HELP! What Hospital Should I Choose?

Hi P.! I live in Hendersonville so I am closer to H'ville Hospital. However, I have had 3 babies in the past 3 years, and have not delivered any of them there (although that is where my OBGYN is - but he has privileges downtown as well). I delivered my first at Baptist, which was a wonderful experience. My other two babies were born at Centennial Women's Hospital, which was awesome as well. I ended up going to Centennial because with my second child my water broke 2 months early, and my doctor had me rush there because he says their NICU is the best in town. We went there with the third baby as well, because we had complications with the pregnancy, and thought we would end up in the NICU again (but we didn't!). Anyways - something important to consider is where your pediatrician will go to see the baby. Ours won't go to H'ville because his office wants babies to be at a hospital with a NICU, just in case the baby needed additional care. Anyways - good luck!!!

P.,
I should first admit that I work at NorthCrest in the Foundation. (So I am a little biased...) However, I will just let you know that that NorthCrest has a one-to-one ratio on RNs. You will have an RN assigned to your care and no one else. I'm not sure any hospital around here can say that. Also, the Women's Services floor has just fully been renovated in the last few months with beautiful and comfortable suites. Furthermore, (and I just looked this up), the patient satisfaction scores from the Women's Services department for the year is 89%. (Those are based on 9-10 rating out of 0-10 on rating their experience at the hospital.)

I delivered my baby at Centennial before I started my job here, and the next time I deliver it will be at NorthCrest simply for the personalized care you receive.

Anyway, congratulations and good luck! Whatever choice you make will be the right one, so don't stress over it too much...

I love it when mamas ask advice!!

First, check out the Birth Survey. They've got reviews from mothers on their hospital/birthcenter experiences, so you can get a lot of opinions at once there. They even have the hospital's intervention rates, so you can see which facilities actually know how to help the women birth their babies. http://www.thebirthsurvey.com/

Second, do a little research to get an idea what kind of birth you want. And when you've decided that, you can narrow down which doctors are more likely to give you that kind of birth. http://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-conditions-...

Third, know that you don't have to go with the first practice you see. You've got 9 months to shop around! So ask 'em questions. If they get defensive (an how-dare-you-ask-me attitude or make you feel stupid for asking), move on. You're a grown woman; there's no need to put up with that. http://www.ican-online.org/content/how-choose-doctor-or-m... http://www.ican-online.org/pregnancy/choosing-a-primary-c...

To address your question: Baptist does the most births in town. Which is a plus on the experience-side. But because it does so many births, it has a reputation as a "baby-factory". Mothers tend to feel like a number in the system, as opposed to a human being with needs and hopes and wants. Also, since they have such an assemblyline mentality, if you want anything in particular, you have to fight extra hard to get it. It's hard to buck the protocol that so ingrained. At a littler hospital, you're more likely to have your specific wishes accomadated.

I have no experience with Northcrest. Hendersonville was the hospital that was more than happy to give me my unnecessary cesarean. I was fine, my baby was fine, they cut me open anyway. So I'm not really an impartial source for that one! I did my second (normal) birth at Vandy with their midwife group. They were wonderful! http://vanderbiltnursemidwives.com/

L., Mom of Two
Co-Leader, ICAN of Nashville
Aspiring Childbirth Educator

My baby was delivered at Baptist, and I would never even CONSIDER another hospital. The nurses, staff, doctors were just perfect. I had several complications with my pregnancy and felt I was in the very best hands here. I've also heard good things about Centennial. Best of luck in deciding :).