Giving birth in Jerusalem

primavera

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 10:07 am

I'm due in abt 10 days B"H.Can anybody recommend a hospital in Jerusalem where the nurses are kind and you had an all around pleasant experience? Thank you! Smile

e1234

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 10:23 am

I was just in bikur cholim.

the nurses were nice. (but very busy sometimes)
the only think I was really not happy with there was their strict nursing schedule

sped

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 10:50 am

I was happy in Shaarei Tzedek. The nurses were nice and helpful for the most part.

mebs

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 12:11 pm

I was happy in Shaarei Tzedek. The nurses were generally very nice and helpful (I only had a bad experience with one, and several were really wonderful).

Just remember - it's an Israeli hospital. If you want anything, go and ask for it yourself. Bsha'ah tovah!

ray family

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 12:13 pm

I had 3 children in Ein Kerem.
had overall great experiences there

ianaii

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 2:23 pm

shaarei tzedek was great for me!

freidasima

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 2:25 pm

Shaarei Tzedek! It should go well!

shabri

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 2:32 pm

Bikur Cholim twice....loved it.

I'm due in 3 weeks iy"h ad gave birth 2 weeks early last time so maybe we'll be there together,.

Just remember you should register for whatever hospital you choose.

hadasa

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 3:14 pm

Another vote for Shaarei Tzedek. And yes, you have to register ASAP.

kermit the frog

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 3:17 pm

I loved shaare tzedek.

ewa-jo

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 4:54 pm

I gave birth at Bikur Cholim several times and the staff were very nice.

Also, you get a gift.... a 300NIS gift certificate to Bazaar Strauss or a free night at a Beit Hachlama. (I gave birth there a month ago and I got the gift... I didn't have to do anything special, I came in and registered like normal, like I had done before.

supermama2

Tue, Jun 15 2010, 11:44 pm

A neighbor and midwife who works at Hadassah said that it is more open to rooming in with baby and natural parenting I.e. nursing on cue and the like. I've only been here two weeks so I'm new off the boat but this is all I've heard concerning hospitals.

BeershevaBubby

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 12:24 am

I was satisfied with my Shaarei Tzedek stay.

Newsie

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 3:31 am

4 kids in Ein Karem- they've gotten much nicer (or else I've gotten more used to the Israeli tough love style) but this time I escaped to Hadassa Baby, which was AMAZING and for me worth every penny because I came home relaxed and sane (somewhat...) and feeling good.

TzipG

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 5:23 am

3 births in SZ. 1st 2 were great - midwife, delivery, nurses, everything was really good. My last birth (4 months ago) was totally different. midwife was great, but they were so crowded and unable to handle all the women - this is both in kabbala, and in tinokia/maternity ward. I was really miserable and could not wait to get out of there. I definitely plan on giving HEK a try for my next one iy"H.

oh yeah, I went to hadassa baby afterwards and it was AMAZING!!

Marion

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 6:23 am

I don't like any of the options. Har haTzofim is fine for the birth but not the hospitalization afterwards. Ein Karem I won't go back if you paid me. Haven't tried the others but they're not options for me for other reasons.

CutiePatutie

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 9:36 am

I gave birth in Shaare Tzadek and was very very happy. SZ has volunteer lactation nurses (many of them) that come around every single day during feeding times, they are extremely nice and even came back to check up on me to make sure thing were going well, which was really really helpful since it was baby #1. I have spoken to a few pl who went to Bikur Cholim and they dont have that there, which could be a big problem for some people. People have told me that they needed to hire someone to come to their house cuz they had no clue what they were doing/doing wrong. Personally- I think thats reason enough to go to SZ, all other factors equal.

I have also heard from doctors that medically Bikur Cholim is a terrible hospital. In their words "Its a sakana for the baby and for the mother." In bikur cholim the maternity hosp is a separate building from the rest of the hospital (really convenient for Kohanim). A friend of mine had a really scary story in BC, in the middle of the night her baby had a heart palpitation, so they took the baby to the cardiac ward, in the other building, in the middle of the night, without notifying the mother, and in the morning when she went to get her kid, the baby was gone and none of the nurses had any clue what was going on (the night nurses hadnt notified them) it took some time till everyone figured out what happened. As you can imagine the mother was petrified, and then fuming at the hospital.

These are just things I heard, I dont mean to bad mouth the hospital, but I think a mother has the right to know what she is getting into before she makes such an important decision.

HATZLACHA RABBA! May you give birth b'shaa tova u'mutzlachas and may it be an easy labor and mommy and babby should be healthy. And like everyone else said - YOU NEED TO REGISTER ASAP!!!!!

sped

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 9:43 am

The plus of BC is if DH is a Kohen.

e1234

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 11:46 am

I recently was in bikur cholim.
they do have a lactation consultant and I found them medically very responsible.

shabri

Wed, Jun 16 2010, 11:52 am

CutiePatutie wrote:

Sorry but I couldn't let this go by without commenting.

1st of all, Bikur Cholim does have lactation consultants coming by. I had more than 1 sit with me helping me with my first. She actually came in almost every feeding during the day and came back to check on me. They are not there over shabbos though, so then a kind nurse sat with me and helped me as well.

2nd of all, some of the Drs at BC are the best in the country. Dr Yoffe and Dr Pollack specifically but there are others Kafka and another frum woman who I forget her name, who were also top notch. Some ppl specifically go there if they know they need a c-section and also for VBACS davka b/c of the medical care...

3rd of all, while I don't doubt your friends story, it seems odd to me that they would take a baby to a regular cardiac unit and not to the NICU. The NICU (as of yesterday when I visited my friend's baby there) is certainly in the same building as the L&D. Furthermore, I have had them wake me up b/c my baby was crying in the middle of the night, so something seems odd to me abt this story that they wouldn't have told the mother where the baby is...