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Houston Babies
New to Houston and in need of advice
Hello-
My husband and I recently moved to Houston and surprise I am pregnant! I have been seeing a doctor at the Houston Womens Clinic and have been planning thus far to deliver at Houston Woman's Hospital, but am now having second thoughts. My husband and I plan to tour the hospital as well as St. Lukes and Methodist. Anyone have recommendations, advice, horror stories they can pass on? Also, if I decide to switch over to St. Lukes or Methodist I will need other doc recommendations. Any advice you can pass on will be GREAT! I so need it...
My plan is to have as natural as a birth possible and I am greatly concerned about the high c-section rates at some hospitals. I also really really really want my own room while I stay in the hospital.
Thanks!
Leah
This discussion has been closed.
Re: New to Houston and in need of advice
Congrats! I had two natural births at The Woman's Hospital (used the Bradley method), and while it is not the most natural birth friendly hospital, it can be done. I had an issue with one baby nurse with DS#1. I had no issues with any nurses with DS#2 - liked all of my postpartum and baby nurses. Also, it is all private rooms now - so no issues there.
If I were starting from scratch, I might have considered a different hospital with midwives, etc, but I already loved my OB, and she was very supportive of my wishes and worked with me on my birth plan to make sure it met my needs but also worked within hospital policy. I do think a lot of what happens is dependent on your OB or the OB on call (whether or not a c-section is more likely to occur). My OB ok'ed a hep lock instead of IV, but the OB on call said I needed an IV. The OB on call did do an excellent job of helping me find a better pushing position for me and with perineal massage, and I barely tore at all with DS#2. This hospital does see a lot more high risk patients than some other hospitals, and I think that does increase the c-section rate.
Pros for me - Excellent NICU (hopefully not needed, but you never know), tons of experience in delivering babies, love my OB and she only delivers there
Cons for me - Mandatory observation of baby from hour 1 to hour 4 (baby is with you the first hour of the 4 hour observation - so gone from you 3) - I'm not a huge fan of this, but honestly, it is nice to have some time to order and eat your food, go to the bathroom, rest some, call people, etc
I delivered two sons by c-section at Woman's and had good experiences.
The first put me on a long bed rest in the hospital. That was made easier by my nurses. His breech position and extremely low fluid level required a c-section.
My second was a potential VBAC, but we did not meet the doc's requirements in the end and were back for another section. All went well and the nurses were even better that time.
We had an opportunity to experience the NICU with no. 2. It is nice to be in a smaller hospital (square-foot-wise) when walking the halls after a c-section to see your baby in the NICU.
The observation period with no. 1 went unnoticed by me. I was probably in recovery and he was brought in right away after I got to my room.
For no. 2, I called to have him brought in after recovery, but he was in the NICU. So, that was a little different. They brought him in a.s.a.p. after he was released from the NICU.
We also had the opportunity to visit TCH's NICU which is also very nice - though more populated and more open floor plan. (Think cube farm for babies.) That did not bother me, but it was different. Also, the walk between St. Luke and TCH is farther - that won't probably matter to someone who is feeling fine after delivery but it was harder on me b/c of surgery. Then again, they have the Ronald McDonald House in the hospital which is a great resource if you need to stay after being released.
** The milk bank at TCH (which is the same as the one for St. Luke) was wonderful. I cannot thank Kim and Angie enough for their help while we were there. We still have issues to overcome, but they are wonderful resources. They even called me last week to check in.
i had 2 csections. 1 emergency after 17 hours labor trying to have a natural birth, 1 attempted VBAC with labor that did not progress. all the decisions that were made were done so by my doctor and myself. i don't think it would have happened any differently anywhere else. women's delivers thousands of babies and has probably the best NICU in the city. i felt very confident delivering there.
Hi- I am not a Nestie but was reading the board in my friend (Rayskit's) computer and typed out an answer, only to be told that I couldn't do that without saying so. So, anyway, what I said was that I do believe it has a lot more to do with your doctor than your location. If you have a doctor who is on board with the type of delivery you want, where you do it is a smaller part of the equation. Also, Women's delivers a lot more babies, so naturally they have higher c-section rates. They also deal with more high ris cases that are likely to end in a c-section.
Thanks.
Congrats and welcome!
I had my son at Methodist Willowbrook. I enjoyed giving birth there but I think a great doctor is everything!
What I found to be poor at Methodist Willowbrook was the Lactation Consult who was MIA, she came by once and was not very nice or helpful. Also, because my hubby messed up and originally said no to in hospital pictures, even though I told them yes afterwards, no one ever came by for pics
Also, their billing department SUCKS! I had to stay on top of them with a very watchful eye because my insurance made a payment and then they tried to rebill ME the amount the insurance had already paid!
I delivered at Women's and had an awesome experience. All of the rooms are private there now, so no worries about having to room with someone else. The L&D room was really big and nice. They say only 2 visitors (maybe 3?) at a time, but we had more than that and the nurse said it was fine. She said they limit it more when there are problems. I was a high-risk patient and ended up having an emergency c-section because of some complications. I did try to deliver naturally and my ob was on-board with that and followed all of my wishes until things started to go wrong. I really think it depends on your ob regarding how things will go. If you feel comfortable with yours and she knows your plan for delivery and agrees with it, then I think Women's would be a great experience for you. Not to mention their NICU if, heaven forbid, you should need it. After my c/s I wasn't expecting to see the baby for a few hours after I got into my pp room. They had told me it would probably be at least 3 hours (the baby was fine, but had to follow their observation requirements). Probably about 15 minutes after I got into my room though, they brought her in.
GL with your decision!