Need opinions and REAL experiences on a hospital...

I agree with you Claud that if an OB knows that the patient is a high risk delivery that they would refer them to a hospital with a NICU and/or high risk antepartum. However, you cant always predict a bad labor, and especially if its the first baby, I wouldnt want to take the chance to deliver in a hospital without a NICU. I have friends that are NICU nurses, and they often see babies that wind up there from bad deliveries that could not have been predicted. Some babies are there for observation, and some stay for a while. As far as the anesthesia goes, there are MD's on both sides of the fence, and I have seen many done, with different reactions from different babies. I guess its just a choice of the OB or Ped who is doing it. Baby ****king on Daddys finger is a good distractional method of pain control and has shown to be sucessful in some cases. Good Luck to all the new mommies!

Claud- my stepmom said that she just feels the hospital is under staffed, as are sooo many these days. St. Catherine's used to be St. Johns- which was in a horrible state of problems- so I am sure it takes a while to get things back on track.
And I am sure ALL hospitals have their good and bad stories, staff, etc... no hospital is perfect these days.

Claud, my friend had her daughter there in December and liked it. She gave birth 2 days before Christmas and since she had a C-section, was there until after Christmas. I'll ask her more about her experience next time I talk to her.