Best hospital to have a baby? (Dallas, Plano: how much, prices, vs)

[DaveG99]

my daughter was born at medical center of plano on coit and 15th. Very nice hospital and the experience was great.

[tahlia2006]

im pregnant at the moment and may deliver at presbyterian dallas but i want to know if the rooms are private or if you have to share does anyone know would love it if someone could help me also is the hospital nice my first son was born in rhd memorial hospital and my daughter in las collinas medical center they were really nice there

[bencronin04]

Again, I know this is an old article but I'd still like to add some input. We had our first one just a year ago at Baylor Downtown with Dr. Kurin. She was amazing(but is now full up and not accepting new patients) and we will be using her this go around as well as we are pregnant again. This process is going to be a little more difficult as we pulled my wife off my company insurance and put her on her own plan to try and save cost. Well, privately held insurance policies in Texas do not cover maternity or delivery and open enrollment is now closed for my company insurance. All of this will be out of pocket. We had no issues with the last pregnancy and I believe the bill from Baylor before insurance was close to 20K. We called Baylor after we found out that her insurance will not cover anything to see if we needed to pay up front or what the process would be. I was very pleased and surprised when they told me they would not turn us away, even if we could not pay anything ahead of time. We will be having this child at Baylor again, if all goes well!

[TheOverdog]

My wife's about to have kid #2, so here's my opinion:
Medical City Dallas for the first. Only 2 doctors in the practice, so the appoinments were always on time and easy to schedule, they gave out lots of samples of prenate DHA, the hospital facilities and food for wife and me were great. They even have a special meal 3rd night in. Only downside was the billing was hard to understand, but they still cut us a bill for only 75% of what our non-covered part of the bill was, without much prodding. We also didn't get our final statement until our kid was 10 months old! They allow you to keep the baby in your room or take it back to nursery at your timetable. They offer breast-feeding consulation, but it is not required. Good thing, because our kid never liked to breastfeed.

UT Southwestern for the second. They have something like 10-20 doctors in one office, so regular appointments are always half-day affairs. I think the closest to 'on-time' was 40 minutes late. No prenate DHA samples at all, but they occasionally give out the $9 a box vitamins. (Prenate DHA is like $70 a box) The downtown location is a pita to get to, the building is older and the rooms are worse than Medical City Dallas. Billing is much easier to understand, but there will be no discount because they expect you to pay your portion ahead of time, in monthly increments. They give the option of delivering at Parkland or UT Southwestern, but Parkland is (currently as they are building a new building) even older with dumpier rooms.

My wife likes her doctor and he changed from Med City to UT Southwestern; if it were up to me, I'd go back to Med City in a heartbeat. Sorry Doc.

[bencronin04]

Granted we've never had a child anywhere else, I still think Baylor is one of your best choices.

Every doctor and nurse was helpful and kind. (The nurse even stretched the truth for us on the "limit" of people we could have in the delivery room to keep from hurting any ones feelings.)

The nursery would come and get your child at any moment and let you get some sleep.

Brest feeding consultant should you want one.

On staff nurse to help my wife with bathroom breaks.

The rooms were nicer than most hotel rooms I've stayed in. Heck even the personal bathroom had a heated towel rack(LOL).

[Back2Texas]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

Im sorry about your experience but at the end of the day its just that.Your experience. It doesn't make it medical fact or reality for everyone.

Does ACOG's experience count for anything? Here is their practice bulletin on electronic fetal monitoring: http://www.ohsu.edu/academic/som/obg...uly%202009.pdf.
"Given that the available data do not show a clear benefit for the use of EFM over intermittent auscultation, either option is acceptable in a patient without complications."

In other words, they agree with the poster (jenlion). They disagree with her hospital.

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

And while the majority deliver healthy babies... A ridiculous number are not so lucky. Many of these women would welcome medical assistance if it can save theirs or the babies lives... If it improves their chances even slightly. Because no matter how many times you bury your infant, it never gets any easier.

But there has to be a balance. No one here is eschewing medical intervention. Just unnecessary medical intervention, i.e. medical intervention that does not improve your chances, not even slightly, and actually makes you/your baby more at risk for complications.

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

So while theres a lot of spewing about the evils of medically assisted deliveries, please understand that they are a privilege, an advantage you should be so lucky to turn down.

They are not a privilege or an advantage if they're unnecessary. In fact, they're quite the opposite. That "advantage you should be so lucky to turn down" carries a 4x higher risk of maternal death, compared to a vaginal delivery.

And if you think unnecessary C-sections are uncommon... well, maybe this post from a local OB will change your mind: Top Ten Signs Your Doctor Is Planning To Perform An Unnecessary Cesarean Section On You | Frisco Women's Health Blog

WHO recommends a C-section rate of 15%. The USA's C-section rate is about 35% and climbing rapidly, yet maternal morbidity/mortality, neonatal complication rates, etc. are holding steady. Some "advantage."

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

Pick your Obgyns or midwives carefully, pray and by all means do whatever you want with your bodies. Just have the presence of mind to realize your reality is not everybody's and more often than not, the attempts to demonize something that has greatly helped more than it has hurt labor and delivery is akin to a spoiled chauffeur driven child complaining about the mercedes he's riding in.

You are right. It's *precisely* akin to a chauffeur driven child pointing out that he's riding in a Mercedes when a sensible Ford Accord driven by mom or dad will do just fine, thankyouverymuch. If you want to call that being spoiled... okay.

[Aceraceae]

My wife is a nurse at Texas Health Plano. There are many great people there.

[Walter Benjamin]

ABC: Allen Birthing Center - Dallas Midwife: Honoring the Spirit of Birth

This place provided a truly wonderful experience for all concerned.

Also, the bill was about $5-6K, which in our case was covered by Blue Cross.

It's 1.5 miles from Allen Presby, in case of complications.

Chosen by my wife after extensive research, she would say it is absolutely worth the 28 mile drive from Dallas, just to deliver at ABC.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Our due date is in mid Nov, we're going to deliver at Medical Center of Plano. My wife's OBGYN is there, so that was our initial reason for delivering there, but after seeing what all they have to offer (free baby care classes, infant CPR class, extremely nice suites, a chef trained by Wolfgang Puck, a NICU that can do it all) we are happy with our choice, even though it's a bit of a drive from McKinney.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Our due date is in mid Nov, we're going to deliver at Medical Center of Plano. My wife's OBGYN is there, so that was our initial reason for delivering there, but after seeing what all they have to offer (free baby care classes, infant CPR class, extremely nice suites, a chef trained by Wolfgang Puck, a NICU that can do it all) we are happy with our choice, even though it's a bit of a drive from McKinney.

After hearing this and the amenities offered at Baylor Dallas.....I wonder why health care costs are out of control?!?!?!