Gentrifying Moms Opt for Manhattan Hospitals
Brooklyn may have been attracting an increasingly affluent set of young adults in recent years but, according to stats dug up by The Times, many of them are returning to Manhattan when it comes time to give birth. While hospitals in Brownstone Brooklyn have lost local patients at a rapid rate, the four most prominent…
Brooklyn may have been attracting an increasingly affluent set of young adults in recent years but, according to stats dug up by The Times, many of them are returning to Manhattan when it comes time to give birth. While hospitals in Brownstone Brooklyn have lost local patients at a rapid rate, the four most prominent Manhattan hospitals saw the number of births rise 31 percent between 1998 and 2008. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of living in Brooklyn, said Dumbo resident Nicole Reece. “[But] Manhattan has some of the best doctors in the country. I live 25 to 45 minutes away from them. Why would I not choose them? Interestingly, while the number of births at Methodist Hospital in Park Slope rose 40 percent over ten years, the number of births to mothers who live in Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens actually fell. The same pattern is also evident in Fort Greene, where only 16 local mothers crossed the river to give birth in 1998 but by 2008 that number was up more than tenfold to 169. While we suspect the phenomenon has something to do with people sticking with their Manhattan doctors in general when they move to Brooklyn, it also says something about the quality of care. The one serious experience that our family had in a Brooklyn hospital revealed such appalling (and almost deadly) levels of incompetence that we now avoid them at all costs. So let’s take a poll:
Manhattan Birth Certificate, Brooklyn Address [NY Times]
Brooklyn Moms Won’t Give Birth in Brooklyn Hospitals [Gothamist]
Graphic from The New York Times
“low-income people from East New York”
That’s right. Pick on my people. HA!
I understand what you’re saying, but Methodist is pretty far from ENY and there are a LOT of hospitals in between. I’d be surprised if there’s a huge ENY-based clientele at Methodist.
“Except I’ve also had experiences with some exceptionally compassionate and attentive nurses as well.”
Just because she’s wearing a nurse cap and a really tight medical uniform doesn’t mean she’s a nurse.
Sometimes I have to remind myself – “she’s not REALLY French, and she’s not REALLY a maid.” You know?
Kid #2 was born at LICH. We went there because that’s where our OB (who was GREAT but has since moved) did deliveries. The postpartum care was completelty awful and we experienced the same disrespect for breastfeeding mentioned above. Facilities were awful. Kid was born on a Friday night and the super pregnant Mrs, in labor, had to walk through the Friday night emergency room where all kinds of people were handcuffed to their beds and cops were everywhere.
Kid #3 was born at Methodist. Perfectly fine experience. Would go back.
[kid# 1 was born in Australia, most amazing experience, so much better than NYC experience, but kind of a long trip]
Funny we know lots of people who use manhattan hospitals and I always bust on them for it. But I suppose we would have done Manhattan if I wasn’t worried about having to learn midwifery halfway across the Manhattan Bridge.
And as a group nurses do tend to have a big chip on their shoulders. I think it has something to do with how much is asked of them and how little respect they get vis-a-vis doctors. I remember this one time when I was in college I got myself into a situation where I was at a hospital in the midwest and the doctors there thought I was a medical student, and I had a badge and they were taking me on rounds and letting me do stuff like take out people’s stitches, and the nurses were being totally bitchy with me like they hated me just because I was going to med school (which I wasn’t, but I was afraid to tell them that, it was one of those little white lies that just snowballs and then you’re afraid to fix it).
“And with rob’s, apparently, lol.”
Except I’ve also had experiences with some exceptionally compassionate and attentive nurses as well. As I said, it’s impossible and unfair to generalize an entire profession.
“traditionalmod, your experience with the nurses sounds very similar to ours.”
And with rob’s, apparently, lol.
traditionalmod, your experience with the nurses sounds very similar to ours.
I stayed in St. Luke’s Roosevelt for about 2 weeks because my water broke early. Out of the cast of many nurses I encountered, there was one rude nurse and another that I thought was a little annoying. Other than that the rest were wonderful and took great care of me.
I heard a horror story about LICH making a terrible mistake with the epidural. Ugh.
We chose Methodist in Park Slope because we were wary of traveling far to Manhattan in labor but it will always be a huge regret. The labor/delivery room was fine, the triage and labor/delivery nurses were excellent. The staff in recovery were HORRIBLE. Like a return to the dark ages as somebody said. Truly bad care. Nurses were rude idiots. We couldn’t believe they actually graduated from nursing school. They didn’t understand our questions, they constantly forgot my pain meds, much less to check in on me, they didn’t answer calls. Anytime we needed anybody my husband had to leave the room to go find people, if you can call it a room. It was a grubby, depressing filthy tiny closet with no dressers or tables to put your belongings on so everything was piled on my bed with me. The breastfeeding support consultant was a joke. There was a creepy unpleasant little dude who came every night to draw blood who never wore gloves or washed his hands. If NY Methodist ever want people other than the Hasid and low-income people from East New York to give birth there they need to do something very very differently. (I name those groups because those are the only other women I saw in the maternity ward; I didn’t see anybody of my own demographic).
i agree boerumresident – i followed my doctor, as did every other woman i know.. the hospital experience is (hopefully) 2/3 days, the relationship with my ob/gyn was much more important.