Hi!!! Being that I was at Alta Bates from a Wednesday to a Monday, I guess I have a pretty well informed experience!!

The labor/delivery rooms are awesome and then for recovery we paid the 285- for the private room which was great!

The service was great and all the nurses were great (well...there were 2 we didn't like very much, but we had a million of them!). That's the only hard part if you are there for a long time, the nurses change shifts every 4-6 hours. It was tough when we were in labor because everyone has their own advice ideas. In recovery you get 2 nurses, one for you, one for baby and they are really helpful. They come whenever you call their cell phones! I needed help with everything the first day (I had a c-section as you probably know), going to the bathroom, showering, EVERYTHING! I think they give you the nurse that best suits your situation at the time. The time when I was the worst I had the best nurse!!

Hmmm...the food was awesome!!! You can leave your baby in the nursery for a little while...I did when I showered so I didn't have to worry about Nyomi and a couple of times at nite for a few hours so I could sleep a bit.

The anesthesiologists were GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had 2 different men...one gave me my epidural and saved my life, and the other was there for the c-section and was sooo great!! He was totally there for me and DH since he was at the head and wasn't doing the surgery. He talked to us the whole time and checked on us later.

I love Alta Bates and IF we have another baby it'll be there!

email me if you have any specific questions...i've never been to summit so i don't know anything about it...it could be great too.

jamilieb@uclink4.berkeley.edu

-jami

Sorry, I'm being nosey here - but what is Alta Bates?

the hospital i delivered at...

soooo nosey!!! ( :

Oh, agian I'm sorry :o) I was just kinda figuring since it has been awhile since you had Nyomi, that maybe you had gone back for something else, some procedure or something and it was called Alta Bates?? Yeah, I know, kinda dumb huh?

Kiss Kiss :o)

No worries!! Not dumb at all ( :

hugs ooooooo

Hi There NewToItAll-

I had my baby at Alta Bates too, so I thought I'd second most of what Jami said. The only bad things I experienced are things you would probably get at Summit too... like not being able to get much sleep because the nurses come in at every shift change to check you out, and though they were all very professional some had better personalities than others. One great thing is that if you pay for a private room (we did), your partner can stay the night in the room with you. Still, donÂt count on getting much sleep. I would highly recommend putting the baby in the nursery for a while, so you can rest. I didnÂt do this and ended up not getting any sleep at all for the two nights I was there, and going home completely trashed. If I had just gone home rested I would have had a way, waaaaaaaay better first two weeks with my little girl.

I had a vaginal delivery with an epidural, and I fell in LOVE with the anesthesiologist. He was great. The whole staff in the delivery room was amazing. I felt very safe, and when it was done, got lots of help breastfeeding, which was very important to me. I have heard that they have a lactation consultant on staff, but if you want her, they prioritize her visits based on necessity, so you may want to ummmmm, exaggerate you concerns. I was having trouble with Leila latching on, requested the lactation consultant, and never got her.

Another good thing is that they have a great cafeteria for your visitors, with good coffee and a salad bar. I didnÂt like the hospital food so much, but it was eatable.

I'd be happy to answer specific questions for you too. Email any time.

Karen
(karbar@ix.netcom.com is the email I check)