Houston OB Recommendations (Center: bill, health care, rated)

[kickingprop]

Originally Posted by MumHouston

Thank you for the information. After birth did the baby remain with the mother until the surgery was completed, was the father allowed to hold the baby or was the baby taken to a nursery? Was there any period of time in which the baby was taken away from the mother?

My first delivery which occurred in another state was wonderful, and I am hoping to deliver at a hospital with similar practices.

During our C-Section, the baby was cleaned up and weighed and then immediately given to me to share with my wife while they were sewing her up. This is common I believe for scheduled c-sections.

Our little guy never left us until we sent him off to the nursery for 2hrs that night so she could get some rest. But that was at our request. WP@TCH is very big on getting that parent/baby contact right after birth so you should be good with their methods, but they are also very flexible depending on your needs.

[PinkLadyK]

Texas Children's is one of the best as far as being "family centered." Mine was a VBAC, and the baby never left my side during our 3-day stay -- hearing tests, pediatrician visits, etc were all done in our room. But once you're out of the OR that is hospital policy, not doctor policy, so you should ask the doctor specifically about the policy immediately after delivery. I was flabbergasted to hear that Texas Women's still has a mandatory 4-hour separation in this day and age. Insanity. TCH told me that the only time they take a healthy baby from Mom's room is for a circumcision.

[fnh]

Also avoid St. Luke's. I had a VBAC-friendly doc (Zepeda with Women's Specialists) but ended up with another (uncomplicated) C-section and afterward my baby was taken from me to the nursery for hours despite our repeated objections and pleas. It is a barbaric policy from the dark ages. I still regret giving birth to DC2 in Houston.

[PinkLadyK]

Originally Posted by fnh

Also avoid St. Luke's. I had a VBAC-friendly doc (Zepeda with Women's Specialists) but ended up with another (uncomplicated) C-section and afterward my baby was taken from me to the nursery for hours despite our repeated objections and pleas. It is a barbaric policy from the dark ages. I still regret giving birth to DC2 in Houston.

That makes my heart hurt for you. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

[PinkLadyK]

Originally Posted by MumHouston

I will have a scheduled C-section, so I am mostly concerned about the hospital practices after the baby is born. I don't want to deliver at a hospital with a standard separation practice. I would prefer to deliver at a hospital that does not have a nursery, but I have yet to find one here in Houston.

I will look up Dr. Timmins, thank you.

Also, if I were planning a C-section, I would have no concerns with Dr. Ortique. "Calming demeanor" describes her very well, at least my impression of her. Good luck to you!

[MumHouston]

Originally Posted by PinkLadyK

Texas Children's is one of the best as far as being "family centered." Mine was a VBAC, and the baby never left my side during our 3-day stay -- hearing tests, pediatrician visits, etc were all done in our room. But once you're out of the OR that is hospital policy, not doctor policy, so you should ask the doctor specifically about the policy immediately after delivery. I was flabbergasted to hear that Texas Women's still has a mandatory 4-hour separation in this day and age. Insanity. TCH told me that the only time they take a healthy baby from Mom's room is for a circumcision.

That is what I plan to avoid Texas Women's. My first never left our care except for jaundice treatment.

Originally Posted by fnh

Also avoid St. Luke's. I had a VBAC-friendly doc (Zepeda with Women's Specialists) but ended up with another (uncomplicated) C-section and afterward my baby was taken from me to the nursery for hours despite our repeated objections and pleas. It is a barbaric policy from the dark ages. I still regret giving birth to DC2 in Houston.

I don't think that babies are delivered at St. Luke's anymore, unless the parent works for the hospital, or at least that is what I was told by a physician's office. Apparently St. Luke's and TCH had an agreement, and now all St. Luke's doctors deliver at TCH WP.

[Texas Ag 93]

OB services are an area of health care where the patient/consumer really has an opportunity to plan in advance, interview providers and facilities and control (to some degree) the experience they have. And that is wonderful.

The desired type of experience described above is fine for many families, but not everybody wants that. I wanted my newborns to be in the room with me only until I went to sleep (or attempted to) and then I wanted them in the Level I nursery so I could hopefully get some rest. I didn't have any concerns about their care or security with them in the nursery. I also didn't feel it served any purpose to have my husband with me overnight so I sent him home so he could get some rest.

I don't consider one type of experience to be any more "right" or "wrong" than another and my husband and I have Health Care backgrounds and consider ourselves knowledgable health care consumers. It's whatever works for you and your partner.

[fnh]

Texas Ag 93, I couldn't agree more. There is absolutely nothing wrong with baby going to the nursery if that is what the parent wishes, and having the option is very helpful. In our case our baby was taken directly from the OR without permission and the night nurses on duty refused to release healthy baby to baby's own father or even allow dad into the nursery to hold him. It wasn't until our pediatrician (and friend) arrived early morning and demanded someone instantly bring us our baby that we 'met' him - four hours after birth. It was shocking and primitive and something admittedly I failed to investigate beforehand, never imagining anything like it could happen in the present age. In Seattle my baby was never out of my sight without my permission and the nurses even latched him to nurse while I was still paralyzed recovering from the C-section.

I'm glad to hear that St. Luke's is no longer delivering babies. I should have mentioned my experience was ten years ago.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by fnh

Texas Ag 93, I couldn't agree more. There is absolutely nothing wrong with baby going to the nursery if that is what the parent wishes, and having the option is very helpful. In our case our baby was taken directly from the OR without permission and the night nurses on duty refused to release healthy baby to baby's own father or even allow dad into the nursery to hold him. It wasn't until our pediatrician (and friend) arrived early morning and demanded someone instantly bring us our baby that we 'met' him - four hours after birth. It was shocking and primitive and something admittedly I failed to investigate beforehand, never imagining anything like it could happen in the present age. In Seattle my baby was never out of my sight without my permission and the nurses even latched him to nurse while I was still paralyzed recovering from the C-section.

I'm glad to hear that St. Luke's is no longer delivering babies. I should have mentioned my experience was ten years ago.

Hmm, that's strange and disappointing for sure. Back in the day when all the deliveries were at St. Luke's, but the Peds care at TCH, I think they just wheeled the babies down the hall from one to the other when needed.

[PinkLadyK]

No one said that everyone should have the above experience. The original poster, you know, the one we're trying to help here, specifically said that's what she was looking for. So glad for you that you had the choice of a nursery during your experience. Everyone should get to make that choice.