Baby Hospital Advice!!! (Phoenix, Scottsdale: live, storage, delivery)

[aguafria]

I delivered both of my babies at Paradise Valley. We loved it. They had a really nice place for my dh to sleep too (in the room) They redid the Maternity section about 5 (?) years ago and it was very comfortable for both of us! And it wasn't quite as busy as Scottsdale Shea. (But I have heard good things about Shea.

[gigi927]

I delivered both of my babies at Scottsdale Shea. Their maternity wing is excellent. All patients have a private room and - more importantly - a private bathroom. Nothing better than that when you have just delivered. The rooms are spacious and there's a little area for dad to sleep as well. They have a Level 3 NICU, I believe - my second child was 5 weeks premature and the care we received from the NICU nurses at Shea was nothing short of incredible.

[KittyCun]

Banner Desert is also a good hospital. I had my boy there Nov 2006. All staffs were very very nice.

[azresident]

Banner Good Samaritan is the best for OB. I used to work there and they are nationally known for high risk ob care. They are top notch and have an awesome neonatal unit if you do happen to need it.

[crewbank]

Banner Desert is top-notch, but make sure you know what your insurance will pay for! They were very nice, large, private LDR rooms with bathrooms, and I (the dad) was able to sleep comfortably in the room. My wife had an unexpectedly difficult delivery and an EXCELLENT specialist was right on the unit and helped her through it. My only complaint...the insurance company refused to cover the baby's room and board while my wife was recovering from preeclampsia and an emergency C-section. That's not really Banner's fault, though.

[crewbank]

PS - Don't EVER go to Tempe St. Luke's for anything! They have a horrible reputation, and a family member employed at a nearby hospital tells me they have had quite a few botched cases transferred over from St. Luke's. I wouldn't let them put a band-aid on my knee, much less deliver my child.

[aguafria]

Originally Posted by azresident

Banner Good Samaritan is the best for OB. I used to work there and they are nationally known for high risk ob care. They are top notch and have an awesome neonatal unit if you do happen to need it.

That's funny that you say that b/c I always see on Discovery Health Channel that there are a lot of high risk patients that deliver there. If I had a high risk pregnancy that would be the place that I would deliver!!

[marlee4]

I'm delivering this July and will be going to Scottsdale Shea, but I've heard great things about the Catholic hospital in Gilbert (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center??) and that Chandler Regional is spiffing up their units to be comparable to the Gilbert hospital. A friend of mine, who I unfortunately did not get to visit after her birth, said that her stay at Gilbert was like a stay at the Phoenician. I don't know if that was an exaggeration. But she said it was resort-like. She hated Desert Sam, where she went for her first baby and said that she felt like she was being condemned to the basement.

I did, however, visit a friend of mine for a moment after her birth at another local hospital. Here are my 2 cents about the Spaniards: I don't know if they were legal or not. There was zero English, even though they teach English in Spain. Maybe I'm just being Basque, but I was irritated by the fact that her shared room was constantly filled with no less than 20 visitors at any given time, counting small, bored children. They were really nice and gave me their chair (because they had taken the 6 other chairs in the room). But my friend was exhausted . I'm trying to tame my extremist viewpoints (difficut for a Basque), but if you want to avoid a cultural experience that you don't want to deal with when you are in pain or exhausted, then choose a hospital with private rooms.

I chose the hospital first and the doctor second because none of my friends had their babies delivered by their doctor...none.

[CharlotteY]

Arrowhead Hospital had some problems over 10 years ago, but now it is an award-winning facility with a top-notch OB program. I read in the paper about several awards it has received from some national accreditation group. (I can't remember exactly what it was... but the only hospitals in AZ to receive the award were Mayo and Arrowhead...) I also think I read that they now to open-heart surgeries there if I am remembering correctly.

I've had a couple of friends who had babies at Banner Thunderbird. They both complained about various issues (i.e., assembly-style delivery, whatever that means...).

I've also heard good things about the Scottsdale hospitals but that is a ways for you to go.

[NoMoreHeat]

My recommendation may not help you bc of your locale but I wanted to post for those it might help in the Chandler/Gilbert area (btw, Scottsdale Memorial I've heard only great things about!). Here are hospital review sites you can also glean from Hospital Reviews and Patient Evaluations

We had our first 5 children at Chandler Regional and though I'm sure others may have a wonderful time there delivering and there may be some good nurses there now, you could not pay me enough to have another baby there - I would rather birth in the street than to trust that nursing staff again.

Baby #1 the nurse refused to get me an epidural saying I had at least 6 hours to go; I delivered within 30 minutes while she stocked the linen cabinet. They never even called my OB.

Baby #2 went great bc I had the one good L&D nurse that works there.

Baby #3 The nurses refused my doctor's order to admit me bc I 'looked too nice to be in labor' and told me to go home at 8cm! Get real! I delivered within 23 minutes.

Baby #4 The admitting nurse 'didn't believe in fast births' and refused my doctor's order to admit me, telling me to go climb stairs. My previous nurse happened to be on shift and went into OR where my OB was doing surgery so he could intervene. My anesthesiologist went off site mid-transition without assigning a new one, leaving me slammed without an epidural (again!). We later learned it was a huge deal there and that it is illegal in the state of Arizona to do that, though no one called us from the hospital about it. This was also the delivery where they sent male nurses to my room claiming to be my day nurse only to find out later they were learning nurses misrepresenting themselves and having had no training in OB.

Baby #5 resulted in a birth trauma and was the final straw for us when the nurses abandoned my case leaving me alone to birth in my room (they said 'Oops, we forgot to give her a new nurse at shift change' though my nurse begged to stay on my case at that time). M yepidural wore off (again!) and Dh was running up and down the halls begging them to come help while I was on the phone calling 9-1-1. Where was my doctor? Flying like crazy to get there bc they blocked calls to my room and wouldn't return his calls of checking in on my progress. It is a miracle my son is not harmed I had to hold him off for so long without anyone to catch him. His poor face was all bruised from it, terrible and totally avoidable! They also avoided normal care which I won't go into and then they shoved me in a room 10 feet from hospital construction and I got to listen to a jack hammer all night after having a baby.

About two years later I went to visit a pal who had her baby there and was offered a baby by a nurse! I had asked at what I thought was the nurse's station to get ice for my friend and the nurse there (it was the nursery) asked me to deliver one of the babies to its mother's room while she got the ice! When I told her I would get the ice bc I don't work there she got all irritated that I wouldn't take the woman's baby and left it there in the hall!

Bottom line, if nurses won't communicate with your doctor he won't be able to protect you so make sure you DO get with a good hospital that has quality, low turn-over nursing staff. Ask around and look for nurses that treat you and not just watch your monitor from the hallway.

Now, our last two babies we had at Banner Desert Sam and they were glorious! So much more professional and a better quality of care for sure! That may not be everyone's experience but by in large most women I've talked to loved it there. My nurses there stayed during the entire time, and, unlike Chandler Regional, they believed me when I told them I deliver fast. They are also a level 3 facility with an OB and anesthesiologist on site 24/7.

SW Women's Health is the practice that provides the level 3 contract. They also happen to be the practice my OB referred me to when he retired bc I could go into Banner Desert at any time day or night and see one of my OBs without being vulnerable to a nurse's decision. I LOVED it and felt so much safer each time.

If we have more children here in Arizona I will return to Banner Desert.