St. Luke's Tour

Steve and I took the Maternity Tour at St. Luke's Hospital last night. It was very interesting and informative. It seems like St. Luke's is right on track for the kind of labor, delivery and recovery care that we want. Their focus is on keeping the mom and baby together and that is definitely what we want. Also, the lady giving the tour said that there are many options and that the parents can customize just about any aspect as long as its ok with the doctor. That is definitely a benefit. Also, they only have about 25 rooms for delivery so the ward is super small. I really liked that it was so small. They have 20 or so overflow rooms which are also used for cesarean deliveries but they are just down the hall. So, being the type A personality that I am I need to make a list (thanks mom!) to keep all the info straight.

Things we want from a hospital:

• Relatively close to our house
• Smaller maternity ward, preferably on one floor of the hospital
• Small nurse to patient ratio
• Easy pre-admission procedure
• Private birth room
• Prefer to stay in one room before and after birth
• Want Steve to be able to stay the night (and have somewhere to sleep!)
• Want to be able to post-pone any non necessary procedures right after birth
• Want to be able to take part in baby's first bath and any other important after birth procedures
• Lactation consult/support available including supporting our wishes of no bottle feeding or pacifiers if that's what we decide is best
• Want to be able to labor with or without pain medication and in any positions or using available techniques as myself and my doctor see fit (in other words, minimal restrictions by hospital policy regarding labor positions and walking around while laboring, etc)
• People, video, cameras allowed in delivery room are up to our discretion
• Have the option of minimal monitoring during labor of myself and baby and no internal monitoring of the baby (unless medically required)
• Have baby in the room with us at all times
• Have prenatal classes available at the hospital

So how does St. Luke's stack up? Well, they are pretty much awesome. Their philosophy of mother centered maternity care matches up perfectly with what we want for the labor, delivery and recovery. They believe that the most important place for the baby to be is with the mom and they are very supportive of customizing your experience with your doctor. They are also very supportive of breast feeding which is super important to me. They have private birth suites (with Wi-fi, a TV and DVD player, a pull out couch for dad and a full bathroom). Mothers stay in the same room during labor, delivery and recovery, unless they have a Cesarean but that ward is right across the hall, which is really nice. Baby stays in the room 24 hours a day, unless you request they stay in the nursery. They also offer a ton of prenatal classes including infant care classes, breastfeeding classes and a Happiest Baby on the Block class. They even have infant massage! Crazy. But the one downside is the classes are pretty expensive. Steve and I really want to take a bunch of them, but they range from $40 to $90 each. :(

St. Luke's also has a special nurse's program where a nurse will meet with you midway through your pregnancy to help you write your birth plan and help with any questions you have. They will also help you with pre-registration, breastfeeding information and other things such as car seat info. After the birth they will follow up with you. How awesome is that?

St. Luke's also has lots of other perks for families while they are in the hospital. Like, you can order your meals whenever you want them in case you are sleeping or not hungry at a certain time. They don't have restrictions on visitng hours. They also offer a masseuse that will come in the day after your labor if you want. They have some rooms with birthing tubs. Its just crazy all the things they offer. And as far as our concerns regarding labor and after birth preferences, St. Luke's meets every one.

As far as negatives, there really weren't too many. The only ones I can think of is that St. Luke's is slightly farther from our house and also from the doctor's office. (not really that far though). It is kind of confusing to get to, but its not that bad. Another negative is they don't have a very big NICU unit. So, any babies in serious distress are transferred to another hospital like St. John's because St. Luke's really doesn't have the capability to deal with seriously ill babies. But that's the price you pay for wanting a smaller hospital really. If we were having any complications or any indications of any problems with delivery we wouldn't choose St. Lukes. The only other downer is the cost of the prenatal classes.

So, we were really excited after the tour and are pretty sold on St. Luke's. My OB goes to lots of other hospitals but since we wanted to stay relatively small and close to our house, the only other one we are considering is Missouri Baptist. We have a tour scheduled for their maternity ward next week so we will see how it goes!