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I didn’t give much thought when I picked my OB/GYN. My friends liked her, she accepted my insurance and she was nice. End of story for me. Not once did it cross my mind that I should look in to the hospital where she would deliver my baby.
I had a really easy pregnancy. (Don’t hate!) No nausea, no head aches, no body aches, no nothing. Really, the only reminder I had that I was pregnant was my growing belly, and that didn’t even really show until 25 weeks. It was bliss.
All was fine until 32 weeks when I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced hypertension and put on bed rest. We went from easy pregnancy to high risk in a matter of minutes.
At 37 weeks my doctor decided we couldn’t wait any longer. My pregnancy induced hypertension was turning the corner to pre-eclamptic. I needed a c section. Now.
As we sat in Labor and Delivery so many things rushed through my mind. I didn’t finish buying wicker baskets for the baby’s room. I hadn’t stocked my freezer with casseroles. I didn’t have one last fancy DINK (double income no kids) date with my husband.
The nurse came in and said the c section would start as soon as NICU could be there. Wait, what? NICU? No one told me about that! Why does NICU need to be there?
Slowly the more important realities set in. This baby was coming 3 weeks early. He was in distress. He might not be ready to come. He might need help to breath.
I couldn’t breath.
At that moment, I was so grateful to be delivering my baby at Medical City Dallas.
The nurse explained to me that Medical City has one of the only Level 4 NICU unit’s in Dallas. In fact, they are the only Level 4 NICU where you can deliver your baby in the same hospital where the baby will be in NICU. Deliver somewhere else and your baby needs Level 4 NICU? Momma stays in the delivery hospital while baby is sent to another hospital.
Luckily, our baby boy came out screaming his head off and NICU chuckled to themselves as they walked out of the room. This almost a month early 7lb baby was clearly fine. At that moment, I was still so grateful that we were in a hospital where they could provide the care he needed, if the worst happened.
Since I was put on bed rest and our little man came almost a month early, I never had a chance to tour the hospital. So when Medical City contacted DMB about an event showcasing their newly remodeled L&D, I jumped at the chance to actually see it!
Let’s start with the most important issue: food.
Medical City has amazing food; I felt like I was ordering hotel room service! It came promptly and hot every time I ordered. They offer a celebration meal on your last night in the hospital: Roquefort Pear Salad, Portabella Spinach Salad, Pesto Salmon Salad, Crab Tetrazzini with Shrimp, Truffle Seared Airline Breast and New York Strip Steak with Fingerling Potatoes.
Amazing, right?
Don’t even get me started on the desserts: Pineapple Coconut Torte and Chocolate Bombe. Delicious. To top it all off, they actually bring a table with table cloth and chairs to your room for your meal! One last date before you go home with baby! (Insider tip: ask for the kids menu for breakfast. Their chocolate chip pancakes might change your life.)
Their L&D floor is top notch. Private rooms so you can labor with just your honey (anyone else live in fear that they’d end up in labor next to Janice from Friends? No? Just me?). If you are worried about overly concerned family members wandering back to check on you, don’t. The nurses are awesome and will not only intercept them but will put a polite sign on the door letting people know they are not welcome.
One aspect of Medical City that I love: regardless of if you have a vaginal or c-section birth, if the baby is doing fine, your sweet babe stays in your room room to bond and nurse
.
They also will allow family back in the room to meet your precious babe if you want. My nurse agreed to let family back there because we asked, but the moment I started to fade she promptly, yet politely, kicked them all out.
Don’t even get me started with how wonderful the postpartum nurses are. I wish that my night nurse could be my best friend. Kathleen timed all vital sign checks with when the babe was nursing, so I was only woken up every 3-4 hours! One night at 3am when I had finished nursing the babe, I called the nursery to come get him so I could grab some sleep. The nursery told me they just had an influx of births and couldn’t come for an hour. In the midst of my absolute despair, the amazing Kathleen swooped in and held the babe for the next 3 hours while she did charts. Did I mention that we loved her?
Before our tour, a sweet dad spoke to the group about the 4 month NICU stay his twin girls had, and I couldn’t agree more with his view of Medical City:
“There are many good hospitals in Dallas. But Medical City is the best. We owe them our lives. We owe them our girls lives.”
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*Dallas Moms Blog has partnered with Medical City Dallas to bring you this information, and I was given a night out at Medical City to view the new L&D unit, but the views and opinions expressed are proudly ours.
I delivered at Medical City, I quickly chose my OBGYN because we moved here from Seattle about 4 weeks before my due date. I went strictly based on OBGYN recommendations from some contacts I had in the Dallas area. Boy did we luck out, best OBGYN and a FANTASTIC hospital!
The OBGYN’s are great at Medical City! I loved mine – I still have the picture up in my son’s room of her holding him right before we got discharged.
Seriously!! I think I had the same Kathleen you are talking about! I loved her! I loved all my nurses! Shoot I don’t want to deliver anywhere else!!!
I bet we did! She was absolutely fantastic!! I almost cried the one night she didn’t get assigned to our room and was so relieved when she swapped with another nurse 🙂
Parkland and st.paul have level 4 nicu as well, so you stay in the same hospital. I delivered at medical city as well and loved it but the university takes care of high risk babies every day.
According to Parkland’s website, they have a Level III NICU (http://www.parklandhospital.com/medical_services/women_infants/neonatal_intensive_care.html), as does St. Paul’s (http://www.utswmedicine.org/hospitals-clinics/stpaul/). The nurse on our tour said the main difference between Level III and Level IV is that IV has ECMO. So really unless your baby is really really sick, a Level III will suffice and you can stay in the same hospital. I actually didn’t know that St. Paul’s had a NICU….always good information to have, thanks!
I didn’t deliver at Medical City Dallas, but it looks wonderful! You are right — it is so important to make sure your delivery hospital has all the options you might need. I ended up with preeclampsia and my son, who was born six weeks early in an emergency c-section like yours, had to stay in the NICU for three weeks. Luckily, he didn’t have major issues and the hospital where I delivered handled his care beautifully, but knowing you’re delivering in a Level 4 NICU would bring peace of mind and is a great reason to choose Medical City Dallas..
Arena, I couldn’t agree more. Now that I know how scary things can get with babies so fast, I will always try to deliver at a Level IV NICU hospital. I would rather be over prepared then under prepared!
Laura, you’re right. I mis spoke/wrote. Ecmo is at children’s which is in a different hospital but moms are easily transported over there if the baby goes there. It’s all in the same campus so I mis spoke about it being in the same bldg. so many great hospitals in the area.
I try to never be the negative commenter, but I had a really terrible experience at Medical City. I was bullied into an induction that led to a c-section. My baby was given formula even though I was trying to breastfeed. I was ignored postpartum when I needed help going to the bathroom. They refused to let my child room in because of the c-section, even though my husband was present the entire time. The “lactation consultants” weren’t helpful and failed to notice my child’s tongue tie. We had to hire a private lc after we got home. It was horrible overall. They also have one of the highest c-section rates in the area at 44.8%. The World Health Organization says that c-section rates should be around 10-15% (for emergency situations like yours). I’ve since spoken to several doulas and midwives in the area who all agree that Medical City is barely birth friendly and definitely not breastfeeding friendly. I’ll be delivering at Baylor downtown this time.
Oh no!! I’m so sorry Becca. That does sound like a tough time! I agree that c-section rates are way too high across the board. I hope you have a better experience at Baylor Downtown, we’ve also had several contributors have great experiences at the Allen Birthing Center…but it sounds like you may need to be in hospital in case a repeat c-section? Either way, I hope your next experience is much better!
Becca, I am so sorry to hear about your experience at Medical City. It breaks my heart to hear stories like yours. Even though my c section was an emergency, I still had to take the time to mourn the fact that little babes birth was not what I wanted it to be. I kept telling myself that “healthy baby healthy momma” is all that matters in the end, but I definitely had to take time to mourn the fact that I didn’t get the birth I wanted. I really hope that your experience at Baylor is better (I hear that they don’t even have formula in stock in the nursery!) and that your VBAC goes smoothly. I have already started researching VBAC’s for whenever we have our next babe. I have many friends who have had babies at Baylor Downtown and have loved it!
Thanks Lauren and Laura. You can see c-section rates and I think VBAC rates at the links below for all the area hospitals.
http://www.cesareanrates.com/ – c-section rates
and http://www.cesareanrates.com/texas/ for VBAC rates – Medical City is 2.82% and Baylor is 10.74%.
I did no research before my first birth and just went with the OB my friends recommended. This time around I’m doing tons of research and even a “Trying for a VBAC” series on my blog.