Duke University Hospital or Durham Regional for baby delivery? (Rex: insurance, moving to)

[durhaminjuly]

Hi everyone,
We're moving to Durham when I'll be about 7 months along with my first baby (this July). I would like to find an OB/GYN and hospital before then. I'm not too picky about doctors but would like a good delivery and post-partum experience. Since the 2 hospitals on our insurance are Duke University Hospital and Durham Regional, I figured I'd choose an OB based on which hospital I wanted to deliver at. Can anyone recommend either of these over the other?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Esperanza27713]

I had two babies at Duke, but the first one also had to spend a week at Durham Regional. I have friends who have had babies at Durham Regional, so I'll start with what I know about Durham Regional.

My friends have all raved about the experience at Durham Regional, mainly, it seems, because the hospital was smaller and less complicated than Duke. Parking at Durham Regional is easy and free - it's right outside the building. That will mean a lot to visiting friends and family. They said the nurses and doctors were very competent and very friendly. Of course, Durham Regional is owned by Duke, so the doctors are all on the Duke circuit - no concerns about their abilities. My oldest son had his circumcision at Durham Regional and they did a good job. We found the nurses to be very caring and down to earth, especially after dealing with the special care nurseries at Duke. I felt very comfortable there, but I was only visiting my baby. I never stayed there overnight.

Duke - I'm really not sure my babies would be alive or healthy, however, had I not had them at Duke. Both pregnancies were normal, but in labor, I developed complications that threatened the lives of my babies both times. The doctors and staff at Duke knew their stuff - especially in the case of the second baby they saved his life and his brain. We were lucky to be in a hospital used to unusual cases - they did not flinch, although we did see the adrenaline flowing. It's not warm and cozy at Duke though, so go in with your eyes open. In my case, warm and cozy was not what I needed.

I came away with this - if you are likely not to have problems with pregnancy or birth, I would not hesitate to go with Durham Regional. If you have pregnancy conditions or you think the birth may prove unusual, go with Duke, where they have likely seen it all and more.

Best wishes for a healthy, carefree birth and welcome to Durham! (BTW, what great choices to have!)

[ADVentive]

I delivered at Duke and had a good experience. One thing that I know is different between Duke and Durham regional is that at Duke, rooming in with baby is the default unless you ask for the baby to go to the nursery, but at Durham Regional, baby goes to the nursery unless you ask for the baby to room in with you. This is important to me, because I think that rooming in is a better practice, especially as it pertains to getting breastfeeding off to a good start. Of course you can still do it at either place, but it made me feel more comfortable that it is the default practice at Duke.

[durhaminjuly]

It seems like they are both good choices. Do you happen to know whether both hospitals have private rooms for post-partum?

[sbanawan]

We delivered at Durham Regional. It was a great experience and we had a private room post-partum. You can take a tour of the facilities before you make your decision.

[lamishra]

I delivered at Durham Regional twice and had no issues. I did have a private room during my entire stay although I wouldn't say it was the nicest room. My SIL recently delivered at Western Wake and I was impressed with the post partum rooms there!

[Esperanza27713]

Duke post-partum rooms are private, too.

sbanawan is right - you can take a tour of both places easily to get a feel for the facilities and amenities. I highly recommend it, because you also get a feel for the check-in process, triage and labor rooms, and post partum facilities. It helped me to know the stages I could expect once I arrived.

I'm not sure about Durham Regional, but Duke's ER has valet parking for the first 24 hours and there's a special fast track for labor and delivery. We found the valet parking helped a lot, given the size and complexity of the hospital.

[kelly237]

I delivered 2 C Sections at Rex and all went fine but you get that feeling you have at
a busy restuarant when you know your waitress is overloaded. (better ask for everything you need because you might not see her again for 2 hours)
My daughter delivered at Durham Regional and she was queen for the whole stay.
They were excellent in accomadating her and even the family.
I would check on care for complications though because if Duke is really better at that
I would want to be there. You never know when an emergency could arise and
when it does all the TLC in the world is not as important as doctors who know how to handle complications.