A number of years ago, my daughter Michele was born at St. Josephs Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. On the 23rd April her daughter Madelynn was born at St. Josephs Hospital in Denver, Colorado.
Oh how things have changed in the birthing field and what an absolutely wonderful hospital this Roman catholic run institution is.
I don't have to tell you that I was by far a worse basket case than my daughter was and someone from outer space observing it all may have thought I was the one who was delivering, not her! To begin with, I hate hospitals anyway and have only had to be in one three times, twice for pregnancy and once a minor procedure.And I really do try to stay as far as possible from these institutions except for when I have a best friend there. In other instances, I wait for the patient to go home and visit them there.
I suppose my dislike of hospitals is related to my general squeamishness about blood and goo....I'm not sure, I just know that they freak me out. Add that to a daughter having her first pregnancy and me forgetting what it is all about, what signs to look for and what do you get? You guessed it ...a helpless mess.
When I heard that my first granddaughter was born in the wee hours of the morning; I told her husband Devin that I would give her time to rest as she had not slept or eaten for 15 hours, so we agreed that I would visit at noon next day. Well can you believe I just could not wait to get to a hospital and got there with my first and only grandson Shadrach from 10 am. Luckily she was awake.
This hospital totally blew my mind. It was large and beautiful and not institution like at all. Her delivery room had everything from cable tv to an ipod base and speakers and guess what, also a jacuzzi! It also had a sofa bed for the father.
After delivery she was moved to another room, slightly smaller but just as nice except that it had a shower, not a jacuzzi but this time there was a twin bed for the father......here fathers have no excuse not to stay with the mother for the entire period that she is hospitalized! And the food, one of the terrible things you hear about hospitals is the insipid taste of the food but here you the opportunity to select breakfast, lunch and dinner from the menu and wait for it.....up to a four course meal for dinner. According to my daughter who is very picky, the food is delicious!
In addition, there is a family room with coffee, other hot and cold drinks and snacks for the immediate family. In fact, I had to comment that St. Joseph's was more like an all inclusive hotel than a hospital. Of course you pay dearly, but then residents do ensure that they have proper insurance coverage else they would end up in bankruptcy!
It is not just the environment that had me in awe however, but also the excellent level of service. In this hospital, you are not assigned your private gynecologist to deliver you but whoever is on duty is your doctor. But along with the gynecologist there is every other type of specialist needed for both mother and child. They not only visit regularly but are always on the compound should a nurse say they are needed. And it is not just the medical staff who are always visiting to ensure that all is well, but also social workers, baby specialists, counselors and even the maintenance staff who want to make sure that the room is warm and comfortable and that all the facilities work.
Yes sir, I have seen and heard about hospitals all over the world, but St. Joseph's in Denver is my pick for when I reincarnate.!
Oh how things have changed in the birthing field and what an absolutely wonderful hospital this Roman catholic run institution is.
I don't have to tell you that I was by far a worse basket case than my daughter was and someone from outer space observing it all may have thought I was the one who was delivering, not her! To begin with, I hate hospitals anyway and have only had to be in one three times, twice for pregnancy and once a minor procedure.And I really do try to stay as far as possible from these institutions except for when I have a best friend there. In other instances, I wait for the patient to go home and visit them there.
I suppose my dislike of hospitals is related to my general squeamishness about blood and goo....I'm not sure, I just know that they freak me out. Add that to a daughter having her first pregnancy and me forgetting what it is all about, what signs to look for and what do you get? You guessed it ...a helpless mess.
When I heard that my first granddaughter was born in the wee hours of the morning; I told her husband Devin that I would give her time to rest as she had not slept or eaten for 15 hours, so we agreed that I would visit at noon next day. Well can you believe I just could not wait to get to a hospital and got there with my first and only grandson Shadrach from 10 am. Luckily she was awake.
This hospital totally blew my mind. It was large and beautiful and not institution like at all. Her delivery room had everything from cable tv to an ipod base and speakers and guess what, also a jacuzzi! It also had a sofa bed for the father.
After delivery she was moved to another room, slightly smaller but just as nice except that it had a shower, not a jacuzzi but this time there was a twin bed for the father......here fathers have no excuse not to stay with the mother for the entire period that she is hospitalized! And the food, one of the terrible things you hear about hospitals is the insipid taste of the food but here you the opportunity to select breakfast, lunch and dinner from the menu and wait for it.....up to a four course meal for dinner. According to my daughter who is very picky, the food is delicious!
In addition, there is a family room with coffee, other hot and cold drinks and snacks for the immediate family. In fact, I had to comment that St. Joseph's was more like an all inclusive hotel than a hospital. Of course you pay dearly, but then residents do ensure that they have proper insurance coverage else they would end up in bankruptcy!
It is not just the environment that had me in awe however, but also the excellent level of service. In this hospital, you are not assigned your private gynecologist to deliver you but whoever is on duty is your doctor. But along with the gynecologist there is every other type of specialist needed for both mother and child. They not only visit regularly but are always on the compound should a nurse say they are needed. And it is not just the medical staff who are always visiting to ensure that all is well, but also social workers, baby specialists, counselors and even the maintenance staff who want to make sure that the room is warm and comfortable and that all the facilities work.
Yes sir, I have seen and heard about hospitals all over the world, but St. Joseph's in Denver is my pick for when I reincarnate.!
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