Top 5 Reasons Why Manhattan Women are Choosing Northern NJ Over NYC for Birth.
Just to start …. sharing a bathroom with one or maybe even two women after giving birth … yuck. Not to mention trying to rest when someone else’s visitors are in your room! “It really wasn’t for me.” says Robyn Stewart a new mom from the Upper West Side. Robyn decided to make the switch to Hackensack Univeristy Medical Center early on in her pregnancy after visiting two friends who had given birth at NYU and Mt. Siani.
“Even though, I was going to be a mom for the first time, I knew I wanted my birth experience and the time in the hospital after the baby to be about just me and my family, not a public event”
Robyn lives near 66th and Columbus so making the trip from her apartment into Hoboken for her visits was easy. Then when her water broke in the early hours of the morning on a Friday, the trip to the Hackensack hospital was only 20 min.
“Honestly, it was the best decision I ever made. When I had gone to NYU to visit Camille, we were crammed in her room like sardines and another woman who had just given birth was 6 feet away with her baby! I was 14 weeks pregnant at the time, and I thought to myself, this is not going to be me.” Robyn found a different option.
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It seems strange. Manhattan usually does everything bigger and better, with more luxury options that NJ certainly, but when it comes to birth, that is not the case. Robyn indicated that when looking at NYU, she was given the option of paying $1200 for a private room (just for one night). It would be $2400 if she had a vaginal birth for two nights and as much. as $4800 if. she had a cesarean birth.
She wasn’t even guaranteed that a private room would be available, even after agreeing to pay! If the hospital happened to have a higher census at that time, too bad for Robyn. She wouldn’t even have the option to pay the extra rates for the bigger room.
Once you’ve completed your research, you soon discover what so many women before you have figured out. NYC does not do birth well. How does anyone have a good experience in Manhattan when giving birth? The truth is most women don’t, due to overcrowding, lack of space, and large teaching institutions running the roost.
Hospitals in New Jersey are Manhattan quality with the same NYC caliber physicians and midwives without the stress and hustle and bustle of the city. Births in NJ are more tranquil and zen-like without sacrificing an ounce of the quailty of care.
Hackensack University Medical Center in Bergen County, NJ gives a better birth experience without compromising on quality are a stone’s throw (just 20 min) from manhattan. Hospitals like Hackenack UMC offer baby and mother-friendly options with perks you won’t see in the Big Apple. Here’s what you should know before picking a hospital.
New Jersey guarantees you a private room
Don’t fancy sharing a room while you’re laboring, breastfeeding, or tyring to recover postpartum? You’re not alone. In New York City, you’re not guaranteed a private room unless you know the CEO of the hospital or pony up $1,200 per night. Even if you pay, a private room is not guaranteed. Imagine just giving birth and 6 AM. Your gorgeous newborn has just nestled in for a nap and now you want to settle in to catch some zzzzs yourself, but your rommate’s baby won’t quit.
And then comes the worst part. Sharing a bathroom with another postpartum woman. The afterbirth effects on a woman’s body can be messy. Your bathroom postpartum should be your private sancutary and yours alone.
In New Jersey, a private room is one of the perks that moms-to-be love, and an absolute essential to get the rest and care you need. They provide a soothing and private environment where you can prepare to bring your baby into the world and care for yourself when you are postpartum.
PRIVATE BATHROOM AT HACKENACK UMC IN NJ
New Jersey hospitals aren’t overcrowded
When you think of Manhattan, you probably think of a congested city that’s jam-packed and overflowing with people. And guess what? The hospital isn’t any different! The Labor & Delivery floors in Manhattan hospitals are often overcrowded, and women can be turned away even when they’re in labor! Sometimes due to lack of space, they may deliver in operating rooms or triage areas, and they may not get epidurals when they want them. If this isn’t your desired birth experience, then you’re better off going to a New Jersey hospital where you know that they’ll be room for you.
With less overcrowding this leads to more care for you. More readily availabe lactation support, nurses with less patients, and on-demand anesthesia. In NJ, you are often seen as a client, customer or a guest, and not a sick,needy patient. Hospitals for birth in NJ are in line with a more hotel-like and less hosptial like expereince.
New Jersey isn’t “teaching” hospital focused.
In theory, teaching hospitals help bring together medical education, research, and patient care so the next generation of doctors, nurses, and other help professionals can become properly trained. Unfortunately, there are times when you don’t want students or interns learning on you. It’s safe to say that labor and delivery is one of those times.
Almost every hosptial in Manhattan is a teaching hospital that is run primary by residents and interns. You are often cared. for by residents up until the moment of delivery, where your provider will only come for. the big moment. This is also true for epidurals and anesthesia. Epidurals can already be a sounce of anxiety for some, the last thing you want is someone learning on you.
Especially if this is your first baby, there are so many unknowns. Working with a trusted medical professional who knows you and your baby is highly preferable. Hospitals like Hackensack primarily serve Private Physican and Midwife groups. This means that only your provider of choice is going to be near you during this most senstive time.
New Jersey has medical freedom
In New Jersey, you have the option to decline certain types of medical treatments for your newborn. These include the erythromycin treatment, vitamin K injection, and hepatitis B vaccine given shortly after birth. While these most of these procedures are required or strongly recommened in New York hospitals, they are not required in New Jersey. When you check into the hospital and sign informed consent documents, you will be able to opt out of some or all of these treatments.
New Jersey empowers you in your birth experience
Do you have a birth plan? Do you envision your labor going a certain way? Great! New Jersey hospitals can help you through each stage of the labor and delivery process. They provide pain medication upon request and allow you to have doulas by your side should you want them. In New Jersey, it’s your body and your choice in how you deliver.
Final thoughts
Typcially, Manhattan is the go-to for everything in life: fashion, food, theatre/entertainment, culture, and over-the-top-once in a lifetime experinces. But when it comes to giving birth, it misses the mark. Exploring the option of giving birth in a hosptial just across the Hudson is definately worth considering.
If you’re considering giving birth in New Jersey, make sure you make this decision as early in your pregnancy as possible. It often requires that you have a doctor or midwife who is located in New Jersey as well, and you want to make sure that the care team that you’re working with is connected to the hospital where you’ll be delivering at.
Contact us at Integrative Obstertics. Physican-Midwife Collaboative Care. The Best of Both Worlds. We are committed to Choices in Childbirth. Better Birth Expereinces are in NJ.
We deliver out of Hackenack University Medical Center 20 min from Manhattan. We have offices across the George Washington Bridge in Saddle River and Across the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City.
Email us to set up a consultation: crew@integrativeob.com. and see the Integrative Difference.
A Better Birth Experience Awaits you in NJ
