Maryland Babies
Best Place in Balt to give Birth?
Hi, I'm new the Baltimore area and my OB/GYN goes with Baltimore Medical Center for birth. Is that good? Is there a Women's Hospital? What do you recommend (I'm looking at hospitals only)? Thanks!
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Re: Best Place in Balt to give Birth?
Yes, GBMC is in Towson. I don't know anything about BWMC, but pp is correct about their c/s rate- I believe in 09 it was 45% of their births and I have heard rumors that is under reported. That's not to say you can't have a great birth there, but your chances of having a c/s are definitely higher than anywhere else in the state.
I delivered at Franklin Square and had a mostly good experience. Loved most of the nurses and most of the NICU staff was wonderful. I agree with pp that the provider you chose also makes a big difference in your experience.
We toured Baltimore Washington Medical Center and the have a really nice L&D unit as far as their rooms and ammenities. We chose AA Medical Center because they have a NICU and BWMC does not. DD ended up going to the NICU for a week so we were really glad we chose them over BWMC.
I realized that to be fair to GBMC that I should mention that AAMC also has a pretty high c-section rate. But anyway on to my experience at BWMC...this was in April 2009. The short version:
Went to emergency room b/c it was a Sun night and I was having sharp pains. (I was told by my insurance company's nurse hotline to go in and Patient First doesn't have u/s machines). They had me go back for an u/s. Dh wasn't allowed to come w/me and was made to sit in a separate waitroom. Once there they did an internal u/s. The tech didn't forewarn me that it could cause bleeding or irritation. After she did the exam, I went to the attached bathroom to clean the gel off of me and realized that I was bleeding - bright red blood at that. I asked her about it and again no reassurance. She didn't even have a pad or anything that she could give me and didn't offer to. I started hysterically crying (hyperventilating kind) b/c I thought that I had lost the baby. (I wasn't almost 20 weeks at that point). I was escorted down the hall to where my husband was who didn't know what was going on but thought that something horrible must have been b/c of the way I was crying. we were then taken to the main lobby. I was bleeding a little heavily at that point - through the toilet paper and had to track down a resident to give me a pad. She did try to reassure me too saying that things might be alright. It wasn't until we saw the PA hours later that things became okay. (The u/s were interpreted by someone in Australia!)
I just feel that the hospital dropped the ball and could have treated me a 1000x better.
If you are somewhat near BWMC you probably aren't too far from AAMC. I delivered at AAMC and loved it....plus they have a NICU there which was important to me in case anything went wrong (luckily it didn't). The L&D nurses were fantastic and really made my whole experience there. My coworker's wife delivered at BWMC and had no problems, chances are you wouldn't either, its just that AAMC is a great hospital.
For those hating on GBMC due to the high c./s rate, many women choose to go there knowing that they will have a c/s. I had two planned c/s, and chose GBMC. I would have bumped up any hospital's rate, because I would have had a planned c/s anywhere I went. It so happens that GBMC is a better equipped for high risk moms, planned c/s, and newborn health problems.
Resorting quickly to a c/s is more about the OB than the hospital itself. Ask your OB for their c/s if that influences your birthing decision, but don't let people scare you away from a good hospital.
I know I'm a bit late to the party but I wanted to let you know that I didn't have the best time at Mercy for our first and have decided to go with GBMC for our second. Mercy was adequate but it definitely did not feel warm or particularly positive. The rooms were quite small and the chair for my husband was extremely uncomfortable. The nurses even told me that the L&D beds were very uncomfortable but there was nothing they could do
Our nurse during birth was great but after that... things changed. The nurse after I gave birth seemed to just forget that I was there. I think that we looked and acted like we knew what we were doing so she left us to help patients that were younger/less experienced. While I don't blame her, I definitely didn't feel taken care of. I had to request a lactation consultant after the first day. The nurse told me she didn't feel I needed to take pain medication so despite my doctor's orders, she didn't give them to me.The food was also pretty dismal with few choices.
After we were discharged my daughter needed to get readmitted. I went to GBMC that time and the experience was so much better. The nurses were attentive and understanding. The rooms were comfortable and there was a couch/bed for my husband. I was able to order food off of a room service menu and the food was good! Needless to say, I'm headed back to GBMC for baby #2.
Good luck & Welcome!
I agree with this.
I delivered at Howard County and had a great experience overall and will go back with #2. The L&D nurses were fantastic, the Post-Partum ones not so much (they check on you less frequently, not timely with giving pain meds, take a long time to get you discharged) but I'm also a nurse so I also have high expectations for care