Choosing a hospital

[SpringCrane]

I'll preface by saying I'm in the US, and I prefer a midwife for delivery.

I am part of a healthcare plan that has a few different hospital options in my surrounding area. None are in my town, but my two primary choices are about 20 minutes west or 40 minutes east. The closer hospital opened after my son's birth, so having a choice is new.

My prenatal care is split 50/50 OB/midwife. My OB doesn't do hospital rotations, and my midwife does at the hospital that's farther away. However, it's done on a rotating basis, so there's no guarantee who would actually deliver my baby.

I was just informed the closer hospital does not always have a midwife on duty. When in labor, I could call and ask and decide then... however, I labored a long time in the hospital with my son and went through three midwife shifts. So, even if one is on duty when we drive in, there's no guarantee there will still be one on duty for delivery.

The hospital I delivered at before is not only farther distance, but it's often heavy with traffic and construction.

My preference for a midwife-led delivery is to avoid pressure for interventions. However, the first midwife on duty during my son's labor was pushing pitocin (if I didn't progress on her timeframe) and I had to fight for my right to refuse. So, I guess even a midwife delivery isn't a guarantee to be intervention free.

Another plus for the farther hospital is that it has a NICU, not that we have any indication we'll need it, but it is reassuring.

Long post, but I am getting to my point. My last labor started at about 8 pm on a Saturday night with contractions every 8-10 minutes. At 2 am they were 5 minutes apart. By the time I called in, got ready, drove there, etc, it was 5:30 am on Sunday. They were 2-3 minutes apart and intense from then until I delivered at 2:30 am on Monday. I only pushed a few times. I just labored for a long time. I know second deliveries are often faster, but since mine was so long before, even a faster one would likely give us plenty of time to get to the farther hospital, right? I know there's no way to know how any labor and delivery will go, of course.

I'm obviously leaning towards the farther hospital, but I'm wondering if there are any points I'm not considering. Generally policies should be the same since it's the same network (delayed cord clamping, skin to skin, baby stays in room, etc).

 

[mrs_sasquatch]

I would do a tour of both. During the tours, they do go over their policy and procedures, which is helpful in case any have changed since your last baby. I had the same issue here (I am smack dab in the middle of three hospitals), and ended up touring the two in the network I preferred. I'm very glad I did, because it turned out, the one with the Children's Hospital NICU is actually pretty tiny. We would be hard pressed to have DH and a medical team in the room.

 

[SaraVO]

I've just started looking but I'm in a different position in that I'm preparing myself to have to have a c-section. Unfortunately all though I have hospitals close to me I know the doctors that I have to choose from in my town so I have an appointment to see a doctor at the hospital my best friend works at. She knows me so well and thinks I will be comfortable there. The only downside is that it's forty minutes from my house. But I will be able to maintain my privacy at work and she promises that this doctor makes sure that she is available for her patients. I think that's worth the drive. But I don't know anything for sure. If I were you I would go to both places and then go with your gut but I don't think you should make the distance your first priority as long as you think you will have time to get where you are going to be the most secure and comfortable.