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Hospitals And Birthing CentersHospitals And Birthing Centers

NEW YORK METHODIST HOSPITAL
263 7th Ave
Brooklyn 11215
Website

Pros

·         Close to home

·         Renovated labor and delivery rooms

·         7 day a week lactation consultant coverage (1 full-time, 2 part-time consultants)

 ·         Hospital administration has paid close attention to criticism of hospital policies on PSP and has instituted changes including hiring a new nurse manager. 

·         Construction of new postpartum floor is in the works (opening Fall '07) which will allow more private rooms and sleepovers by partners.

·         Many good local doctors, including those that support natural childbirth, deliver there. 

·         Hospital has a highly rated "level 3" NICU

·        They have a 12-suite labor/delivery/recovery rooms (3 more to open in Fall '07) which constitute a  modern "Birthing Center." Partners may  stay in the room with the mother throughout the entire  labor/delivery/recovery process.

 

 

Cons

·         No overnight visitors, including partners, who must leave at 10pm.  (This policy will change when new wing opens, Fall '07.)

·          The two private rooms cannot be reserved ahead of time (more private rooms to open in the mother/baby unit in Fall '07)

·         Typical hospital food.

·         Numerous complaints about disorganization and lack of support of nursing staff. 

·          A number of complaints regarding excessive separation of infant from mother and disregard of "no formula or bottle" instructions.

·         Mothers not allowed to walk around holding infant.


Date added: 2007-03-17 06:51:34   
Never Going Back to Methodist!
Author: beasyouare Date: 2007-09-20 09:02:40
This review is not for a birthing experience but I was pregnant when I recently spent 10 days at Methodist for complications. It was the worst hospital experience of my life, and I've had quite a few. I should mention, first, that there were a few nurses and one doctor who were very helpful, kind and competent. Overall, however, the experience was one of countless mistakes on the part of the staff.

After a couple days of being there, my husband and I decided there is no way we will be delivering there when I am due in March 2008. I am sure that many people have different opinions and experiences and that the hospital is not all bad but my own experience was astoundingly awful. One reason for this, as many nurses told me, is that they are grossly understaffed. The nurses are overworked and often there was one nurse for 6 high-risk pregnancy patients.

I had to ask repeatedly for my medications almost every single time I needed to take them. The often forgot to bring my food. I was supposed to have a surgical procedure done within a couple days of being admitted and instead it took over one week...this happened because each doctor "thought someone else had put in the order" but no on bothered to check.

On a much less important note, the food is exceptionally disgusting.
Not very pleasant
Author: Alterjess Date: 2007-07-17 11:28:48
I was there 6/13/07 - 6/17/07. The medical care I received at NYM was excellent in terms of the final outcome -- healthy mom, healthy baby. However, the bedside manner of this extremely overcrowded hospital made for a very emotionally unsatisfying birth experience, and I will be seeking alternatives for future pregnancies.

The 12 LDR rooms are ALWAYS full. I went in for a scheduled induction on a Tuesday evening and waited in a hallway outside triage for 8 hours before the chief attending doc told me to go home and come back in the morning. Fortunately I went into labor naturally during the night and was able to return Wednesday and be admitted immediately.

I had an epidural and an emergency C-section, and both anaesthesiologists were wonderful.

The nurse who attended my delivery was unhelpful and rude. I'm sure she was overworked and tired, but there are better ways to get a woman in labor to relax than yelling at her that she's not relaxed enough.

After the relative luxury of the huge private LDR room, the tiny cramped shared (4 beds) recovery room and tiny cramped shared (2 beds) mother/baby unit rooms were very disappointing. It's not the hospital's fault that the mother sharing my room had 6+ guests at all hours (the official visiting hours are not very well enforced -- the staff is just too overworked) and never turned the TV off, but the lack of privacy made for a very stressful three days.

The mother/baby unit nurses are also very VERY slow with the painkillers. I was frequently made to wait several hours in extreme pain before anyone at the nurse's station even responded to the buzzer. The other woman in my room went through the same thing. I should note that we were both on a middling-high dose of ibuprofen -- hardly a controlled substance!

Having a lactation consultant available was very helpful, but there was a lot of confusion regarding when one was actually going to be around. Sometimes we were told she was there 24 hours, sometimes we were told she'd gone home for the day. Communication between the lactation consultants and the nursery was clearly lacking, as the nurses kept insisting that our baby needed to be "topped off" with formula while I was learning how to breastfeed.
Author: Cindy Hairston Date: 2007-04-06 20:46:11
I gave birth to my daughter at Methodist last spring, March 2006, so we were there before the renovation and even though we were extremely grateful to receive one of the coveted private rooms, it was essentially a tiny closet and very depressing in appearance. We had a smooth birthing experience and I give all of the credit to my amazing midwife from Park Slope Midwives, Roseanne Seminara. She, along with the labor and delivery nurse, were extraordinarily supportive and reassuring. Once we were moved from Labor and Delivery, the tone changed drastically and the nurses were curt, sometimes even mean, clearly overworked, often taking my daughter from the room for hours even though she was rooming in with me. The lactation consultant was kind and tried her best but was only there for limited hours so often when I needed help, I had to rely on the nurses, who seemed annoyed with me bothering them. Despite my less than positive experience in recovery at Methodist I would consider giving birth there again but only with Park Slope Midwives by my side.
More cons than pros
Author: Janelle Wood-Small Date: 2007-04-03 08:10:59
I was drawn to Methodist, after hearing the great things family members and friends had to say about it. My midwife is connected to the hospital and so my husband and I went on a tour there, and took prenatal classes there.

Prenatal & labour & Delivery Grade: A:
My midwife was fantastic, the classes I took really helped , especially with the pain management, I stayed home until I was 3 cm's. ( i focused on the music) and pushing (took only 11 minutes).
The nurse aides on duty were very encouraging, The room was big and spacious
I brought my ipod in w/ speakers which helped manage the pain.
Vaginal delivery went smoothly.

I got the epidural at 5 cm, and the anesthesiologist was fast and funny, I had no negative side effects to the epidural, and I could still feel my legs during labour which was a major concern for me.

My midwife allowed me to breastfeed him before he went for those newborn checkups


Recovery Grade: D: From the time I left the l&d room it was like a different hospital.

Pros:
Nurses were willing to show me again & again how to swaddle the baby properly & get the baby to latch on
The lactation consultants were VERY helpful and consistent
The Thai restaurant nearby had great Thai fried Rice.

Cons
Rooms were small and shared.

I felt guilty for wanting my baby in the room with me. The nursing staff were overworked (too many beds per person)

My roommate and I had to call the front desk over and over again whenever we needed a motrin for the pain. (instead of them coming every 4 hrs. to check on us)

My husband HATED leaving in the evening

Some new moms received "belly bands" some didn't , some received basins for sitz baths some didn't (to be fair, I'm not sure if that is hospital policy or what the doctors order)

When I ran out of dermoplast (the pain relieving spray) I was told there were no more on the floor.

My baby was put under the light due to jaundice, he had to be supplemented w/ formula. I ended up going for him when it was time to feed (every 2 hrs.) to give them pumped milk or take him to breastfeed, b/c the nursing staff did not bring him when they said they would. Many times when I did go, they'd tell me he was already bottle fed. which annoyed me b/c of the need to give him colostrum & build my milk supply, & I was exhausted!

Overall the only way I'd deliver there again would be if I could go home right away to recover. I gave 3 stars for the prenatal classes and care during l&d or I would've given 1 star.

My son was born, January 2007
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