St. Johns Hospital - Detroit

Had both of by children there and thought the experience was great. I've heard worse stories coming from other hospitals, and I can't say that anything that happened would deter me away from there. I'd recommend anyone to deliver there! (I do miss the special dinners they once gave though.... it's nice to have some prime rib the day after to celebrate w/ the hubby!!!!!)

i delivered two children there and never had that experience actually they always was comming checking something.

I had my son there this past July and my delivery nurse was AWESOME!! My friend had all 4 of her kids there and convinced me to go there-one reason was because they have the NICU there. She is a nurse and she said that even though your whole pregnancy is perfect, you just never know what could happen during delivery and how would you feel if your baby had to be transported to another hospital while you were still at the hospital you delivered at? So, based on that-and her experiences there, I went there. My delivery nurse was sooooo great!!! :) I also did not have my baby go to the nursery at all-he was breast fed, so I wanted to make sure no accidents happened with someone giving him the paci or a bottle. My cousin had this happen at POH-and that basically ended her breastfeeding.

I think bad experiences can happen everywhere. I have friends who have had things happen at almost every hospital in the Metro area it seems.

That being said, about St. John specifically, I had both my children there and I would never go anywhere else. I had amazing nurses, especially during delivery when I think it is most important. Both my kids were born early and spent time in the special care nursery (part of the NICU area) and they were wonderful to us.

As for the normal nursery, I know they really encourage rooming in with the parents so they don't always have the nursery open. When I was there in October the unit was slow so it was open sometimes when we walked by but other times it was dark (could have also been no babies were in there).

I would never go anywhere else. Between my experiences there and how great my doctors are I recommend it to friends who won't deliver where they had their first babies.

Hi N.,

I had both my babies at St John and my experiences were just fine, with one exception. (My daughter is almost 3, and my son is now 4.5 years.) After I had my second baby, I got stuck with a post-partum nurse named Randi (Randy?) She was pretty bad. She had really short blond hair and acted as if he hated her job. She hardly ever came in the room and when she did, she was pretty cold. All I remember thinking was, "Thank God this is my second child and already have a clue what's going on!" When I had my first baby, I was really scared about handling the whole mom thing (aren't we all?) but the nurses were GREAT; they would check on me a lot and when it came time to leave, they told me to take home all the extra onesies and diapers that were under the bassinett, and they even brought me an extra diaper bag (you know, the kind that was filled with formula and diaper samples and all those coupons!)

I think the hospital may have been busy when I got stuck with Randy, since she was the only nurse I saw. At one point, my husband had to go in search of her because I needed something, and he asked another nurse where she was, but he couldn't remember her name. He described her attitude before describing her physical appearance, and the other nurse knew exactly who he was talking about! I wish I had made a formal complaint, but I was just too exhausted, and to excited to bring my baby home and eventually forgot!

My delivery nurse was also extremely excellent. I had an epidural with my first baby but there was no time for one with my second. I had been on bedrest with both kids so I had never gotten to take a birthing class and didn't know how to handle the pain through breathing. The nurse was so wonderful, I don't know what I would have done w/out her! In general, my experience was really good with all the nurses and doctors, except for that Randy lady! (My OB is Thomas Hartzell...been going to him for 11 years and love him!)

Oh, and yes they do have a nursery! I wonder why they brought your baby back to you so soon? I know they start bringing them back in the rooms automatically around 6 am. But they've always asked me ahead of time when picking up my baby to bring him / her to the nursery if I wanted them to bring him/her back to me during the night for a feeding. If the answer was no, then I got a decent block of sleep for that night (well, when the nurses weren't waking me up to take my blood pressure, that is!)

Now I have a question for the previous poster, Dana. Dana, was your baby born early? Because I've always been told that nipple confusion really only happens to babies who have been born premature or are jaundiced. My son had issues latching on, but he was 4 weeks early and the nurses told me to keep trying, as he would get better as his due date got closer. They were right; within 3 weeks, he was latching on perfectly. Until that time, I had given him a bottle (he wouldn't take a pacifier yet). Since my son was 4 weeks early, he was pretty jaundiced and had to spend 4 days in the Special Care Nursery. Being jaundiced makes the baby even more tired than normal, and latching on was just too much work (the nipple of the bottle is usually easier to get the milk flowing.) When he started latching on at 3 weeks, I had the best of both worlds because he would take bottle OR breast (that really helped me with the overnight feedings where hubby could feed him!) That lasted until 3 months old, when he decided he only wanted the breast. That's also when my son started taking the pacifier, weird. But my daughter latched on w/out any problems and she also took the pacifier from birth, as well as my sister's kids and my friend's kids. So I don't really agree that letting a baby have a pacifier would actually cause latch-on issues. Did you tell the nurses ahead of time not to give your baby a pacifier? If not, you can't really blame them, but if you did, yah, I'd be mad about it too!

I had one in 2006 and one in 2007 there. Most of my nurses were amazing. My first nurse actually helped my husband deliver because my doctor was stuck delivering another baby and she knew I couldn't wait. I didn't have an epidural for that one either which I found out I couldn't last minute and she helped me through everything. The ones that were with me through delivery were fantastic. I don't remember them really ever leaving. For my 2nd one, I was not progressing at all and the nurse really helped to stay in contact with my doctor and make sure they got in there to break my water as soon as possible so I could get the labor going. For me, it was more my own doctors that were tough to get in there since they only do certain rounds and delivery other babies, but the nurses were always on top of everything. And, the hospital doctors always seemed available as well. I believe when you are actually in labor they dedicate a nurse to you, have your sister ask. After delivery, when I had some complications, the nurses were still right there too. Then, when I was doing fine, they did not come around very much at all, but by that point, I just wanted to be left alone with the baby and husband anyway. I did send my 2nd son to the nursery. They do pre-parenting/delivery classes right at the hospital and when you do those, you get to take a tour as well. My son was in the nursery for a few hours. If you breastfeed, they will bring them back sooner. Also, the high risk OB that I see is located right at the hospital, so that is nice to know as well. And, I didn't find out till after my delivery but I was very close to having a C-section and they had the room all prepped and everything but didn't tell me because they didn't want to worry me until they knew if I had to. I liked that they were prepared but also aware of how I was doing. Anyway, I don't have much to compare to, but I had a few different issues and feel like I got very good treatment.

I delivered all 4 of my children there and all I can say is I will never go anywhere else. I have heard such horror stories about all the other hospitals and the problems friends had there, that scarce nurses is something I can deal with. And actually when I went to visit my SIL at Beaumont one of her nurses was so rude she actually walked in and told my SIL that there were other patients with more important problems that she had to deal with so she wouldn't be able to spend much time with her! I complained for her since she was too tired but my point is nowhere can be perfect.

Since I have been there a lot has changed from my first (5 years old) till my latest (6 months old) Budget cuts have caused a few policy changes and they don't give out as much free stuff.
I have had 4 wonderful delivery nurses! They were marvelous! I can't rave about them enough, helped me through everything!
However the recovery nurses are varied. Some were more than helpful and others I never saw other than when they introduced themselves. The reasons I received for the lack of nurses was different each time but one was it was a holiday (New Years weekend), they were filled past capacity (women were laboring in the waiting room!) and were running back and forth to the "over flow" area. The only annoying answer I got was a difficult baby down the hall, which I have to admit was screaming constantly, but I would have appreciated a little of the attention as well but it was only during the evening of my second night and the next shift was much better.

I love St John's and drive 45 min on freeway just to get there which no one other than my husband understands, especially since I have a Beaumont 5 min away :-p But it depends on your priorities. I have heard some of the smaller hospitals have more attentive staff simply because they don't deliver as many babies. Congrats to your sister and Good Luck on the hunt!

I just had my 2nd baby at St. Johns Main 3 weeks ago. Both my 1st and 2nd were born there. I live two blocks from St. John Macomb and I still would honestly not trust any other hospital but St. John Main to deliver me. I had emergency c sections both times and my 1st son was three weeks early and my 2nd son was 5 weeks early. Both of my boys ended up in the Special Care Nursery (which is just a step below NICU). The nursing staff that took care of my was terrific and the SCU nurses (with the exception of one named Sandy, long story but I HATED that woman) were the most upbeat cheerleaders ever, which is VERY important when you have a slightly sick baby. They rallied myself and my hubby when we were getting so depressed because our son was having trouble. They took the time to keep us informed about EVERYTHING to do with our sons both times. Several of the nurses actually CRIED when babies (including mine) were checking out to go home, because they get SO ATTACHED to the precious little ones that they take care of. You can't ask for someone to care any more than that.

Also, they still give you a boat load of free stuff when you leave. We got about a months worth of free formula from the SCU staff (my 2nd is still on a special high calorie preemie formula, which I'm sure costs way more than regular formula) and they have these little old Grandmas that volunteer in the SCU and will hold babies and cuddle them, as well as help out with folding laundry and what not. These little Grandmas make mini quilts (to keep the lights out of the babies eyes) for the incubators that the babies are in, and when you take your little one home, the quilt goes with you as a "best wishes" type thing. That was SO touching!!!

All in all, I love everything about this hospital and the staff. If your SIL is in any way high risk or her baby may need any possible help upon birth, this is the hospital to go to.

I delivered twins at St. John and my experience was wonderful. There is not really any part of my delivery that I felt could have been better. Even the breastfeeding ladies were great with me. If I get pregnant again I would have no issues with going back.

I had my first baby there in August via c-section and my experience was really good. The nurses were amazing (almost thought they came in too much) and very helpful. This is one of the best hospitals out there. Sorry you had a bad experience, but your sister-in-law should be just fine.

I had a positive experiences with St Johns Detroit (Aug 2003 during the famous blackout and Jan 2008) and agree with what other mothers have said. Most of the nurses are awesome. I would add to the fact that it can get very busy during holidays and weekends so the nurses may have less time to stop by. I did hire a doula for my second child's birth (Jan 2008) and she felt welcomed by the St John nursing staff while working with me for a VBAC. My doula mentioned that the Beaumont nurses treated her like trash while the St John nurses treated her like a professional. Well, the 2nd birth ended up with as a C-Section and had an awesome recovery nurse and Special Needs unit was awesome.

Hi N.,

I had my daughter at St. John's Main in April of 2008. The OB/GYN I saw was Dr. Kuzel. I had an OK experience there.

As for the actual delivery, my nurse was AMAZING. She was seriously fantastic. She was there for everything; every little question I had she answered and never had a bad attitude. The doctors left a little to be desired, however. If your sister does give birth there I would suggest she requests no trainees - I had a trainee and she stuck her fingers into my vagina without my permission to "stretch me out" while my legs were in the stirrups. I asked what she was doing and Dr. Kuzel told her to stop immediately but it was still uncomfortable for me. She made me feel like I was just there to teach her something, not to help me give birth.

The hospital claims to be breastfeeding friendly but my daughter was given a pacifier without my permission multiple times. I was exhausted from birth and didn't fight them but my daugther developed terrible latch issues which were exacerbated by the pacifier use. We quit using them once we left there but it still caused problems. The postpartum nurses were fine (although they were the ones who gave my daughter the pacifier). I didn't really want to be bothered much and my fiance roomed in with me so we didn't need a ton of nursing help, but all situations are different. Whenever we used the phones to call them they came pretty quickly though.

To be honest, if I had to do it again I wouldn't. I would have used a midwife and a more naturally minded hospital but again, all situations are different.

I love St. John's. I agree with previous posters on the following:
they have a NICU. They bring babies from all over the area to St. John's NICU. It's the best place for your baby to be if there is a problem. Also, everyone has a bad day here and there. Even nurses. unfortunately, you are going through an experience you will only have a few times...it's major for you. for the nurses, you are another patient, another day of work. now, they should not treat you that way, but it helps to keep that in mind, that he/she might be having a bad day, and that they have a lot of patients to care for. i think they let you be on your own too, if you aren't having problems, so you can get used to caring for the baby on your own.

i also loved it, because they gave my husband meals at almost each meal time! the nurses were great. in fact, it was the nurse, NOT the lactation consultant who helped me get the hang of breastfeeding.

perhaps just remind your sister in law that she has to speak up about her needs/wants both before the baby is born and after. that is true no matter where you are!