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Boston Babies
MGH vs. Brigham
What are your experiences with either/both and which do you recommend for delivery? Any recommendations of ob/gyns at either that you have had good/bad experiences with would be much appreciated - thanks!
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Re: MGH vs. Brigham
B&W is good if you are high risk, as it's connected to Children's.
I delievered x2 at MGH and loved the midwife practice. Delatano, cnm rocked my world!~
I had 2 main issues with the Brigham. One is that with every shift rotation I felt there was no continuity and that my situation wasn't being managed by a single point person, giving direction to all the drs/nurses. Maybe this was the fault of my OB-GYN? I had to re-tell my whole story with each new shift. So, one dr would tell me what we needed to do, then the next dr would come in and decide something else. Every dr wanted to reinvent the wheel - maybe this is because it's a teaching hospital and I was probably an interesting case?
And since I was there, in labor so long, I think I had 4 different shifts of dr's and nurses, so I had a longer than normal time period to notice this. I imagine most people go in and have their babies delivered by the dr they start their labor with.
My second big issue was it seemed that because everyone goes there for high risk that they are so busy they basically have to manage the highest risk of the moment. So I had to wait until I was the #1 high risk patient and my son was in jeopardy. My son was a trooper throughout the whole ordeal and in the end it was realized I needed a c-section. Once that decision was made (after already being in labor for 26 hours), we waited another 5 hours until I finally was rushed into the operating room when my son's situation worsened from all the stress he was under. As for the operating room - it was subzero - my husband overheard the nurses talking to each other during the operation about how they were worried about me and that they were responsible for the patient's body tempurature. After the operation they had to put me in a big bag with hot air blowing into it for a couple hours.
And, my son ended up in the NICU for awhile because of a very low AGPAR score when he was delivered. I barely got to see him and couldn't hold him until 8 hours after he was delivered because he had to be rushed away and evaluated (plus I was in the hot air bag!). Luckily, the ending is happy, his AGPAR came back up to good levels and he's now a very happy, healthy, 22 month old! Overall, it sure was a scary, disjointed experience for us.
I see all the other great reviews and realize that something must have gone really wrong with my visit there. And maybe it is tied to the OB-GYN I used. My cousin had a baby 3 months later and loved everything about BWH and her experience there (she's planning to have her second baby there in December). We're not sure if we're having another baby, but if we do, we won't go to BWH, however, on the flip side, if I start having my high risk issues, that's where I'll be sent anyway!
As for seeing different doctors over the course of L&D, I think the only way to avoid that would be to labor with a midwife/doula or a tiny practice. In a large/teaching hospital, OBGYNs/nurses have regular schedules and are off when they're off, which may not coincide w/ your baby's arrival...
GL, I feel like Boston is the best place to have a baby, for great hospitals and care!
Just another vote for Beth Isreal. I had my daughter there in 2006, had an induction due to my health (pretty high risk pregnancy). The staff was AMAZING, I pretty much had a nurse with me the entire time. I responded to the pitocin very well, start to finish 6 hours which is fast for any birth experience. They had a problem getting in my Epidural, the Chief of Staff was called and was in the room in minutes. It is a teaching hospital so there were medical students, I didn't really care, it took my mind off of everything.
I am having my 2nd at Beth Isreal as well. I'm excited!