Debating over Mission Hospital or Hoag - Any Recommendations?

Both hospitals are excellent. Personally I would choose the hospital that I live near. I happen to work at one of the hospitals and I love it. I did not deliver at either. I delivered at St. Joe's and had an AMAZING experience. My ObG is at St. Joe's. If you are to deliver at Hoag the top Ob MD's are Dr. Flora, Dr. White, Dr. Illeck, Dr. Feldman, Dr. Clayton and Dr. Barber. I am not familiar with MIssion. Whatever you choose for your hospital you cannot go wrong. They are truly both excellent facilities. Good luck!!

HOAG is awesome!! You feel like you're in a hotel. Private rooms, room service, friendly staff. I can only speak for that hospital as I had both of my kids there.

I had a great and wonderful experience at Mission Hospital.... I have heard Hoag has a high rate of c-sections. I did not want any interventions or medications, and the nurses respected that at Mission Hospital. I think the nurse who helped coach me through the delivery was named Carla, but I am not sure. Her husband is an OB. Best of luck to you. Be strong... and please contact me if you need support or advice. I would love to coach you through a few things that seemed to help me... beginning with WALK EVERYDAY UP UNTIL YOUR DUE DATE! Your baby gets to know the rhythym of your body and his/hers working together, which makes the delivery much smoother. ENJOY! You are in for a real treat :)

Good morning C.,

Congrats on your pregnancy! I am a first time mom, too and I relied on lots of friend's recommendations, etc. I would recommend Dr. C. Lee as on OB/GYN. She is part of the Greater Newport Physicians Group. Her office is right across the street from Hoag and she delivers at Hoag. Hoag hospital's staff and delivery experience was so amazing! The staff treat you so well and are extremely accommodating to your family. My husband was treated so well while he stayed with me and our new daughter. They are #1 HANDS DOWN!!!

I would highly recommend Hoag. A close friend delivered at Saddleback, twice, and I delivered at Hoag, once. We've discussed our experiences, and I would say Hoag. Everyone is amazing from the moment you walk in. I wanted to have a natural delivery, no drugs, and the nurses were so attentive, like having a doula, caressing my arms and hands, helping me breath ... and the care afterwards was likewise as amazing. As far as an OB/GYN recommendation, I would also highly recommend Dr. Tonia Marie Marralle. The thing about her is that she's not part of a large practice, so she does all of her own deliveries, instead of getting whichever doctor is on call that night. She was respectful of my decision to have a natural delivery and never pushed for anything else. She's also right across the street from the hospital and the night that I called the answering service [it was 2am] to confirm it was time to go to the hospital [it was my first pregnancy and I had been in labor for two days already with labor pains 20-30 minutes apart], Dr. Marralle called me within minutes, spoke to me, listened to my breathing, and knew it was time to go in. Whatever you decide make your wishes known and have a great delivery.

I don't know anything about Mission, but Hoag was awesome. The prenatal classes are great, lactation consultant visits in your room and you can go back for help for two months afterwards ($40 per visit as outpatient, but very worth it if you end up needing help. Breastfeeding is hard...ask for help immediately if it doesn't go smoothly) and I loved having a private room. We had a beautiful ocean view, my husband had a fold out bed next to me and there are no restrictions on visitors, i.e. they could come at any time of day or night, could stay as long as they want and there were no age restrictions. Plus, having the private room means you won't be bothering anyone and you can have people there when it's right for you.

Wishing you a great delivery whatever you decide!

Hi C.-
I had a great experience with Hoag! My water broke at 11:30 pm 4 weeks realy, so I did not have anything filled out yet...hehhee. I was in labot for 28 hours, so I was able to meet a few of the staff... lol. They were so patient with me and my struggles. My husband was able to be with me the whole time, and who ever I wanted in the room, fit. It was a big room and never had to move. If it wasnt for the nurse I had, I probably would of had to have an emergency C section.
Good Luck!!

Definitely HOAG! I live in Cypress and I still go all the way to Hoag and the Newport Beach family of doctors. My doctor is actually in Huntington. He is a family doctor who used to deliver, however, since the deliveries dropped for him, he decided to stop delivering and now I have to be referred out to have a baby. Which is a HUGE bummer, but I don't plan on transferring to another doctor.

Aside from that, the hospital is amazing! I had a private room with a view, which most of the rooms have. The staff was very friendly and attentive.

Regardless of all the advice you get, go with your gut. I've often found that little voice inside of us is really the best. It's just we don't often listen to it.

Good Luck in your search and congratulations!

1000% HOAG, they treat you wonderfly. ocean view for many of the rooms, all rooms are private (which is a huge deal). i didn't want to leave!

Hi there.

I can't say enough nice things about Hoag. I've had all my kids there and been there under the best and worst of circumstances and been treated and cared for so well.

My two sons were normal, healthy pregnancies and are normal, healthy boys...my oldest was in the old building, but the youngest was born in the new building and it's AWESOME. The labor and delivery nurses are fantastic. All the rooms are private with private bathrooms. It's clean, they attend to you well, my husband RAVES about the cafeteria and they also do a congratulations dinner there for both parents before you leave the hospital. Lots of support for firt time moms and dads to explain how to care for your baby, nursing, etc.

I was also there when I developped severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome at 24 weeks with my twin girls and lost them both. The nurses were amazing. They treated my girls with respect. Called them by their names from the moment they were born, sat with us when we needed them, left us alone when we needed that. I had nurses come visit me even when they were off duty to make sure I was ok. They indulged me in my fears about my own health and kept the monitors on me even longer than doctor's required so that I would feel at ease. They brought me an ICU nurse when I needed one in the L&D so I didn't have to move to ICU, the lab techs were great at drawing blood and not making me hurt or bruise any more than I had. When my husband fainted and needed stiches, they got him down to the ER and back with me in less than half an hour and kept in touch with him the entire time. It was an AWFUL experience in our lives, but they couldn't have taken care of us any better. When we left the hospital, they gave us memory boxes for our girls...photos, hospital bracelets for them, footprints and handprints, the little hats they wore when they were born, their blankets all in a little box for us to keep always. They are two on my most treasured belongings since they are all I have left of my two little girls.

Anyway, I think sometimes it's easy to judge a place when everything goes right, but when things go wrong and people step up, it really says something. Hoag was wonderful. I recommend them highly!

Good luck!!

-M

Hoag! I went to the Drs. Office for Women. My doctor is not longer there but I now see Dr. Kent. Their office is right across the street from Hoag. They can run late alot but the staff is really nice.
Hoag hospital is so amazing, I didn't want to leave after I had my daughter. The staff is so friendly plus they have amazing views of the Pacific. I would have another child just to deliver at Hoag!

I agree about going to the one that offers a NICU, but also being close to home. I personally delivered at St. Joseph. My delivery was super fast (I was 9 cm when I got there!), so I was glad it was close to home. Then, my son had an issue that required emergency surgery. CHOC (Children's Hospital Orange County) is connected to St. Joe's. It was great that they could wheel me to see him. I can NOT imagine if it had been necessary to transfer him. I don't know about Hoag, but I know Mission has the other CHOC by them. I also saw someone post about Dr. Capo...(I don't know how to spell the rest of his nm) 3 of my friends go to him and LOVE him. One had numerous miscarriages and he was the most caring dr you can imagine. Another friend had a preemie at 30 weeks. Dr. Capo checked in on her constantly. If you live close by, you can't go wrong with Mission & Dr. Capo!!! I wish the best and hope you don't have any issues!

I would go with the one that has an infant ICU. When it comes down to it, the medical services are what matter most. God forbid something should happen to the baby, but if it does, you want to be where there are experts in newborn care. After that, whichever hospital has private rooms (sharing is a bummer but not the end of the world). And find out what their policy is on having the baby room-in with you (rather than in the nursery).

Having had a baby that unexpetedly ended up in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) I was SOOOO glad I was at Hoag. Their NICU is amazing and they even give you a room on the same floor as the NICU so you can walk down the hall to see your baby. You never know if you will have an unexpected issue and I would go with the hospital that has the best NICU. I vote Hoag hands down.
BTW- I am young and healthy and had no reason to believe our daughter would end up in intensive care. You really never know.

Saddleback is the best in my opinion. Orange Coast Womens Medical Group right next to the hospital. A ton of drs in the group, but I adore Dr. Barrie May. Experienced, seen everything, calm in every situation and reassuring. Had three wonderful pregnancies and deliveries with him and highly highly recommend him.

Hi C.!

Congratulations on your upcoming life change. :-) I worked at Hoag for 8 years and it is a great facility. The staff are wonderful and the MDs awesome. I would add Dr. Linh Nguyen to the list from the other person who worked at Hoag. She has been my OB for about a decade and is awesome. My husband even loves her. Due to insurance I could not deliver at Hoag two years ago when I had my first. One downside of Hoag is that because they are so popular (due to the great care, all private rooms and that amazing view!)in the community, they are busy! Staff sometimes can run thin and there will probably be some waiting for attention from time to time (obviously NOT in the case of an emergency). I really can't say enough about Hoag. The only information I know about Mission comes from people who once worked there (who now work at Hoag). They don't seem to be a very happy bunch at the work place which can translate to not the best care. You know, happy in your job... blah blah blah. Anyway, best of luck and with your decision to choose.

Best,

L.

we drove out of our way to go to hoag because my ob is there (weatherford clayton and he is absolutely great!) and we could not have been happier - the birth classes, the facilities, the nurses were all fantastic. mission is closer to me (and saddleback is down the street) and we will drive to hoag again next time. good luck!!

Good Morning C.,
I had my son about 8 months ago , and I delivered at Mission Hospital. It was such a wonderful experience. All the Nurses were caring and very helpful. I love my OBGYN his name is Dr. Scott Capobianco. He is so wonderful, he will explain everything and he has such a big heart. I had 3 m/c and he was there for all of them. He held my hand the whole way through. When it was time for me to deliver he told me that he wanted to be the first to know in case he wasn't on duity, so that he would come down to the hospital to deliver my son. My delivery went smoothly and he was there the whole way through.

I hope that this helps a little.
Congrats

I agree with the earlier comment to go with whichever one is closer. I delvivered at Mission and had a good experience and was even able to go back to get assistance with breast feeding. We are due in December and going back to Mission. My husband is a medical rep and speaks very highly of both hospitals. Congratulations and good luck!

I always say if I could go on any vacation in the world, it would be to Hoag hospital. I have had 2 children there.. Fabulous..