Scripps Memorial Hospital

I delivered by first baby at Scripps Memorial. I was a bit apprehensive because I hear so many good things about Sharp Mary Birch and I really wanted to deliver there. However, my doctor only delivered at Scripps Memorial, so that is where I went.



I was pleasantly surprised with my experience! The facilities were adequate (not amazing with a lot of extras, but clean and what we needed). I was very happy with the pain management, the nurse was very concerned with me being comfortable and was very willing to do whatever I needed/wanted to make that happen. I felt confident in the clinical care and knew that me and my baby were in good hands. They used a LOT of monitoring, it was hard to move around because I had so many wires and monitors, and it would have been nice if they would give me the option to take a break from the monitors periodically. However, the upside is that I knew the baby was doing well.



The recovery room was fine, it was small but we had our own private room and the nurses were very helpful. They have a nurse who will bring you snacks which is especially great at night. I really appreciated the night nurses who did their best to help us sleep (such as taking our baby to the nursery for her hearing test at night so we could take advantage of sleep time).



Some things I did not like: The information that I got about baby care and post-partum care was spotty. Some nurses would mention some tips or things we should/should not do, but it did not feel coordinated and I felt it would be easy to miss something important. They gave us some books to read, but really, who has time to read a bunch of books when you have a newborn? I would have liked more explanations and information to make sure we did everything correctly.



The most strange part was discharge. They gave us an odd wagon to take our things to the car, which my husband felt very strange about carting a wagon around the hospital and through the parking lot. They also told us they were not allowed to help with the car seat or tell us if we did it correctly. I had expected help because friends who went to other hospitals said it was actually required that the car-seat be checked and approved before they could leave. They also did not offer a wheelchair so we all had to walk down, which was a lot of walking and not an ideal situation. I would suggest to specifically ask someone to give you verbal instructions for care after leaving the hospital and to specifically ask for a wheelchair, there is no reason you should not have one. The discharge felt very unorganized and unfriendly after a hospital stay in which we had great nurses who were helpful and nice.



Overall I would return to the hospital but would use the tips that I mentioned above to make it a better experience. On a side note, my doctor was Dr. Silver who is a Scripps physician and he did a great job, I would highly recommend him. I saw several of his colleagues during my recovery and they seemed very nice and competent as well.