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
The two Champs were born at Lennox Hill in Manhattan. For whatever it’s worth, the nurses and other staff in the delivery room were angels. Truly wonderful people.
The nurses in the recovery rooms were the polar opposite; completely lacked passion and were rarely available. I wasn’t too thrown off however, as I was mostly concerned about the delivery, especially with a preemie the first time. However, I was surprised at how completely different the staff were.
Overall, it’s like any profession: there are good apples and bad apples.
bkrules nailed why this article missed the boat! (As well as the fact that it doesn’t analyze the question of whether the patient chooses delivery by the doctor – as we did- or by hospital – of which I know no one who did so.)
“when it comes to quality ANYTHING it’s always, and will always be
manhattan > queens > brooklyn > staten island > bronx. duh
*rob*”
You’re making a pretty good case that the idiocy of Park Slope idiots beats anything Manhattan idiots can offer.
Great response, bkrules.
“My OB is in Manhattan because it’s close to work and my OB’s office is linked to NYU….But most people go to the doctor close to where they work, not close to where they live.”
Seriously, what is wrong with this reporter that they didn’t even mention this? Sure, it doesn’t explain the full issue, but it does explain part of it. The reason a lot of women who live in expensive parts of Brooklyn give birth in Manhattan is because they WORK in Manhattan and need a place close to work for their prenatal care. And Manhattan practices usually deliver in Manhattan hospital. It’s not 1950, you idiots!
And another big part of it isn’t gentrifiers seeking a higher quality of care so much as they are seeking what’s called “culturally competent care.” You see it in this thread where the women who culturally value breastfeeding want a hospital that supports it. A lot of gentrifier Brooklynites want things like a lot of control over their delivery, nursing support, the option to keep their baby with them, etc. A number of Manhattan hospitals–most notably Roosevelt–advertise themselves as offering that kind of thing. It’s not an issue over whether that kind of delivery is “better” or “worse,” it’s simply what this kind of patient tends to want.
And there are EXCELLENT Brooklyn Hospitals. Maimonides is one of the nation’s best, and Lutheran is no slouch. Yes, most of the women giving birth there aren’t gentrifiers. That doesn’t mean they’re providing bad care. Quite the contrary.
It’s totally fair to say “hey, it’s great that this Brooklyn hospital has delivery staff who speak Chinese, but I don’t really need that. What I want is staff that is familiar with the Bradley Method, which I can only get in Manhattan.” But assuming that a hospital is bad quality simply because it doesn’t cater to your particular cultural needs? Ridiculous.
And what does obesity have to do with being competent at a job? Perhaps if they were treated with respect, you’d get some in return.
Nice one, Pete.
Usually when people provide you with that type of service in such an intimate setting it means they don’t like you, rob.
I think nurses only act that way when dealing with self-entitled park-slopey egotists. Otherwise they are really really nice and helpful to everyone else. From what I’ve heard anyway.