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
quote:
The nurses there were awesome – friendly, helpful and smart.
BULLSHI+.
*rob*
We live in Brooklyn Heights and had our first baby a few months ago at NYU for several reasons:
1. My OB/Gyn practice is located in SoHo and affiliated with NYU and I didn’t want to change doctors, esp when I like mine and they are a short ride on the R train.
2. NYU and Columbia Pres have the best neonatal units in the city (probably in the country) g-d forbid we needed it (we didn’t).
3. I generally feel most at ease with university hospitals. I have had experiences at NYU, Beth Israel and NY Downtown in my life and NYU always has had the best care. We also chose our pediatrician (Dr. Dehovitz) in part b/c she is also affiliated with NYU.
4. I was born at NYU 🙂
When I went into labor we called a car service and we were at NYU in 20 mins – it was no big deal (esp at 2 am on a Tuesday). Any future kids that we have will also be born at NYU.
My daughter was born last year in Brooklyn– in my bedroom.
For Kid #1 we drove from Clinton Hill to St. Luke’s Roosevelt birthing center (thankfully, it was Yom Kippur, so there was very little traffic.) The nurses there were awesome – friendly, helpful and smart. Kid #2 was a homebirth in Clinton Hill with midwife Miriam Swartzkoph. No regrets in either case! I hear many regrets from folks that chose Methodist in Park Slope.
premo Manhattan hospitals are way better than BK ones. not even debateable. it’s just a matter of whether the BK ones are good enough (vs. is it as good or better than Manhattan ones). LICH was good experience with the staff but the facilities was old / not premo.
“If you have moved to Brooklyn since 1998 and had children since, have you (or your spouse) voluntarily returned to Manhattan to give birth?”
Returned? I didn’t move to Brooklyn *from* Manhattan, so it wasn’t really a “return” when my son was born at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. Anyway, we went to the city for the Birthing Center option. Nothing even close to that in Brooklyn.
honestly, your best bet is to go to jersey to give birth. nyc hospitals are f-cking disgusting.
*rob*
for what it’s worth, nyc has some of the most GHETTO nurses EVER. ive been to the hospital a few times in my life in nyc and jesus christ we have some of the most ghetto ass nurses ever! and im talking ghetto not in a good way. they just come across as seriously uneducated.
*rob*
NYU, and the neonatal intensive care unit there is excellent, which was fortunate for us.
Its also actually quicker from my house through the midtown tunnel to get to NYUMC than it is to get to any of the decent Brooklyn hospitals. About 9 mins when being driven by a sweating soon-to-be-dad.