Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

(Re-post from Pregnancy Board)

Hi All,

Just joined and glad to have this site for support. I am hoping you guys can help me out with some advice.

I am currently with Great Neck OB/GYN and am very happy with the practice (Drs. Santoyo, Sadaty, Kaufman and Rifkin). My issue/concern is that I am not sure how supportive the doctors and/or hospital might be with my birth plan (natural unmedicated vaginal hospital birth).

What I would love to hear is any stories/advice/feelings/experiences you had with either the practice or even the hospital....

I am more interested in if they respected your choice and were supportive of what you wanted (rather than pressure you with hospital policy or what the doctors thought was best)....regardless of your birth plan. How were the nurses?

My alternative is to switch to Winthrop Hospital and see Dolisi, Hanauer & Fretwell.

Thanks!!

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

hi! Congratulations on striving for a natural, unmedicated birth.

I had an unmedicated birth at North Shore University Hospital with a different group of doctors. I was very fortunate to have the support of an excellent doula and my amazing husband who trained in the Bradley Method with me.

What made my natural delivery possible was that my doctor (via phone instructions) allowed me to leave and walk around the hospital at 5 cm dialated. I was told to come back within 3 hours or so. During this time I walked alot, had contractions throughout various hallways and ate and drank at will. This was very important because once I went back and was officially admitted, I was VERY restricted with regard to eating and drinking.


I was offered an epidural at least 3 or 4 times despite my insistance on NOT wanting one. I did my best to keep moving in the hall way of the delivery ward, walk and rock on the birthball. At one point I stalled at 6 cm and my husband, doula nd I fought for a soap suds enema (our doc was suggesting pitocin, baby's heart rate had dropped and something had to be done soon). The nurses and attending physician told us that it was not hospital policy, we kept insisting and finally our Ob gave the greenlight so long as I was to also receive an IV to avoid dehydration.

Within 20 mins of the enema being adminstered I dilated to 10 cm from 6, my water broke on the table and our DS was born in 3 pushes. There is NOTHING more amazing than a natural unmedicated birth. It was a whirwind and surreal and over SO quickly!

Our delivery room was packed, everyone ran in to witness our birth because natural births are not common at that hospital. When it came to those last 10 mins, I can say that EVERYONE was completely supportive, excited and sharing the moment. It was seriously like a cheering squad, a beautiful moment but up until then there was a vibe of "yea, this girl is crazy"....you know what I mean?


My advice:
- share your desires with your Ob team and don't let them doubt yourself. AFFIRM that you are dedicated to this so long as baby and mom are not in peril
-ensure you understand all possible birth interventions and question everything
-don't allow nurses to bully you, hopefully if there's a nasty nurse you can kill her with kindness until a change in shift occurs (this happened with us).
-be confident and believe in yourself, you'll be surprised how contagious this is.
-MOVE as much as possible and buy yourself time, ask to leave the floor and come back in an hour so you can squat in the hallways, eat or whatever you need to do.
-look into soap suds enemas and see if it makes sense for you....for us it got things moving (ick!) but because I had to get off the bed I was off the EFM (which being on my back during monitoring was hte ONLY time I felt pain) and squatting on the toilet. Discuss this with your doctor.

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST and I wish for you an empowering and beautiful birth experience.

For my next birth, assuming no complications, I will be with a midwife probably at Nassau University Medical Center so that I can use the birthing tubs. GOOD LUCK and please FM with anything!

ETA: Does Winthrop have birthing tubs? I find water to be SO helpful in managing pain so maybe a switch to that hospital might make sense.

Message edited 7/18/2012 5:19:51 PM.

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

My obgyn was Dr. sadaty and I delivered in December at NS Manhasset. At 38 weeks my lo was measuring in at 8.4 and she estimated if I went to 40 weeks my first baby would weigh in over 9 lbs. she never once suggested a c-section and she supported my wish for a vaginal birth. However I did need a c-section after 2 and half hours of pushing as she was stuck in my pelvis! Her poor head was all msrked from the tight fit. I took the birthing classes at north shore and lots of people were looking to do natural births. I however opted for an epidural. Let your plans be known be vocal of your wishes and hopefully you will have the birth you desire. I will say things do happen and if your baby's safety is in question they will do whatever is needed for a safe delivery. The nurses were so supportive and my experience there was fantastic. I will say my lo was born at 38 weeks and weighed in at 8.4 so there sono was exact! Congrats to you I wish you a speedy delivery!

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

They were my doctors and were open to whatever I wanted, they never pushed meds on me in anyway (though I insisted on an epi lol)

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

If you are using a doctor I suggest getting a doula. They will help you and will advocate for you. Otherwise I would use a midwife. NUMC allows them and they have a waterbirth room. My plan was to use it for labor.. not delivery. That was all sidelined when I got pre-e and had to be induced. But, I still had a "pain-med" free birth. In fact, I only had pitocin for a couple of hours and it didn't work. Cytotec and balloon catheters work for me. With an OB i KNOW I would have been sectioned after the pit didn't work. With the support and encouragement of the attending who is the vp of the pre-ec assoc of North America, they tried other methods of induction that I am positve the OB's would not have tried. My mom is a former L and D nurse (now admin) and is digusted with the state of L and D in Long Island.

I think if you want to do this, and I totally recommend it, you should arm yourself with tools. Take a Bradley Method Class. This was such an amazing tool. But, having someone like a midwife or a doula there is an invaluable tool. Read my birth story if you want. There is a lot of info about NUMC

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

I was transfered there while in labor. I had never met the dr that delivered my twins. I delivered them at 30 weeks and was not prepared AT ALL for what to expect, (ironically I had a phone date set up with the Lamaze instructor that day.) any way I ended up with a un medicated birth. The nurses were wonderful and coached me through the entire process

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

I delivered at NSM and I wish I had the good experiences that everyone else seemed to have. Mine was not about my birth plan per se (I chose to have an epidural, but the nurse told the doctor I refused it completely when all I did was ask questions about it). My issues were with the nurses and just the overall running of the delivery and maternity departments, the condition of the hospital room at the time (my call button didnt work except for 1 hr before discharge and I experienced a neurological event following the birth of my son. I had to walk down the hallway to the nurses station blind in 1 eye and numb on one side of my body to get help). I also had issue with their lactation consultants. Thats not what you asked though, so I wont go into it unless you want me to.

Re: Advice Please: North Shore Manhasset Deliveries

Thanks everyone - really helpful!