Giving birth in Yerushalayim

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amother

Nasturtium ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 5:59 am

Why does everyone want rooming in? I just had a baby in Ein Kerem and didn't choose rooming in. The baby was with me all day until I brought him to the nursery for the night. I asked them to give him one bottle at night so I could get some sleep. When he was hungry after that, they brought him to my room.
The midwives, nurses in the nursery and the ones for me were excellent. I had one Arab nurse for me but she was great and everyone else was Jewish.

gam_zu_ltovah

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:06 am

I've given birth in Hadassah ein kerem 5 times and was there twice over shabbos. Definitely reccomend. I've never had a Arab midwife or roommate, possibly had an arab nurse after birth in recovery but wasn't memorable. There are very nice meals set up that people in the hospital can join but they also have food in containers for people who want to eat in their rooms.

amother

↑ OP

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:14 am

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. It sounds (as expected) that the experiences really vary. I think what someone said it depending on circumstances in each hospital is definitely the truth - you just have to daven that you'll have helpful staff, a bed (not in the hallway), and a good experience.

I should have qualified, as one of the posters mentioned, that I am not looking to room-in. I prefer the baby to stay in the nursery overnight, and I don't mind a bottle of formula for the nights.

Keep sharing! Anything you have to share is super helpful!

amother

Coral

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:21 am

2 friends and I gave birth recently in har hatzofim. We all had great midwives, Jewish, and great birthing experience. The aftercare was meh. But nothing to do with Arabs. I don't know about their roommates but I had only jews. Good luck with your decision and Bshaa tovah!

amother

↑ Pansy ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:33 am

amother Nasturtium wrote:

Really this should be a spinoff, but among the reasons:
* research shows it is beneficial for both mother and baby, helps recovery for the mother, bonding with the baby, etc. (you asked, I'm answering - I am not going to get into an argument defending research against people's personal experiences)
* in the nursery they will often give formula even if you ask them not to
* any treatments/ checks are done in the nursery if you choose nursery and sometimes they don't allow you into the nursery during these times - it is less traumatic for the baby if it is done in the mother's arms and easier to ensure that if the baby is in the mother's room
* mistakes of any kind are much less likely when the baby is beside its mother than when it is in a cot in the nursery
* no matter how good and amazing and dedicated the hospital staff are there will always be babies screaming for attention and not enough hands to go around - I do not want my newborn experiencing that - not the screaming of others and not being left to cry because everyone is busy with other babies and it's not his/her turn yet
* people say one bottle in the nursery doesn't ruin nursing but that's actually not at all clear, and for many women it DOES ruin breastfeeding and they will always have to supplement after that "one bottle" (there are various reasons for this and here is not the place to get into it)
* you are literally facing a year or two of not sleeping, sleeping alone in a hospital bed one or two nights (especially with nurses disturbing you every few hours) is not going to have any amazing outstanding long-lasting benefit to cancel out the above - so better to room-in and sleep when your baby sleeps both in the hospital and later at home. With my babies who didn't sleep at night I just demanded DH come in ASAP in the morning and take over so that I could sleep. He is off while I'm in the hospital so why shouldn't he come in and do baby duty....

Of course each mother can choose what she likes but if you ask why we choose rooming-in...

↑ LovesHashem ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:51 am

amother Ecru wrote:

I had the worst experience of my life in SZ. My older kids I went to Bikur Cholim and loved it. After they closed I went to SZ - in SZ I told them I have quick births and there was a complication, the doctor only came 2 hours later, by then they couldn't deal and I ended up with a c section, the baby was left in a dirty diaper until it stuck to his skin, I was after c section and had a bed added into a room with nothing to hold onto when standing up and the nurses refused to help me because it's supposed to be good to get up on your own. That's only true if you have a bar to pull on. I was labeled allergic to penicillin and they gave it to me anyway, when I started an allergic reaction they refused to believe me and said it was psychological. I had to get a medical askan involved just to deal with the allergic reaction. They gave my baby a milk bottle without my permission. They refused to bring me food to the room even though I couldn't get up. They kicked my husband out half an hour after c section because it was after 10pm so no visitors. I have never, ever imagined such an experience. I guarantee you I would not go back. It wasn't about one specific nurse, it was the entire experience. Total lack of interest and caring.

And I know someone who had an equally horrible experience at Hadassah. There's bad experiences and good ones everywhere. TMI

↑ LovesHashem ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:52 am

amother Pansy wrote:

I do combination feeding but besides that, these are the reasons I room in. Knowing my baby is crying and not receiving attention, I can't sleep knowing that.

amother

↑ Pansy

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 7:07 am

LovesHashem wrote:

I do combination feeding but besides that, these are the reasons I room in. Knowing my baby is crying and not receiving attention, I can't sleep knowing that.

Me either. I would rather be awake because my baby needs me than be awake with worry about whether my baby is being taken care of.

↑ Brit in Israel ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 7:34 am

amother Nasturtium wrote:

I now don't do rooming in. With my first my baby needed observation for the first night so she couldn't be with me. I had a great sleep after 22 hrs of labour. The rest of the stay she was in my room.
With my next I went straight for rooming in and I felt I never manage to recover from the labour and birth. Which I unknowingly got for my first since I had no choice. Plus he had colic so nights at home were horrendous. So for the 3rd I told them to give formula at night and it was a game changer. I had 3 good nights after another 20+ HR labour and then the fun of night feeds started.
BH I'm lucky it didn't effect my nursing and with the 3rd I gave 1 bottle a day without effects of milk supply or nursing clean.

amother

↑ Heather

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 8:00 am

amother OP wrote:

Thank you! That was very helpful. Was your midwife jewish or arab? Did they give attention to you when you first came to the hospital?

My midwives were Jewish and the nurses took care of me as soon as I came in. I also had a doula with me so that helped.

↑ LovesHashem ↓

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 9:45 am

amother Pansy wrote:

Me either. I would rather be awake because my baby needs me than be awake with worry about whether my baby is being taken care of.

Exactly. What's the ratio in the nurseries in Hadassah for nurses to babies? Just curious.

amother

↑ Nasturtium

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 10:13 am

I'm in my 40's with a bunch of kids all born in Israel ka"h. I chose rooming in for my first two. Even rooming in didn't let you keep the baby with you overnight, from 12am-6am. Did that change?

After the first two, I learned that my body needs a few nights of sleep to recover from the birth. My babies were all great nursers and nursed until about 2 years old, so one bottle for a few nights in the hospital and bet hachlama did not ruin their nursing at all.

They absolutely did not give more than one bottle in the nursery because they woke me up for the next feeding and they always apologized for waking me up but said he is hungry and already had his one bottle.

Side note, one of my babies was very big and was born very hungry and was screaming even after nursing. The nurses told me to supplement with formula just for one day in the hospital, so I nursed for 15 minutes on each side and then he drank an ounce of a bottle. After a few feedings like that he stopped screaming and I didn't need to supplement. This baby nursed until he was 23 months old!

↑ Elfrida

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 10:24 am

LovesHashem wrote:

Exactly. What's the ratio in the nurseries in Hadassah for nurses to babies? Just curious.

Same as everywhere else. It's a legally mandated ratio.

↑ LovesHashem

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 10:27 am

Elfrida wrote:

Same as everywhere else. It's a legally mandated ratio.

What I saw when I last gave birth in SZ was 3-4 nurses for like 20 something babies.

↑ Brit in Israel

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 10:28 am

amother Nasturtium wrote:

In the more recent years they have added a ward for complete rooming in. You only go there if you room in and it's 24 hrs with changing tables etc. The other wards during the day you can have your baby but at night you are supposed to take them to the nursery and nurse in the nursing room so the baby doesn't disturb your roommates

amother

Begonia

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 10:30 am

Not sure if it's practical but I gave birth at Assuta Ashdod and had an amazing experience. No Arabs except for cleaning help.

amother

Nutmeg

Wed, Nov 13 2024, 6:07 pm

Stay at Sharei Tzedek for the birth and asap get to Beit Hachlama for a couple weeks.

byisrael

Thu, Nov 14 2024, 12:28 pm

amother Nutmeg wrote:

Stay at Sharei Tzedek for the birth and asap get to Beit Hachlama for a couple weeks.

I hope you meant days - if not just know that the average person can not afford the Bet Hachlama for a few weeks, especially if there are 7 other kids at home.

A few days wont hurt anyone, but a few week is a long time for mommy to be gone. If you are really struggling after a few days in Beit Hachlama, get a night nurse ( there are wonderful frum ones) or a lot of help during the day.

amother

Cobalt

Sun, Nov 17 2024, 4:36 pm

My first birth was at hadassah ein kerem, my second birth (last year) was at shaare tzedek.

Birth experience: I had a pretty good birth experience at both. Only Jewish midwives in both places.

Medical care before/during birth: As far as medical care, Hadassah was amazing, the baby and I both had complications, they saved her life without needing to do a c section. Shaare Tzedek was great as far as giving birth naturally even though I had complications. Hadassah was better in my opinion, but you'd be fine anywhere.

Aftercare for mom: Not great at either place or probably anywhere (although I think in the merkaz somewhere one of the hospitals has private rooms, but it was too far and impractical). However, Hadassah was better. First, Hadassah wins just by sheer number of people per room. At Hadassah, I never had more than one roommate at a time (two total per room including me). In Shaare Tzedek, it was 3 per room, and was squished in the middle with only enough room for my suitcase next to the bed and no walking space and that was it. I asked several times to be moved to a different space or room, and even though I was there longer than most of the other ladies (baby needed to stay extra for medical reasons), they moved other ladies instead of me. I went through several roommates in each hospital (I was at both for extra time due to medical reasons for the babies), all were Jewish. Hadassah let me stay an extra night free when my baby needed to be there longer. They weren't super attentive in either place, but I felt like the doctors were better at Hadassah. In Shaare Tzedek, I developed this crazy rash after birth which and that was actually the only place I had an arab doctor (who was difficult to communicate with) and she had no idea what the rash was, much less how to solve it.

Aftercare for baby: If you want your baby in the nursery, don't walk, run away from shaare tzedek. Go straight to Hadassah Ein Kerem. Both my babies had to be in the nursery due to low birthweight. The staff was dedicated in both places. But there were just not enough hands at shaare tzedek, there was never a time when there weren't multiple babies screaming. And it wasn't just for a day or two, we had to stay extra long (after each baby in each hospital) for medical reasons, so I saw this go on over several days. It was better when it wasn't shabbat, as there are sheirut leumi girls who come during the day and hold and change the babies, but they aren't there nights or weekends. But even with them, still too many crying babies. In Hadassah, the nursery was definitely calmer, I recall very little crying from the babies, the nurses were really on top of things. And again, it wasn't just a day or two, we were there for extra days for medical reasons. Medically, the care my babies got was good in both places, though it was better in Hadassah, and that was with my first who had more medical problems. In shaare tzedek they were not really completely on top of her medical situation I had to fight to be present at doctors checkups and then the doctor acted like my presence was a nuisance and any questions I had about my own baby were disrespectful to her - that may have just been the luck of the draw though. But 2 doctors at Hadassah for the baby were both much better than this.

Bottom line is, both are fine. I had a better experience at Hadassah overall on several counts than at Shaare Tzedek. But I think you'd be fine at either one. For me, the main issues are number of roommates post birth (just so loud and so many people coming and going for visiting), and what the nursery is like in terms of how many / how often babies are screaming.

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