of hospitals from everything I've read here.
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
I delivered at Woman's and had a c-section due to breech positioning.
We did not push for any changes to the usual routine and did request they hold the formula - they did.
My husband went down to watch Lucas in the nursery while I was in recovery and then came back to see me. I honestly could not gauge time passing - so who knows how long it was for things to happen.
All said and done, and I guess the real concern, I had no added trouble breastfeeding or feeling connected or in control - I cannot say that breastfeeding is the easiest thing ever, but it didn't seem to be more complicated b/c of the hospital's behavior.
I had come to be very comfortable with the level care after spending 5 weeks in Woman's under observation before the birth. I had some nurses who I did not care for - but I found my way, like in any organization, to the very good people who helped me.
Overall - good experience. And, I was there a great many days during which I had nothing to do but judge them.
That is a great point...if you can be 100% sure your OB will be the one that delivers yoru baby. That is often not the case.
i had 2 good experiences delivering at women's. in my opinion, so much of your experience has to do with your doctor. i had 2 c-sections. the 1st time i labored for 17 hours. the hospital's policies had nothing to do with me having the c-section. it was a decision i made along with my OB. same thing for the 2nd time- we were going for a VBAC but when i went in to labot there were some of the same issues as the 1st time and i decided with the doctor to go ahead with the c rather than wait. again, this had nothing to do with the hospital itself.
the 1st time, it had been over 24 hours since i had eaten so they gave my son some formula in the nursery due to verylow blood sugar. this was okd by me. the 2nd time they did not give the baby any formula. i found them to be extremely supportive of my decision to BF- in an almost surprised way as though they don't see it as often as you would think.
While I had a less than stellar experience there, I love my doctor enough that I plan on delivering #2 there at this point. The other factor to me is that DS was a little early, and their NICU is excellent. I will just know better this time what to stick to my guns on. I have to say that my doctor was excellent working with me on my birth plan during pregnancy and great during delivery. It sounded like the others in her practice would have handled things well, had one of them been on call. My labor nurses weren't the greatest with a natural delivery, and it appeared to be due to certain policies. I was able to nurse DS and keep him in the labor room for an hour after delivery. That hour is part of the 4 hours of being observed. He was then taken to the nursery to be bathed, etc, and DH went with him for part of it.
Regarding nursing and formula... DS's blood sugar was low after delivery and his first nursing, so they gave him formula in the nursery after asking permission. I wasn't happy about it but wasn't worried about that one time. He was 4 weeks early, and I just wanted him to be healthy. The time that upset me was the next day when they took him as I was starting a feeding to see the pediatrician. I didn't realize how long he would be gone, and he was gone long enough that they gave him formula. They did not call and ask (just gave it per their time policy), and I ended up talking to the patient advocate very upset. Next time, I would make sure my baby got a good feeding (even though it's just a small amount of colostrum) before handing him over. Everything was fine, DS and I had no real difficulties nursing ultimately and nursed past my year goal ... but it was still upsetting at the time thinking that it could mess things up. I had a baby nurse that was almost more helpful than the lactation consultant in the middle of the night one night, so there were some bright spots there.
I wish I had done more research on hospitals before selecting an obgyn, but then again, I didn't know I definitely wanted to natural until I was part way through my first pregnancy. I do love my obgyn and wish she delivered at multiple hospitals. Anyway, I'm just going to be a very squeaky wheel next time.
I delivered at Women's and I would again in a heartbeat. I had a terribly difficult labor and my son's heartrate dropped dramatically as he was sunny-side up and couldn't fit his head out of the birth canal...so I pushed for 2 hours to try and get him out. My nurse and OB abided by my wishes to have a vaginal delivery even though there were risks due to my son's heartrate dropping. I asked how long it would take to get the baby out by c/s if his heart stopped and they said they could have him out in 60 seconds if need be (with general anesthesia of course). So, I could push until it got that grave....After 2 hours, I still didn't want a c/s and the only other option was to vaccuum him out and that's exactly what my doctor did. Little did I know at that time that there were about 5 neonatal doctors and several highly trained nurses right outside my door with high tech equipment to revive my son if he needed it! Once he was out, they wisked him off to those specialists for about 5-10 minutes (right there in the hallway) to make sure he was okay. My husband was right beside him the whole time. He came back to me perfectly fine and healthy and stayed in our room with us for about an hour and a half so my family could meet him. Then I went to recovery and he went to be cleaned, bathed, measured, and tested and we met again about 4 hours later. In that time, I also got to rest a bit, shower, call friends & family to announce the news and before I knew it, he was right back with me.
They gave Joe (my son) formula after birth, but they asked me first what I wanted to do. I was soooo exhausted after that intense delivery that I was fine with givign him formula! He was HUNGRY too....he ate a whole 4 ounce bottle (he was only supposed to have 2 ounces, but DH fwas feeding him and forgot to watch how much he ate)
I credit the nursing staff and Women's and my doctor for doing whatever they could to protect my baby and abide by my wishes. They were incredible.
Postpartum recovery was great too! I liked all my nurses and the food is really good!! You get a pretty extensive menu for each meal and they have an option where the daddy can order off the menu as well for like $7.
If your road to first-time c-section was dependent on your doctor being in/out, then I would have had one at 33 weeks.
In my case, my doc was out when low fluid levels sent me to Woman's L&D. They thought I must have a leak - the levels were extremely low (3) - I also had breech positioning.
It was a perfect case to deliver by section that day.Instead, they observed me (did not rush me off in some nightmare of c-section glee).
It turned out to be just low fluid - no leak.
I saw three different not-my-doctor doctors that weekend and one NICU doctor. None recommended delivery - I stayed all weekend in the hospital and they got my levels up enough to go home until Monday.
If the section rates indicate the presence of doctors laying in wait to section you, then I would have been in the OR that weekend - I don't think the c-section numbers mean anything like that.
Instead, when my levels continued to stay very low, I was placed in the hospital to sit around as the best baby incubator - for 5 weeks I sat around. They didn't even put an IV in me - they had me drink water b/c it was LESS invasive with less risk of infection.
During those 5 weeks I think I witnessed what these higher rates are about. I felt sorry for myself - frustrated at being in the hospital. But, I was in good shape and could walk the halls. When I did, I saw what Woman's deals with a lot and stopped feeling sorry for myself -
Those signs you see in post-partum - you know with the names of the babies and the 6, 7, 8 lbs. of sweetness - in ante-partum they read 2 lbs. a lot of the time. Sometimes 1.
I know they deal with some of the most complicated cases and that it has to lend to the numbers of c-sections.
I just didn't experience a rush to get me to do anything except have the most natural birth I could and to gestate the longest possible time. It seemed like supportive decisions - supportive of me, nature, and my baby - with a responsible eye to safety.
I made it to full term - with the hospital staff helping me keep my fluid levels up enough to do that - not enough room to turn that baby, but they were all hoping for me the whole time and being quite encouraging.
The ultrasound techs and radiologists worked hard to find the fluid levels and let the baby have enough time to meet the required goals of movement. They did not want me to deliver early - they were conservative about keeping things going.
Really - I just don't see a rush to be imprudent and take experiences from me. It seemed quite the opposite - they wanted me to get back to text book - or as close as I could be.
I was part of all the decisions and never felt closed out. I held my baby after delivery before he was taken to the nursery and I was wheeled into recovery.
I would be open to the idea of another hospital doing all these things for me, but I don't question Woman's motives. In my experience, they want natural births for everyone - and they try to make that happen even when the chips are down.
If your road to first-time c-section was dependent on your doctor being in/out, then I would have had one at 33 weeks.
In my case, my doc was out when low fluid levels sent me to Woman's L&D. They thought I must have a leak - the levels were extremely low (3) - I also had breech positioning.
It was a perfect case to deliver by section that day.Instead, they observed me (did not rush me off in some nightmare of c-section glee).
It turned out to be just low fluid - no leak.
I saw three different not-my-doctor doctors that weekend and one NICU doctor. None recommended delivery - I stayed all weekend in the hospital and they got my levels up enough to go home until Monday.
If the section rates indicate the presence of doctors laying in wait to section you, then I would have been in the OR that weekend - I don't think the c-section numbers mean anything like that.
Instead, when my levels continued to stay very low, I was placed in the hospital to sit around as the best baby incubator - for 5 weeks I sat around. They didn't even put an IV in me - they had me drink water b/c it was LESS invasive with less risk of infection.
During those 5 weeks I think I witnessed what these higher rates are about. I felt sorry for myself - frustrated at being in the hospital. But, I was in good shape and could walk the halls. When I did, I saw what Woman's deals with a lot and stopped feeling sorry for myself -
Those signs you see in post-partum - you know with the names of the babies and the 6, 7, 8 lbs. of sweetness - in ante-partum they read 2 lbs. a lot of the time. Sometimes 1.
I know they deal with some of the most complicated cases and that it has to lend to the numbers of c-sections.
I just didn't experience a rush to get me to do anything except have the most natural birth I could and to gestate the longest possible time. It seemed like supportive decisions - supportive of me, nature, and my baby - with a responsible eye to safety.
I made it to full term - with the hospital staff helping me keep my fluid levels up enough to do that - not enough room to turn that baby, but they were all hoping for me the whole time and being quite encouraging.
The ultrasound techs and radiologists worked hard to find the fluid levels and let the baby have enough time to meet the required goals of movement. They did not want me to deliver early - they were conservative about keeping things going.
Really - I just don't see a rush to be imprudent and take experiences from me. It seemed quite the opposite - they wanted me to get back to text book - or as close as I could be.
I was part of all the decisions and never felt closed out. I held my baby after delivery before he was taken to the nursery and I was wheeled into recovery.
I would be open to the idea of another hospital doing all these things for me, but I don't question Woman's motives. In my experience, they want natural births for everyone - and they try to make that happen even when the chips are down.
well said lily. i remember visiting you when you were on bedrest in the hospital and reading those signs on the walk to your room. literally 2 or 3 lbs.
also, i believe statistically women's delivers far more babies than any of the other hospitals in houston, especially the suburban hospitals. if you only look at the national average for c-sections this would put them at a higher rate than the others.
i agree with pp c/s depends on your doc...my doc did not pressure me AT all to have a c/s my son just would not come out and his heart rate was up and down....
i did not notice the 4 hour observation period....that's how out of it i was after the c/s i told them to give BOTH formula/bm....i had major probs with bf
the labor and delivery nurses were WONDERFUL!!!!!!!
the recovery nurses were OK they couldn't beat the l and d but they were nice.....i think the l and d nurses just went out of their way!!!!
I plan to deliver at Women's. I picked my doctor based on that plan and my research. I feel like they are the best when it comes to anything that could possibly go wrong.
But I will say that sometimes I feel hesitant in saying that I chose that hospital. For the people who did not, I feel like there is a negativity that comes out and I feel sometimes like I'm being a bad mother to pick that hospital. This post isn't the first time I've read something that seemed sort of...condemning.
I think there are pros and cons to every one out there. If your number one issue is not being separated from the baby (since that seems to always come up), then that's not the place for you. However if that isn't as high up on your priority list, the maybe it is. Either way Houston is full of great hospitals.
Brandi was my nurse the when I was first transferred to Women's. She was so calm and comforting. It was a huge help.
i had DD at Woman's and I was beyond satisfied with my experience. Hopefully, I'll have my future children there also.
The 4 hour away period is not as terrible as everyone is making it out to be. It's not like they whisk your baby away from you and you don't see him/her for 4 hours. DD stayed with me for over an hour before they took her to the nursery and I got to nurse her pretty much right away. I got to eat a meal and move to a private room, then they brought her right back, I'm not even sure it was 4 hours.
The formula fed thing is weird because I had to sign a document giving the nursery permission to give my baby formula. She had "Breadfeed" on her rolling cart but she stayed in the nursery at night so I could get some rest and I allowed the nurses to give her formula so she wouldn't starve. This didn't hurt our BFing one bit as I BFed DD until she was 23 months.
Each woman is going to have a unique experience and some women are just difficult to please so of course they're going to speak up about it.
I think you should go take a tour of each hospital and see for yourself.
I'm glad you had a positive experience. But yes, my experience was as bad as I made it out to be. I did NOT get to hold my baby for 5 hours. I saw her for maybe 5 minutes before they took her away.
I delivered at Women's and had a perfectly fine experience. Like the others have said, I don't really even remember the 4 hour period. The first 24 hours after birth is kind of a blur. O was never given formula and it was never even discussed with us. I would have delivered #2 there if we hadn't moved.
Yeah, this is way harsh. Just because you are fine with the four hour wait period does not mean people who aren't are difficult to please. Recent studies have shown that it is best for the babies to be with the mother as much as possible, which is why I chose to deliver elsewhere. In fact, St. Luke's has recently taken heed of these studies and all babies now stay in the rooms with their moms as opposed to the nursery. I also find it disturbing that many people are told the wait period is mandatory/state law, when in fact that is a complete lie. Sure, if you don't like it, don't deliver there, but I know I personally don't like being lied to. Many other people likely don't like it but believe it is necessary and abide by it. I think that's unfortunate. And finally, newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours. I find it incredibly strange that they would take the baby away for a longer period than that without concern for its feeding schedule. I thought it was interesting the number of moms on here who were asked if their baby could be given formula. Again, a personal choice and clearly these moms were Ok with it, but I don't see why there is anything wrong with NOT being Ok with that. The original poster needs to examine all sides and do what is best for her and her baby, but I do think hearing about a variety of experiences is helpful for her.
sorry ladies, I wasn't meaning it to be harsh. I was only trying to let the OP know that not everyone's experiences are going to be terrible. There are plenty of girls who have posted here that they had good/great experiences at Woman's Hosp of Tx.
I'm sorry for those who had bad birthing experiences there.
Thank you to everyone who has shared her experience. ?It HAS been really helpful. ?My husband is not comfortable with the 4-hour waiting period (of course he's taking it to a whole new level--he said they could clone our kiddo in that period of time, haha). ?To sum up it seems like people have had both very positive and negative experiences at Women's, but I haven't heard really any negative experiences about St. Luke's. ?I was already a little uncomfortable with my OB anyway, so I really think I might switch. ?She's ok now I guess, but but rushes through every appt and there was some serious drama at the beginning of my pregnancy (she couldn't find a hb at my 6week u/s and scheduled me for a D&C--then the u/s the day before the D&C found a totally normal hb and baby--I really considered switching then but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.) ?I guess all this stuff about the hospital has sealed the deal. ?I hope switching at 23 weeks isn't too big a deal. ?
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Anyway, thank you again for sharing all of your experiences. ?To each their own!! ?:)
Honestly, KT, I found throughout this discussion that you have been fairly harsh especially for someone that never gave birth there. I do not hazard any opinions on St. Luke's b/c I didn't deliver there. The only truly negative experience that a Nestie had at Women's on this thread was by jen05/03 - all of the other negative comments are from "my friends said" commenters and you are pretty harsh on the hospital and acting like we're crazy wrt c/s rates, etc. when you didn't deliver there and don't really have a "variety of experience" at Women's to share. And frankly, I'd expect every hospital to ask the FF/BF question, and whether any FF was Okay. That's the only way they'll know your answer - by asking!
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
FWIW, I delivered #2 at a hospital that believed in keeping the baby with mom at all times. All procedures, baths, etc. were done in room. They didn't even really keep a nursery. I delivered at 11pm and we got to the post partum room some time between 2 and 3 in the morning. The pp nurse came in, checked us both out, and then told us she was going to leave us alone to get some sleep. She told me that the first 12-24 hours after birth babies need to sleep to recover from the trauma of birth and aren't that interested in eating. She said I did not need to worry about waking Calla to eat and just to focus on getting some rest myself until she came back around 6. I thought that was awesome. So, going 4 hours between feedings immediately after birth is not a horrible thing.
Good to know. I guess my DD was just a hungry little monster then because she ate a lot! (and slept a lot too)
I have delivered at Womans twice. Both times baby went to NICU so they were given formula and it didnt affect bfing. I'm sure you've gotten a ton of good and bad reviews about womans so I have some other tips to share.
1. No matter what hospital you choose, please choose an advocate (DH, Mom, MIL) to make sure you take your pain meds on time, ask the nurses questions, basically someone to keep an eye on everything. Nurses can get so busy they may forget things and you'll be tired so its nice to have someone take care of it. I wish I had asked my DH to pay more attention and speak up for me in advance. I ended up keeping track of my pain med schedule (you will have to ask nurse to bring your meds).
2. Prepre yourself for any kind of delivery. I never thought I'd have a csection and I wasnt prepared on how to take care of myself afterwards or what was considered normal.
Good luck!
Sorry to chime in so late. But I delivered at Texas Women's. And had a great experiance.
I had a birth plan, and since I have been with the same gyno for 5 years now, She was much much help. IMO a birthplan is very useful. I also had my mother and FI there to help me with handling/dealing with nurses and such.
I did mentallly prepare myself for all options, the "just in case" i had to delivery cs. or something, But we had a plan.