Thank you all for your suggestions in response to our insurance gap. I really appreciate it.
I noticed several comments asking why I would be in the hospital for such a short stay. Quite simply, this is not that unusual for NYC. A standard stay is no more than 48 hours, and in order to give birth in the birthing center you have to agree to a release in as few as 6 hours after birth and not more than 24 hours. Honestly, I don't really mind and one of my main criteria in choosing a pediatrician was one who would release our newborn in less than 48 hours should I get moved to L and D because of complications.
Why?
Let's see:
- In regular L and D if you give birth after visiting hours your husband gets -1 hour- to stay with you and the baby. Then he is sent home till visiting hours the next morning at 10am. In the birthing center my husband will stay with me from the delivery until discharge.
- Oh, that also leaves you all alone with your baby immediately post-partum (I am not exaggerating. A friend gave birth at 11 pm and by midnight she was supposed to care for her baby in her hospital room and the nurses were too busy to help. All she wanted was someone to change the baby's diaper and hand the baby to her for the first 24 hours so she didn't have to keep getting out of bed ...)
- Ok, not quite alone: you'll be sharing a hospital room. So not only will you be up every 2 hours with your baby but also every 2 hours when your roommate's baby cries and for all that there are no visiting hours at night, they are continuous from 10 am to 8 pm so it's quite possible that you will have a roomful of your roomate's visitors -all day long.- In my 2 hospital tours I walked past 3 rooms with sick toddlers running around visiting their new siblings. Not so great for the other family.
- Yes, you can pay for a private room. At $750 -per night- that is well beyond our means.
- I have a million food restrictions between keeping kosher, GD, GI problems, etc. and I don't relish eating hospital food for 48 hours. The hospital does not have a fridge or microwave for patients to use, unlike the birthing center (and obviously they do have one for the nurses to use)
- Yes, our hospital has a nursery. They strongly discourage using it if you are breastfeeding. In fact, it's been empty every time I've been in the hospital (which is quite frequently nowadays).
- Everyone encourages sleeping near your baby for the first day or two, but the regular L and D has regular hospital beds. Yes, some people can manage to comfortably keep their baby in them - I don't see myself being one of them. The birthing center has queen-sized beds so you can rest with your baby and partner, or put the baby in a co-sleeper next to the bed.
- And for the record the 'birthing center' we hope to use is one floor away from L and D, so it takes under a minute for them to transfer you should any problems arise.
Honestly, I'm pretty happy about the idea of coming home a few hours after birth. Sure, the cab ride will suck but after that I'll be able to just relax and JD can help with the baby for the first 48 hours or so ('till he goes back to work - such fun). No need to worry about roommates or germs or being woken up on the hospital's schedule or someone formula-feeding the baby when I'm not looking.
And please, please, please don't recommend switching midwives or hospitals. It shows absolutely no recognition of what medical practice and liability are like in NYC. When I tried to find a midwife or ob/gyn at 11 weeks pregnant, I was put on 14 waitlists and told that at least 4 places had already closed their waitlists (feel free to look in my archives -there are several panicked posts about it). NYC is massively understaffed for ob/gyns and it is 100% not an option to switch doctors or hospitals (my midwife only delivers at this hospital, and it's quite famous for being nicer to post-partum women. It really is one of the sheesiest hospitals in the city). I was seriously told that I might have to go to the ER to deliver by several exclusive clinics which book up when women are 4-6 weeks pregnant.*
But of course there is this little issue that the birthing center makes you sign a waiver that they will not do PKU testing and you must agree to have it done within 5 days of birth at your pediatrician's ... still working on that one.
* And I'm pretty sure that ob/gyns are full in most parts of the U.S. I didn't want to burn any bridges until I left City X so I never actually told my ob/gyn that I was leaving. I thought I'd remember to call after I left, but I didn't. And they never, ever contacted me via phone or mail to ask why I stopped showing up. Makes me think they have enough patients without my business.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I've just been catching up on your insurance nightmare - I don't really know what to say, but it sucks. I hope you can figure out some answers. I think calling the state seems like a good place to start.
If you need the phone number that John Adams referenced in his comment it is also included in that manual that I referenced earlier, sorry that I didn't think to mention it.
As for leaving early, I don't see any reason why not, you just have to be able to get the baby in for any needed labs, cbc and bilirubin which is sometimes needed, as well as blood typing if you are Rh neg. All of these things you can discuss with your pedi when you get to your meet and greet.
I left the birthing center when my daughter was 3 hours old, key is natural childbirth, because with an epidural sometimes you can't walk or pee for several hours, which makes going home pretty difficult! I see many women leave early, but key is to have someone help at home, like you will have with your husband. At $750.00 for overnight I would think you could hire a private duty aide to stay for a few hours to help if they transfer you and your husband can't stay, I know at some hospitals we keep lists of first and second year nursing students who are allowed to stay with new moms for about $20.00 an hour. It is good experience and you might actually get some rest. It may not be feasible but is just a thought if you do get stuck having to stay. Good luck.
I hope my question didn't come across as questioning your decision because I have known you to be nothing but thorough in your research and reasonable in your decisions. After reading your explanation, clearly, you are making the right choice!
The insurance issue is a tricky one for which I have nothing to offer. Surely other people have had this issue? I hope you are able to figure it out soon.
Dude, that sucks. I know you said not to suggest switching hospitals, but I think you should switch to a hospital out here. In Indiana.
You could make that work, right?
Post a Comment