Delivering at hospital your doctor doesn't use

destinyb12 · December 2015

Just curious if anyone has ever delivered at a hospital your doctor has no privileges at. We just moved and live about an hour away from the hospital my doctor uses but there are two others within 15minites so I'm just curious what would happen if I ended up at one of those instead

willashbaby · December 2015

I would assume you would just be delivered by the doctor on call. Emergencies happen.

fragglemom · December 2015

I would recommend checking with your insurance company. You can deliver at any hospital but that doesn't necessarily mean your insurance will cover you.

PedsIsHardcore · December 2015

willashbaby said:
I would assume you would just be delivered by the doctor on call. Emergencies happen.

This! If they don't have privileges at the hospital then you will be delivered by whomever is on call or the attending OB. I would look into those hospitals so you can decide which one you do like better just in case. Also talk to your OB over which one they like and what doctors they recommend.

SummerOH · December 2015

FYI, a lot of doctors don't deliver their patients' babies even if they are delivered at their hospitals. If it's 1am, chances are good that the on call doctor will deliver the baby. I would worry more about insurance and less about who delivers your baby. Childbirth is expensive and you don't want to be stuck with out of network charges!

Emott13 · December 2015

Same as PPs. The only thing I'll add is that the hospital your doc has privileges at will have an easier time getting your records (and may actually already have them shared) than a hospital your doc isn't associated with. If you've had a complicated pregnancy it may be worth the drive to deliver in a place where they're familiar with your case.

MeghaJake · January 2016

I know of people having to go to closer hospitals for delivery due to emergency situations and they haven't had problems, but they were true emergencies. One of them actually had the first of her twins in a toilet in the lobby.

amargaret24 · January 2016

Our doctor delivers at a hospital that without traffic is 35 minutes away but WITH Los Angeles traffic could be anywhere from 1-2 hours away. I love my doc so much that we are just going to try our best to avoid traffic at all costs - either go early or try and wait as long as possible. We spoke to our doctor about it and he said come early if anything... have you talked to your doctor about a plan? You should probably just register at a close by hospital in case but maybe when you go into labor (and granted there aren't any immediate issues) you can just haul it out for the hour drive. Lots of folks live an hour from their hospital just because they're out in the country, etc. And like some PP said, he may not even deliver you at said hospital - I know my doctor will be present for the delivery so that's a big reason why we are just planning on the original hospital. (We also moved during my pregnancy, I was only 15 minutes before).

destinyb12 · January 2016

I wasn't concerned about who's delivering my baby since my doctor is a part of a large office and there was no guarantee she'd deliver my first baby, so that wasn't my concern was just curious since I possibly wouldn't be preregistered or have my records there how this would go. I looked into a doctor here and they weren't to keen on taking me so late into the pregnancy so just decided to stick with my normal doctor. And either hospital takes my ins lol if that was my concern I would have asked that specifically. And I know a lot of people do make the hour drive but I have no interest in laboring in a car for an hour or more because of traffic or being stuck in a hospital bed for hours because I wanted to get there early.

ChrissyD1203 · January 2016

@destinyb12 I'm not an insurance expert by any means, but I think even if the hospital takes your type of insurance, your particular policy might still be able to deny your claim if your at a hospital other than the one your doctor wants you at. This is why I didn't travel at Christmas- one of my friends traveled at Christmas last year, went into early labor, insurance denied hospital stay because she had traveled against doctor's orders. I'm not saying this will be the case for you, but I think it's worth a call to your insurer and letting them know the full situation.

Wicked4589 · January 2016

Your insurance won't be denied because you are at a hospital other than where your doc practices. As long as the hospital is in network (don't ask if they take it, you have to specify if that are in network) you are fine.

Becky012016 · January 2016

ChrissyD1203 said:
@destinyb12 I'm not an insurance expert by any means, but I think even if the hospital takes your type of insurance, your particular policy might still be able to deny your claim if your at a hospital other than the one your doctor wants you at. This is why I didn't travel at Christmas- one of my friends traveled at Christmas last year, went into early labor, insurance denied hospital stay because she had traveled against doctor's orders. I'm not saying this will be the case for you, but I think it's worth a call to your insurer and letting them know the full situation.

This happens when the insurance knows that the patient specifically went against medical advice. Had your friend gotten Doctor approval for traveling then it would not have been an issue.

Delivering at hospital your doctor doesn't use

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