Birthing in Luxury
Posted on July 12th, 2009 – 1:26 PMBy May Chen
I’ve spent the past two weeks touring the maternity wings of four hospitals - Ridgeview in Waconia, Fairview Southdale, HCMC and Woodwinds in Woodbury.
As my brother-in-law Bob would say: HOLY BUCKETS!
Here’s what women who give birth in those facilities can look forward to, thanks to renovations all within the last two years: Birthing jacuzzis in the bathrooms, surround sound, and an in-room massage the day after. Want a baby pic? Call in a portrait photographer. They will even photoshop those funny red marks on junior’s head for a studio-quality portrait.
Birthing in Brno it wasn’t.
It’s all part of a major marketing offensive for women customers. After all, childbirth is usually the first time a woman is hospitalized. If she has fond memories, the thinking goes, then she’ll come back throughout her life, and bring her husband, kids and her own parents too.
I certainly didn’t have any of these frills when I gave birth three and five years ago. The first time was in Scottsdale, Az., where we were living at the time and the second was at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. (Funny story: Kay and I both had the same OB, even though we met for the first time AFTER we had our babies….cue Twilight Zone music…)
Unlike the parents I talked to, I did not tour multiple hospitals. I just picked the hospital my OB delivered at, and just showed up. The only birth plan I had was to eat a good meal before going in and not wait too long to ask for an epidural. Oh, and to never do the Petocin thing again. Ouch.
Still, seeing the hospitals - those tubs look fun! - and checking out the cute scrunched up babies in the nurseries, did give my heart and my womb a slight twinge. I’m 38 so it’s now or never. (Note to husband: just kidding.)
Click here for the story.
Cribsheeters, where did you deliver? Did you shop around? In the end, how did you make your decision? What would you have done differently?
41 Responses to "Birthing in Luxury"
I don’t care how pretty the hospital is or how many promises they make, there’s no way on Earth I’d ever willingly give birth in a hospital ever again. Midwives all the way, baby!
I picked my OB based on convenience to work for appointments. I picked the hospital because of relationship with Children’s. I was worried about complications, and since I had them, I was glad I was where I was. They had issues for sure, but given what happened, I was glad I was there.
I like that hospitals are making an effort to meet parents’ needs. I do think, however, that make-overs are one thing, and quality of care another. As a parent, I would tour the rooms and the facility to see what they offer, but I would also look to the quality of the care the providers that practice there provide. Nice carpet, fresh paint, and a convenient photographer are nice, but if that hospital and the doctors/midwives who work there aren’t following evidenced-based care models, I wouldn’t go there.
Great article, May. Have you toured the new birth center in St. Louis Park?
Becky - do you mean at Methodist? Not yet, but they they said they haven’t changed the birthing rooms since I was there. Just added the five fancy ante-partum rooms.
Good point about frills versus quality.
The part I found most surprising about this article was that hospitals think that by upgrading their OB wards that they are creating “patients for life.” I had two babies at Fairview Southdale because that was where my OB delivered. My experience was good, but I won’t go there for general hospital care in the future unless I happen to have a stroke while driving down France Avenue. I’ve used a hospital emergency room twice since I gave birth and both times my sons’ pediatrician sent us to Mpls Children’s because both times we needed stitches in the head.
So, in my experience, while I definitely make the medical care decisions in our family, where I seek my hospital care has been dictated by our healthcare providers’ relationship with the hospital, not my own.
things certainly have changed since the 1960’s! i had my first child in an army hospital in 1961. each morning instructions were issued over the intercom that is was time to change the bed linens! the mothers were to head to the laundry cart, pick up fresh sheets and change their beds! we hopped to!
Grandma Betty, I’m guessing those weren’t 1000 thread count sheets the army was supplying you!
@ Grandma Betty–Kudos to you! Our generation truly does not know how to appreciate what we have until we hear those stories!
@ May–I’m just like you. Never shopped around; just went where my OB told me to go. The first time, I didn’t even HAVE an OB…just used my family practice doc, who also did deliveries. Had no birthing plan, etc. Figured there was no predicting what would happen, and they’d tell me what to do! And you know, I wouldn’t change a thing. It all was just fine!
I do think that it’s easy to get caught up in trying to create the “perfect” birthing experience, one you’ve always imagined…and it’s just so difficult to achieve that, that it’s easy to end up disappointed (kinda like a wedding!). Going in with no expectations solved that problem for me.
I actually decided where I wanted to deliver (Woodwinds) and then picked an OB that would deliver there. The facilities were the most important to me. We ended up getting a great OB too — that said she didn’t make it to my delivery anyway : )
May–I don’t think Becky is talking about Methodist. I am pretty sure she means the new free-standing birth center opening/opened in St. Louis Park. It is a new center opened by Morningstar Birth Center based in Menomonie. According to http://www.minnesotabirth.com/ it is on Excelsior Blvd., just west of Hwy 100, in St. Louis Park. I think it opened in June.
As for me, I picked the healthpartners clinic near my work for convenience of appts and because I was a longtime healthpartners member. I chose a midwife rather than an OB. HP’s midwives delivered at Regions or St. John’s or Abbott, and Regions was closest to my house. I looked at Region’s birth center website, thought “I feel like I should shop around but I don’t really know what else to look for and I don’t really have time” and went with Regions. Overall I was happy with our experience there. I labored mostly at home and had a wonderful unmedicated birth at Regions. But when it’s time to do it again, I will definitely be looking into all options–the new birth center, other hospitals (maybe St. Joe’s), or homebirth.
For me, I’m more interested in the actual quality of care (do they push unnecessary interventions? do they have crappy non-baby-friendly protocols?) rather than the massages, decor, and pedicures.
A great resource I found kind of after I’d already made some of those decisions when I was pregnant is a book called “Creating Your Birth Plan.” It walks through the decision-making process starting from choosing your care provider and birth location.
Why are midwives completely excluded from the article? My decision when I gave birth two years ago and for the upcoming birth of #2 was based solely on the excellent reputation of the midwives at HCMC.
Their midwife unit is unparalleled. Birth and recovery all take place in the same room.
I’m in WA, so I only had a choice of 3 hospitals. The OB practice only delivers at one of the hospitals, so that’s where we went. It would have been my first choice anyway based on the care others had received.
I also didn’t have a very detailed birth plan. Pretty much the only hard rule was no one else (besides DH) got to hold DD before I did. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have every last detail planned about how the birth should go, because goodness knows I never imagined what it would end up being like.
Baby #1 was delivered at St. Johns in Maplewood. I saw a GP through the pregnancy and this was the hospital they delivered at. Never had a birth plan or toured other hospitals, just went with the flow and it was perfect. I loved that labor, delivery and recovery were all in one room.
Baby #2 started out with the GP, moved to a perinatologist when things looked bad, and landed in Abbott when things got very bad. Our son was stillborn after an emergency c-section. The nurses were amazing. I could have cared less what the room I was staying in looked like.
We are now expecting Baby #3 and will again deliver at Abbott. I’m looking forward to a very different experience but will not have a birth plan. My only desire is to bring a baby home!
I do think that snazzing up the maternity ward is good marketing for hospitals. I know I would have been very impressed with things like that with my first delivery.
I’ve had two deliveries (one natural, one c-section) at Fairview Southdale and I loved my experiences. I went there because that was the only place my OB delievered, and I will go there for #3 (someday!). With baby #1, it was before their remodel and even then I thought it was clean and comfortable. With baby #2, it was after the remodel and I loved it even more! I was admiring the tile in the bathroom right as I fainted, LOL!
Had Henry at Methodist since that’s where my OB delivered, never questioned or thought twice about it. My OB switched clinics and we also had changes so I needed to find a new one for baby #2.
The nearest hospitals to us are Buffalo and Monticello and I wasn’t comfortable delivering at either. (For really no good reason) So I did choose an OB that was farther away but delivered at Mercy for Evelyn.
Both hospitals and experiences were great.
On an aside, I’m bummed to have had to miss Saturday’s cribsheet cafe. T had a baseball game and then we had a wedding all in the same day. Do we have to wait a whole year to schedule the next one or can we do one in the near future?
Samara - we missed you too at Cribsheet Cafe. Let’s see what we can swing to do another one before a year goes by…
We had a great group Saturday and Jave Train is a fab location. Will post on it soon.
Anon - good point on midwives. This story was really about frills and amenities but since I did mention waterbirths, you’re right that I should hv mentioned midwives.
Becky - If you have any more info on this mysterious new birthing center in St. Louis Park, let me know. I can’t find anything on it at Morningstar beyond the fact that it is opening soon.
Jennifer - great point on quality of care. Again, not something I got into in the story…always something to think about for the next one…
Katy - your point on parallels with a “perfect” wedding is so apt.
May - the birth center is Morningstar. It is a free-standing birth center. I think they are conducting prenatal visits in St. Louis Park and are planning to begin attending births there sometime this summer. I have been anxiously awaiting an announcement that they are formally open! I believe they are finalizing some details. I have never visited their birth center in WI, but I have heard only rave reviews.
I realized, after reading all the comments, that I never commented on my own birth experiences! We have two kids. With baby #1 we just went where our OB went - St. Joe’s. We loved the hospital and only learned later about how mother-and-baby friendly their practices are. The facilities are nice, too, including a waterbirth room, and birth and postpartum all take place in the same room - no need to move. They have the lowest c-section rate in the Twin Cities, too, which I believe is reflective of their care model.
For baby #2 we went with the location with the ultimate amenities - our home. I had absolutely everything I needed for decor and comforts, including a rented waterbirth tub, and our care providers came to ME rather than me having to drive to them. It was wonderful. Nothing better. Had we required medical care, my first choice was to go back to St. Joe’s because the model of care is so good.
Becky - I’d heard that about St. Joe’s. I’ll check it out. Sounds like a good one to write about.
I’ll admit it - reading the Sunday article made me long for #3 even more than I do right now - however, my husband has informed me that I should never bring it up again - ever. He is done making babies! grrrr! That aside - we didn’t have a choice about where to deliver - our OB doc - the best in the land if I can say so - only delivered at FV Southdale ~ The first time was decent-typical hosp stay-the NICU nurses were AWESOME & made sure I got to stay right near our baby even after I was discharged which was nice - even if there were boards on the windows! (they were starting construction) - the second time around they were in full blown construction mode (14 months later) & I was in a tiny room down some abandoned hallway with not even a working telephone in my room-but you know what - it was perfect - I had no interuptions & nice quiet bonding time with our new son - I didn’t need the frills-besides that - Dr. I let me go home 24 hours after giving birth so I could be with my WHOLE family in my own surroundings.
While the frills sound nice-I think the most important thing here is being comfortable with your doctor/care because everything lies in their hands-especially if you have complications like I did…While a pedicure would be nice…high quality services for your newborn baby need to be #1 ~
PS - YES YES YES!
Let’s schedule another Cribsheet get together ASAP - I was bummed to not be able to get to this last one too!
May, I’ll forward you an email I just got with an update on the status of the Morningstar Birth Center in the twin cities.
Hey guys - we will absolutely plan another playdate! We’re looking at September right now with our vacation schedules.
When you are looking at scheduling - don’t forget the 2nd Annual Liz Logelin 5K is on September 19th ~ At Lake Calhoun…
Hi everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself - I am the new primary midwife hired for Morning Star Birth Center in St. Louis Park. We are currently seeing clients in the Cities at a temporary location until our new site is up and running. I’d be delighted to talk with anyone about our plans, philosophy of care, experience etc. Feel free to email or call me. You can also get information on the website but it too is in the process of being updated at the moment. Happy birthing! Peace. Kristine kristine@morningstarbirth.com 571-245-8597
With my first baby I followed my OB to the only place she delivered - Fairview Southdale. I wanted an all natural birth and I was shocked at how un-friendly the nursing staff was about this. They kept asking if I was ready for the drugs yet. They had NEVER heard of the Bradley method. (WHA?) They wanted to intervene many, many times into my natural childbirth. The room, however, was standard with no major frills. I was seriously annoyed that I had to use a shared/public bathtub after my delivery as there were no full tubs in the recovery rooms.
With my second baby I decided to shop around. Hospital first, provider second. I researched which places were more natural-friendly. I heard St. Joe’s, HCMC and Methodist were pretty good, in addition to Woodwinds. I chose to tour both HCMC and Methodist. They were both fairly close to home and had Certified Nurse Midwives on staff. Both of the birth center units were fine, although I ended up choosing Methodist. After all of this, I ended up choosing an epidural as well. 
At least my CNM and RNs were supportive of me either way. I still see Midwives for ongoing women’s care (in lieu of a traditional OB/GYN) and really appreciate their more holistic approach to my care. They refer to OBs when necessary, but CNMs can provide the majority of women’s services, including delivering babies and writing prescriptions.
I have to admit I was a bit turned off, even offended, by the line in the article that says women are coming in to hospitals clutching birth plans and expecting to be indulged. It sounds like a bitter nurse manager at an old-school hospital bent your ear and influenced your writing. I’m surprised that as a journalist you would refer to patients in such a condescending way. Nurses who roll their eyes at birth plans are in the wrong profession. Would you say “amputees come in with unrealistic dreams to be able to walk again and expect us to coddle them” when referring to patients in a physical therapy unit?
Women need to be able to have a voice in their own care and are taught early on from birthing classes that it’s important to think through what you feel comfortable with and what you don’t.
Even though I’m done having babies, I’m going to look into the Morning Star location - sounds awesome.
The articles says Hennepin Hospital has tubs for waterbirth - but do they even DO waterbirths? A lot of the hospitals have birthing tubs and no one births in them. Sometimes they get to labor in them if they meet the criteria, which is often rigid.
Marketing birthing units for consumers is great but it is only a small part of the whole experience. If women can’t actually birth in the tubs, if there are still copious interventions and practitioners don’t change the way they practice and 1 in 3 women are ending up with surgery to get a baby what difference does nice wall paper make?
Over the last 20 years when women have told me of their experiences in hospitals it is ALWAYS about how they were treated, what was “done to them” - it was about their experience. Women don’t care about the room at that moment - it is incidental. Making it such an important of the process detracts from the essential truths about birth. And I venture that as c-sections rise and more and more women are getting interventions, hospitals will become nicer because women will be more dissatisfied with their experience and instead of changing what is wrong with the system, they will make the environment “prettier”. But it is bait-and-switch - still the same hospital, lipstick on a pig!
Being born is important - giving birth is equally important. Women will remember how they were treated over the decor any day. There is no informed consent in hospitals today, women are rarely informed of the risks of the medications or procedures during birth - I have witnessed this first hand over and over again. This leaves women feeling like victims after the fact.
Women need a safe, peaceful, warm, softly lit, PRIVATE (free of interference and interventions), quiet space in order for the hormones of birth to function properly in an unmedicated birth. When hospitals figure this out, then they might be on the right track.
People are welcome to come and see Morning Star Birth Center - the decor is lovely! But more importantly, talk to the midwives - learn about our philosophy of care.
May Chen,
I’m a big fan of yours. I like your writing, and I’m Asian American and married to a European American too. And, I’m 37.
By the way, I gave birth at United Hospital which is near Children’s Hospital. I liked having the security of Children’s nearby.
Thank you Kristine@MorningStar!! I couldn’t agree more. And so happy about the new Birth Center! It is much needed here.
I must say, that line of the article rubbed me the wrong way too. At that exact moment, my eyes when up to the byline to see WHO was writing this? And then I relaxed somewhat…oh, it’s May. She’s on our side…right? (not sure why I thought of sides).
>Missy @ The Marketing Mama says:
>I have to admit I was a bit turned off, even offended, by the line in the article that says women are coming in to hospitals clutching birth plans and expecting to be indulged.
For me, going through the process of preparing a birth plan was valuable. In the end, we forgot the actual piece of paper in the car and the copy I gave to the midwife hadn’t ended up in our chart. But by going through the exercise, my husband and I had already come to a decision on a number of aspects surrounding the birth and immediate care of our newborn, and were able to communicate our wishes to the staff as needed.
There were so many things I would never have thought of before going through the process of creating our birth plan and doing my homework in advance. I think people are all like “oh, you can’t plan your birth because it’s unpredictable, you must be a control freak to have a birth plan” but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about considering various scenarios and decisions and talking over your wishes, and having them down on paper.
Jennifer, Missy, et al….yes, no offence intended, but I think you knew that…
Always happy to get feedback.
With #1 we used our GP as she also did deliveries. She only had privileges at one hospital - FV Riverside - so that is where we delivered! After a relatively uneventful pregnancy and going through the standard birthing classes/pregnancy books, we determined to attempt labor without meds but weren’t totally against the idea 
The nursing staff were great throughout labor…I felt supported in my decisions and never pressured into doing meds (even though I eventually did go for the epidural) or augmentation. I also was very appreciative of their support as things started to go not as planned. We ended up with an emergency c-section (caused by the cord being wrapped around his neck a few times…bummer!) and the surgical team was great. I was very glad to be in a facility that was prepared for this and also had a NICU on-site. Post-partum and NICU are on different floors, but the nurses were absolutely fantastic and would even bring me medications while I was visiting our son.
For #2 (due in a few months), we considered looking at more “natural birth” options. Since we have had a c-section, we were both a little uncomfortable about a home delivery. We are definitely going to try for a VBAC but are wanting some medical back up if needed I had an opportunity to tour Woodwinds and really appreciate their many options…sadly, it is a long distance from work and home so less of an option. We have decided to use the nurse midwife group at Riverside this go around…very close to my work so easy to get to appointments, I have a parking pass there so no extra costs for that and I also wanted a place where friends and family could easily come and see us after delivery.
Carry on.
Holy Jesus!
Don’t work too hard!
Thanks for the post!
This blog Is very informative.
I’ll try it.
Nice to have met you Saturday =)
Bye now
All the best.
