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St. Louis Babies
lbengfort
member
St Lukes vs St Johns
lbengfort
member
Hi all - I'm a first time mommy, due in April, and we're starting the process on the best hospital for us to use on the big day.
We're between St Lukes and St Johns Mercy. Of course, St Johns Mercy is known as the notorious "baby hospital" which is a huge plus, but my doctor only delivers at St Lukes.
Can anyone share pros/cons based on past experiences?
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: St Lukes vs St Johns
I went with Mercy and will definitely deliver there again. The main pros for me are their reputation for being the "baby hospital" as you mentioned, the on-site level III NICU just in case anything were to go wrong and the facilities, which will be even nicer come January when they open the new labor/delivery suites. So, I think the only con would be that your doctor doesn't deliver there.
I do have a friend who has delivered 2 babies at St. Luke's and has been happy with her experience.
We also had the tough choice between St. Johns and Mo Baptist. We ultimately chose St. Johns again. I delivered my last two there and LOVED the nurses and staff and food!
Hubby was comfortable on their pull out beds (where reviews say at Mo bapt they are very uncomfy) and we already know all the procedures at this hospital. Huge pluses for me are:
*Breast feeding support on floor at all times
*Daddies are allowed to be in room while Epi is being given (HUGE plus for me, cause I'm a baby about it).
*Can carry baby out of OR room down to recovery
*If you deliver naturally you don't move from room to room you stay in the same room!
*Level III NICU (HUGE PLUS)
*Dad's are allowed to stay with baby and not leave their side even if mom can't go!
*Our pedi can see baby at St. Johns
*rooms are BEYOND nice and they are suppose to be nicer come Jan
*You can have as many guests in room as you like as long as you like (some hospitals have restrictions)
*you can have up to 3-4 people in room while you are delivering (except OR of course, only one is allowed there).
Another huge deciding factor is where our Pedi can see baby. Our babies have milk protien allergies and so we didn't want to have to explain our whole life story and some other pedi try to push things down our baby that weren't ness for 3 days when our reg pedi would see baby at St. Johns. So that may be a factor for you also if you want your pedi to see baby or if you don't mind an "in house" pedi sees him/her.
I honestly would check out both and make your decision from there
The pedi part honestly made up our mind which hospital to stay at. I wanted Mo Bapt b/c they are more "breastfeeding friendly" but the pedi portion out weighed any other option for us. Second factor, daddy's comfyness. He has to be there with me also for 3 days so he shouldn't be laying on a rock and eating crap, KWIM?
GL it's a huge decision
Another good thing about St. Johns I just remembered is their security.
Mommy, Daddy and baby all have matching ID bracelets. ONLY someone with a footprint on their name tag is allowed to take baby (if they don't have one you can deny them access to baby). They match your bracelet and baby's bracelet before taking baby and when bringing them back. I liked the fact that only someone with a special name tag could take them and that they always check the bracelets.
I have delivered twice at St. John's Mercy and will be going there again. The ladies have covered most of everything that I love about the place, but I just want to emphsaize how great the nurses and the service you receive there is.
Our firstborn only lived 1.5 hours after birth (she had a genetic condition) and they were so wonderful through that whole experience. I had an entire team of NICU doctors in my room for the birth as they knew she would be a high risk case. Once they realized they couldn't save her, they were sensitive, they made sure we made memories with our baby, called in a photographer for us, and just made sure we were taken care of both physically and emotionally. After that experience, I knew I'd never deliver anywhere else, even if it was a little scary and somewhat painful to go back at first.
My 2nd baby was born in January 2011, and again, my experience was amazing, and even better because I got to take him home! I had a doula for his birth, and in my birth plan I included things like I didn't want my water to be broken manually, very limited cervix checks, etc., and they honored my every request without objection and without pressuring me to do anything I didn't want to do. I didn't end up with an unmedicated birth, but it was my own personal choice, and I was in no way pressured to get an epidural. After my water broke, things just started moving really fast and it was super intense, and at that point I wasn't enjoying my birth anymore, so I requested one. I was 7.5 cm, and there was still no problem with getting my epidural even at that stage!
I also wanted to say that the LC and all of the nurses, especially the nursery nurses, were INCREDIBLE about helping me get the hang of breastfeeding. At one point I was having some latching issues and was tempted to just give him a bottle so he would get something in his belly, and they were very encouraging, telling me it was up to me but they recommended me not to do that because it might hurt the nursing relationship, etc. I went in expecting to have to fight for my right to breastfeed (based on the things you read online - not about Mercy, but about hospitals in general), and that was not my experience at all. Also, I met with my doula yesterday for this baby, and she was telling me that Mercy is one of the more supportive hospitals for breastfeeding.
I really can't say enough good about Mercy. I don't know anything about the other hospitals, in all fairness, since I've only been to Mercy. But if you choose them, I don't think you'll regret it.