I saw in a past post that some women on here have delivered at HFWB. I will be delivering baby #2 there in June. I had DD at Huron Valley, and LOVED it there. The nurses and staff were amazing, and the hospital was beautiful. My OB practice now delivers out of HF instead, so I'm just looking to see how you ladies liked the hospital. How was the food and the spa services? How do the spa services work, and do you pay for them? I have no doubts that the nursing staff is amazing as well, and I'm looking forward to delivering there. TIA.
Re: Henry Ford W.B. reviews please
Hi There,
I delivered my son out of Huron Valley and my daughter out of Henry Ford West Bloomfield. I go to Women's Health in West Bloomfield and they do all their deliveries out of HFWB now. I had an awesome experience there. I did have a planned c-section so I was in the Acorn unit not the in the birthing unit. I felt the nurses were attentive and the food was absolutely delicious. You receive a free complimentary foot massage and they come to your room to do that. I really don't have any cons for you ~ I loved it there! All 4 days I was there .
I had a VBAC in September with the midwife practice and it was an amazing experience.
I went in hoping for an unmedicated birth, but unfortunately I had awful back labor and ended up getting an epidural. The nursing staff was fantastic and so supportive. Every nurse read my birth plan at the nurse's station and they all took it very seriously. Before my epidural when labor was awful, the nurses were wonderful and helped me fight through my contractions. I loved the tub, though the jet positions weren't optimal for back labor unfortunately.
When I ended up finally requesting the epidural, the anesthesiologists were rock stars. Epidurals are notorious for not touching back labor pain, but the doctors gave me just the right mix of pain meds and gave me bolases when I needed them. When it came time to push, I could feel my pushes completely but experienced no pain. Then within seconds of my son's birth, one of the nurses took a ton of pictures with my camera.
Food was delicious, though the menu wasn't quite as big as I would have liked. I was also allowed to eat during labor. They even had a refrigerator stocked with popsicles and juice. And I did have a pedicure and manicure in my room. My mom bought them for me as a surprise, and the quality matched what I would expect at a high end salon.
The only negative thing that I can say about HFWB is that they don't have enough rooms. This didn't affect me, but at one point, all the LDRP and overflow rooms were being used and there were women laboring in triage.
I delivered my son at WB in Feb 2010. It was a wonderful experience. Clearly once you visit you see that the hospital itself is beautiful. But, the nurses there are superb. I mean, they really made the experience. I think being a nurse out there is a "prize" job and therefore, the nurses there are very experienced and just wonderful. Being a first time mom, I needed all the help I could get. The Dr. that delivered me was great, and not my normal OB (there are 11 on staff that could potentially deliver you). But I came to realize that the OB is a very quick part of the experience. It is really about the nursing staff.
As far as the food, it was just OK. It was VERY healthy, but not very tasty. I was there a day and 1/2 after DS was born on a Friday night. I only ate breakfast there, DH pcicked up some food for dinners. Around lunch Friday I was very much in labor You can order 2 entrees for you and spouse/other. After that they charge your room and I think you have to pay before checking out because they can not charge your insurance for it, but I am not certain about that.
I can not compare the experience to other hospitals because I have always been affiliated with the HF system. The main difference I can tell just by talking to friends is that with other OB practices (such as those affiliated with Beaumont), you typically know the Dr. that delivers you. With the HF system, you do not necessarily know him or her. There are 11 total docs that could have potentially delivered me and I only knew 2 of them. I kind of knew the Dr. that delivered me only because she led my tour group when we first toured the facility.
All in all, my experience was wonderful and I will definitely have baby #2 there.
I am curious, did you go to an OB practice with just one doctor in the office? Or did you go to a bigger practice with multiple doctors? I just can't imagine not having one of my OBs there to deliver, there are about 6 that I rotate through. That is really weird.
My OB was at the Henry Ford Medical Center in Livonia. There are 2 OB's out of that office. Each of them delivers at WB. I have always gone there for internal medicine and stayed there for y OB treatment since most of the OB referrals I was getting were for Beaumont docs.
There is also an OB in the Troy HF Medical Center and a couple docs at the Plymouth location. I think the remaining OBs either see patients at the hospital or somewhere close by the hospital. I did not know that there were private practice docs that delivered at WB. I thought all of the HF docs saw patients at the medical centers.
I hope I don't sound too shi-shi-foo-foo, but I am curious, where is your OB practice? I am interested in staying with the HF system and delivering at WB, but the Livonia medical center has too much of a "free clinic" feel for me. I know that sounds terrible, but that's how I feel
I also go to Women's Health & Menopausal Center in West Bloomfield, like the first poster. They are on Maple and Orchard Lake. Love them. They delivered DD out of Huron Valley, and now they practice out of HFWB. All of the doctors there are great.
I have been trying to find out if other docs had delivery rights at HFWB, but most people I know are with Beaumont. I will definitely be contacting your locatio. We plan on TTC #2 later this year.
Thank you for the referral!
Another Women's Health Care patient here
I am not going to say what the others have said
I had DS1 at Huron Valley and our experience could not have been better. I will never forget it. I LOVED it there. I loved the care, the nurses, the facility, everything about it.
Everyone was so excited when HFWB opened because it was "new." The truth is, they did not make the maternity wing large enough. If you have a c-section you aren't even in the maternity wing. The rooms are still nice, but not nearly as big and the nursing staff (in my opinion and based on my experience....) are not as attentive because you they are dealing with pediatrics at the same time.
I knew about some of these "issues" before I had DS2 and begged them to deliver me at Huron Valley.....they wouldn't do it. I had several issues while I was there and I let our OB's know. They ended up sending in the President of the hospital in and the head of nursing in to hear our complaints because they want to make things better.
I think they have made some positive changes, but I am not going to lie, I am personally not looking forward to delivering there again this summer BUT....I love our office and doctors, so I won't change.
I really had to stay on top of the nurses with my pain meds and they did not put the security tag on DS2 until he was TWO days old Just look out for yourself and your baby and please let the OB's know if you aren't happy. They have to fix things.
They will take the baby overnight, but there is no "nursery," they just watch the babies in a room.This was another HUGE deal for us and I have heard lots of other women from our practice have been complaining about this. One night they did not take DS2 from me until 1am......that is NOT a "nursery."
I should add that I had a c-section, so I was on the "other side." I have heard from girls who have delivered vaginally, that the maternity wing is more attentive.
Maternity side is DEFINITELY more attentive.