01/06/09

5 years ago, mind you, but AWFUL facilities with GREAT nurses!

by jlanam

Please realize that 1) this review is based on my birth experience at Presbyterian in 2003 (before the renovations were done), and 2) my point of reference is my two previous births at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, which had recently opened a $10 million women's wing.

I was pregnant with twins, severely bloated, with extremely high bld (word not allowed) pressure and very low and dropping platelet count (the things that help your bld clot - with a low count you can bld to death). I went to the hospital on my doctor's request to be induced because of these many dangers in my already high-risk pregnancy. After the major parking ordeal and eventually finding our way through the maze to the maternity ward (thank GOD I wasn't in labor!), I was given a gown and parked on a hard stool for hours in a "triage ward". I had never heard this term except in MASH. Many women were groaning and screaming and, it would appear, actually giving birth in this crowded place with only sheets separating them.

After I finally gave birth, I was put in a semi-private room because no private rooms were available. I was hooked up to an IV for days (for the bld pressure) and needed help to go the bathroom, nurse my babies, etc., but my husband had to sleep in a hard chair so he could help me. At one point I was actually sweating (with sky-high bld pressure, mind you!) because the roommate was cold and had the AC controls. I had to keep the privacy sheet shut so I could nurse my babies because the other occupant had her large family constantly filing in and out and watching wrestling on the only TV. (I can't imagine why my bld pressure didn't drop!) There was a huge insect running across the wall, which I watched with dread since I couldn't move with my IV!

In spite of the AWFUL accommodations, I have only GOOD things to say about the nurses (except the last one who was chatty Kathy when I asked to be alone to fill out the paperwork, and then she complained when it wasn't done).

• Pros: Great nurses, for the most part
• Cons: Terrible accomodations, inadequate capacity