Best Maternity Care in San Antonio? (Howe, Seven Oaks: live, price, military)

[cuteemogirlie]

I just found out I'm pregnant, and this will be our first child born outside a military hospital. My previous children were born at Wilford Hall. I have narrowed it down to:

Methodist (medical dr), Baptist (St. Lukes), and SW General

I'm going to be calling these tomorrow to try to get a price estimate, but was wanting to get feedback from people that have been to any of these for this reason. I've looked up ratings, but that doesn't really go into actual people's experiences. Drive wise, all 3 of these are about the same distance, so I'm basically looking at price and quality of care.

[pobre]

Originally Posted by cuteemogirlie

I just found out I'm pregnant, and this will be our first child born outside a military hospital. My previous children were born at Wilford Hall. I have narrowed it down to:

Methodist (medical dr), Baptist (St. Lukes), and SW General

I'm going to be calling these tomorrow to try to get a price estimate, but was wanting to get feedback from people that have been to any of these for this reason. I've looked up ratings, but that doesn't really go into actual people's experiences. Drive wise, all 3 of these are about the same distance, so I'm basically looking at price and quality of care.

Both of my children were born at Methodist (95,98). The choice of hospital will also be dictated by your choice of OB. The majority of deliveries in SA, I believe, are at Methodist (Medical Dr.)

Quality of care-excellent (had opportunity to use the NICU as well). Price? I don't really have a comparison. They were in network (PPO), so that was great.

[sapphire]

When I had my youngest at Methodist 12 years ago this Wednesday (*tear tear*) they were wonderful. The only problem we encountered was the room I was in leaked--there were torrential downpours and the water was coming in. Not the fault of the staff, though. I have no complaints about any of the Methodist facilities.....especially MASH for day surgery. Nothing but the finest, IMO.

[AR Newbie]

I had my daughter 4 years ago at Methodist (medical dr.) and LOVED IT! I had great nurses and a great experience. I used Dr. Harden which delivers there.

[SoMuch2Say]

I had my first 2 at Baptist (NE) and had some AWFUL nurse experiences. My L&D nurses were great, but the follow up nurses and baby nurses were a nightmare. While pregnant with my 3rd I was told Baptist Hospitals hire nurses from a "pool" system, where they are hired for a short term time, like 6 months, so often they don't care to do the best job they can, as they know they won't have this job for long. Don't know if there is any truth in that but I can say both experiences were bad.

Because of this, for my 3rd birth, I switched to Methodist (Metropolitan) and was extremely happy with my decision. Had very sweet and knowledgeable nurses all along the way.

[Chaka]

Congratulations!

What are your priorities?
Do you want minimal interventions and more options in terms of laboring (i.e. freedom to move, birthing pool, birthing ball, etc)?
Do you want the baby to room in with you? Do you intend to breastfeed?

Some hospitals are more conducive to these things than others.

OBs are usually aligned with certain hospitals, so which hospital will depend a lot on which OB you choose. Of the three you've mentioned, I've heard the most positive things about birthing at Methodist. re: St Luke's - I've heard mixed reviews. My OB practices there, and is very non-invasive, but he appears to not be the norm. I've heard rather negative things about the nursery environment. I won't be birthing there unless I become high risk, mainly due to the nursery environment. However I've had friends who gave birth there and were happy, but they had different priorities. I did have surgery there earlier this year and overall was a good experience in terms of generic hospital stays. Can't really comment on L&D at SW General.


Think about what you're looking for in your birth, and then research based on that. Your requirements may be very different from another's.

[catriona]

Both my kids were born at the Women and Children's Hospital which is now closed. I think it was part of the Methodist system, though. I'd go with the Methodist hospitals anyway.

My mother was in the Baptist hospitals twice(St. Lukes and N. Central), once when she suffered an adverse drug reaction, and once when she became very ill while undergoing chemo. Both times, she had those nightmare nurses. She also felt that the hospitals were not kept very clean, esp. St. Lukes.

[cuteemogirlie]

Thank you to everyone that has left feedback. I do plan to breastfeed, as I did with my other children. As far as water birth or anything like that, I really don't plan to use that. Seems everyone has good things to say about Methodist, and I like the fact it isn't downtown, because I really don't like driving downtown. I am calling Methodist today. I don't have an OB/GYN picked out yet, but I am going to try to find one that works out of Methodist. This is so much more work than having a baby in a military set up LOL.

[SACHICK]

Yep, had my kids both at the Methodist and LOVED them! My OB was from the Seven Oaks Womens club ... double thumbs up for that group!

[pobre]

Originally Posted by SACHICK

Yep, had my kids both at the Methodist and LOVED them! My OB was from the Seven Oaks Womens club ... double thumbs up for that group!

Yes, they handled both of mine, although Dr Harden left the group (don't know why...)