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Alabama Babies
MaryIshSmith
member
Shoals- ECM or Helen Keller
MaryIshSmith
member
I am new to the area. Before I have to check it out myself; I wanted to ask if there was one that was better than the other. Any info about the suites and additional extra cost you know about would be great to know about too. Thanks Shoals girls!
Mary Smith
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Shoals- ECM or Helen Keller
I lived in Florence for 4 years and my husband is from that area. I showed him this and he said definitely Helen Keller and I agree with him. I have a friend who is an ICU nurse at ECM and she is going to Helen Keller to have her baby...if that tells you anything. Nothing personal against ECM but if I had to pick I'd definitely say Helen Keller.
Sorry I can't answer any of the costs questions or anything because I gave birth in Huntsville. There are a couple of other girls who know about the Shoals area on here as well...hopefully they'll give you some insight. Good luck!
I can't tell you much, other than the fact that I'm from Florence and was born at ECM. If I still lived there I would probably have delivered there. It's a good hospital.
I'll email Rachel, who hasn't been on here in a while. She wanted to deliver at ECM in July (where she delivered her oldest child) but ended up having to deliver at Helen Keller. I think she had a positive experience at both.
natural m/c and d&c at 10 weeks - 1/24/2014
DX w/ hetero C677t and A1298C MTHFR - 3/4/2014
Hi fellow Shoals lady! We should have a get together sometime.
)
Like Lydia said, I had my son at ECM and my daughter at Helen Keller. I would pick Helen Keller over ECM. I had a huge 2 bed suite at Helen Keller at no extra cost. The labor rooms are also very nice and roomy. (I know ECM has updated their rooms since I had my son so I'm sure they are nice as well).
At Helen Keller I felt like I had more privacy and I was able to spend more time with my baby. The nurses would check in with me in the morning and at night (do my vitals, etc.), but throughout the day they were great about letting me visit with family without interrupting. The nursery would get the baby for a couple of hours a day, but other than that she stayed in the room with us. The nurses would call in my room and check on her throughout the day. It was just so nice to know that if I needed a break they were readily available, but if not, I wasn't bombarded with nurses all day.
The day I delivered at Helen Keller only one other baby had been born that day. The day I delivered my son at ECM there were 10 babies born. I felt like I was pampered by the nurses at Helen Keller because they weren't over-crowded/worked. The reason I had to deliver at Helen Keller was because ECM was booked with c-sections and inductions.
I did not have a bad experience at ECM though. I received great care. I just felt like Helen Keller was more relaxed and personable. I felt like a number at ECM (if that makes sense).
Also, I tried to set up a maternity ward tour at ECM for weeks. It was a nightmare trying to get in (we never got the tour!). Every time we would call we would be transferred to a different nurse. All of which told us something different (needed an appointment/didn't need one).
If you have any more questions feel to email me! rjohnson1028 at gmail dot com.
Rachel! I forgot you're up there too- next time I'm visiting Mary & my brother (and soon-to-be-born Baby Sophia), I'd love to do a GTG then too.
PS that picture of Abby is adorable!
The Baby Blog.
Ladies!
I am defiantly going to go with Keller now. Thanks so much!!