Saint Anthony's

tmac219

Hello everyone! New to the group and expecting baby 2 in December. I didn't live in the area for baby 1 and am in the process of choosing a doctor as well as a place to deliver. I live near Saint Anthony's in Warwick and would prefer going there than ORMC just based on word of mouth, convenience, and experience of friends. My only concern was that they do not have a NICU. My 1st child luckily didnt need the NICU but it was available. Has anyone had experience with St Anthony's? Or had a child that was born there that needed NICU? If so, was it handled well? I'm looking for a good experience but also want my babe to be safe! Thanks :

Dizzbomb

I am originally from Warwick and know some women who had their babies at St Anthony's. Based on their experiences and subsequent research, my word of caution would be that the doctors who use that hospital seem to have a high rate of doing early csections. Led to a very scary situation for one mom whose baby had to airlifted out to another hospital with a nicu. I haven't heard of any mortalities but, given the choice, I would recommend you investigate your options very carefully. I realize this sounds alarmist and I'm drawing from a small data pool, so by all means, take the advice with a grain of salt. I went to vassar in Pok which was great but that may be terribly far for you. Check out the other hospitals nearby and good luck!!

holly753

I am just wondering why you would not want to go to ORMC? It is a beautiful facilty with a friendly and knowledgeable staff, I believe the majority of dr's can work out of both hospitals. That being said a friend of mine just delivered at ORMC and had some complications at birth that required a NICU stay for her LO, she had to be flown to westchester anyway, apparently the NICU in Middletown was not able to provide the care she needed. I use crystal run, honestly I don't love them,good luck to you.

ali26

There are four doctors that deliver at st Anthony's, and about thirteen that deliver at ORMC.  All are part of crystal run which is basically your only choice in this region, but the two groups are separate and don't deliver at both hosptials-it's one or the other.  

 

I had my daughter at st Anthony's and am about to have #2 there.  When I had my daughter ORMC didn't exist yet and I know the backup plan then was st Luke's in Newburgh if your baby needed to be transferred to a nicu.  Not sure what it is now, maybe they'd use ORMC instead.  Like pp said if something major arises your LO would likely be taken to westchester no matter what, for the higher level nicu.   

Overall I was happy with the hosptial.  Most people I know are not thrilled with ORmc but I've yet to step foot in it so I can't comment.  I didn't like the idea of going to such a large practice which is why I stayed at st Anthony's.  it is true that their csection rate is high but they do not allow vbacs (too small a facility) so that pushes the number up a little bit.  If you are very concerned about the nicu situation you might want to also look into good Sam in suffern or st Luke's.   

 

litziechic

Hi, my name is Alison.  I am having my first and opted for St. Anthony because I live very close as well.  I am new to the area as well.  I use Dr. Landau and love him to death.  My philosophy is if the baby needs a NICU then I would be referred to Westchester. The hospital is having an event on Saturday that I will be attending.  But I have only heard wonderful things about St. Anthony's.

jossschoon@aol.com

Hello! I am in the same situation as tmac219...we are new to the area and I am doing a bit of scouting around for an OB as well as a hospital. This is our fifth child and I live fairly close to St. Anthony's. The idea of giving birth closer to my home is comforting to me, in that my family is a stone's throw away. Even though each pregnancy is different, I have not had any c-sections or required NICUs in my past deliveries, so I am close to taking a chance with going with this local hospital. I am pursuing a tour at the Kennedy Birthing Center so I can get a better feel for the place. 

bgaucher

Hello. I had my first at St Anthony's and had the most amazing experience. Dr Levine delivered Harleigh and was so great, but I would have been happy with either Brockunier or Landau too. I have a friend who works at ORMC and from her end everything is extremely unorganized. I haven't heard a negative thing about St Anthony's from anyone who has ever delivered there. Good luck

litziechic

Thank you for that post.  I am 39 weeks expecting baby #1 and delivering at St. Anthony's.  I love Dr. Landau, hopefully he is on call when I deliver baby Andrew.

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone. I also utilize crystal run and love Dr. Levine, who only delivers at St. Anthony's., however the hospital is too far for us, I had to switch to Orange Regional during my pregnancy. About two weeks ago, I had serious complications at 24 weeks and we went to ORMC first. I was told that the hospital has no capabilities to care long term for any babies born before 32 weeks and we were transferred to Westchester by ambulance. I think it's fairly common for hospitals to transfer mamas and babies (if they are already born) to Westchester's NICU unit. Each hospital is equipped to stabilize the babies enough to fly/transport them to Westchester if they are born premie. I also think if you are over 28/30 week mark, I wouldn't worry about it too much Bc the baby wouldn't have too many complications. Before that, as long as your labor doesn't happen really quickly, you will be transferred out of St. Anthonys anyway. You might also want to ask the hospital/your doc for reassurance.

litziechic

ORMC is only a level 2 NICU. 

litziechic

I just delivered at St. Anthony's, I had the most amazing experience.  Nurses and doctors are fabulous..