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St. Josephs Hospital-Birthing Center

ateal2490ateal2490 member
in Washington Babies

Hey all!

 

I'm from the Tacoma area and am considering having LO at St. Josephs. Right now I see the Pearl Place midwives (who are amazing!) and recently, I have started to consider The Birthing Inn... I just found out that TriCare won't cover me if I choose to use the Birthing Inn so I decided to look into the "birthing center" within the hospital. I read that they have hot tubs, medicine balls, ect...so it holds the potential to be somewhat like the Inn's experience.

 

Has anyone been there? I'm eager to hear some experiences! 

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Re: St. Josephs Hospital-Birthing Center

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    skenyonskenyon
    I had a water birth @ St. Joe's and it was wonderful. They have two sides to the maternity unit one is more medically based and the other side is more of a birth center. I had  a midwife from St. Joe's Womens Clinic, but I know the ladies at Pearl Place are amazing and they have privleges at the hospital so you wouldn't need to change. Keep in mind that it is still a hospital. There is a birthing tub, but a hospital bed in a hospital room, as opposed the a more homey type room at The Birthing Inn. Also you have to stay overnight, where the Inn would only keep you a few hours. All in all I know that it is entirely possible to have a wonderful natural birth experience at St. Joe's. Are you seeing Susan Sherwood @ Pearl Place?
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    ateal2490ateal2490 member

    imageskenyon:
    I had a water birth @ St. Joe's and it was wonderful. They have two sides to the maternity unit one is more medically based and the other side is more of a birth center. I had  a midwife from St. Joe's Womens Clinic, but I know the ladies at Pearl Place are amazing and they have privleges at the hospital so you wouldn't need to change. Keep in mind that it is still a hospital. There is a birthing tub, but a hospital bed in a hospital room, as opposed the a more homey type room at The Birthing Inn. Also you have to stay overnight, where the Inn would only keep you a few hours. All in all I know that it is entirely possible to have a wonderful natural birth experience at St. Joe's. Are you seeing Susan Sherwood @ Pearl Place?

    Oh, that's so great to hear!!!!

     I'm seeing all five midwives at PP as well as the OB...I guess whichever one is on call is the one I get on the night of the birth, so with each appointment, I meet a new midwife. I haven't even gotten the chance to discuss this with them yet, as I just came up with these ideas, but I'm really excited to do so. 

     

    Staying overnight vs. a few hours was one of my concerns. As a FTM, I'm weary to leave so soon, as I am completely clueless as to newborn care and I'm not sure if DH and I will feel completely overwhelmed...but it could go the other way around..I could actually WANT to leave after a few hours, and the birthing center will allow me to do so.

     

    Thank you so, so much for the info. I honestly didn't think anyone would reply.

    Thanks again! 

     

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    skenyonskenyon
    Your very welcome! Happy to help.
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    heather318heather318
    I'll go ahead and chime in since I work at St. Joe's and also delivered there. I had a great experience there. I wouldn't exactly call it comparable to a birth center. There are two "quads" that have delivery rooms. One definitely looks more like a hospital setting, the other looks a lot nicer. However, only one of the rooms in the "nicer" side has a birth center ambiance and it is one of two rooms with a big jacuzzi tub in the room. There are only two large jacuzzi tubs on the entire floor and the other rooms just have normal sized tubs in the bathrooms. So the odds of you actually getting the gorgeous tub room when the time comes is sorta low. If someone is already in it, then you might not get it. So definitely don't count on being in an environment that rivals The Birthing Inn. It is nothing like it. But with that being said, I'm planning on delivering my next child at St. Joe's in 3 months!
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