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Hospital Choice #2

2/24/2014

2 Comments

 
On Friday we toured Paulinen Clinic here in Wiesbaden.  I went into this tour thinking that I wouldn't want to deliver here, and like HSK (Hospital Choice #1), left with a different opinion than I came in with.  

The comments I had heard from other Americans prior to our tour was that "It feels like a hotel", "Its more comfortable", and "Its kind of like a birthing center".  The idea of it feeling like a hotel/birthing center was a turn off for me personally.  

However, the maternity ward felt like a hospital (like I wanted it to), it just had nicer paint and lighting!  The pictures below are not good, but hopefully you get the idea.  We toured at a busy time.  All the after-delivery rooms were occupied, so we couldn't see those and the only delivery room that wasn't occupied was recently vacated (as you can see by the mess).  They didn't even want to turn on the lights for us to see in from the doorway because it wasn't cleaned up yet.  

The only major con to this hospital is its size.  It can only accommodate 4 women in labor at a time.  I'm told that they don't have to turn people away often, but it can happen.  We will more than likely register both here and at the next hospital.  This way if we choose Paulinen, we can call from the car on our way and make sure they can take us, and if not we'll head to the back up hospital.  

As with all our hospital choices, our insurance pays for a shared room.  That's what most people use here in Germany it seems because all the hospitals come standard with 2-person shared rooms.  If we want a private room and for Jason to have the ability to spend the night its about 110 euro per night at Paulinen.  Cheaper than HSK (150 euro), but still pricey.  Since this is such a small facility, you're not guaranteed a private room even if you request one.  Jason and I are undecided on this just because of the cost.  My initial thought is that he should only plan on staying the first night and we'll just go from there.

The back up hospital, Hospital Choice #3, we have not toured yet (not until mid-March), but we've been to this hospital for other visits so we're somewhat familiar with it.  

One new bit of information we found out recently that I find a little scary is that if my water breaks I have to call an ambulance vs. driving.  There's a fear of the baby's umbilical cord getting pinched if that happens and so having EMT's around and being in a reclined position is better.  So fingers crossed that doesn't happen!  
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Front entrance
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So this is the room that you stay in until you're ready for delivery. They monitor your contractions here. This was the weirdest or most hotel-ish portion of this hospital because its like an actual bed. But not overly weird, in my opinion.
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Just the hall of the maternity ward, its about equal length behind me and that's the whole thing. Its not very big.
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A just-used delivery room
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Dining/Buffet area within the maternity ward
2 Comments
Ines
2/24/2014 12:51:21 am

Hi there... I highly recommend you to opt for the private room if there is availability. I had chosen to pay the extra fee for the private room, but couldn't get one for the first night. They squashed me into a 2-person room - but not as the second, but rather as the third person because it was so busy that night. Plus, one of the woman was surrounded by her super large Turkish family. All I wanted to do was rest, but that was impossible to do with that many people in the room. My thought on the extra money was, hey, if I go on vacation I would not think twice about spending that money (at least) and with the baby we certainly won't be going anywhere soon where we would need that money. I got my private room for the second and the third night and it felt heavenly. My husband did not spend the night, but got fed throughout the day :-) Also, nurses were a lot friendlier and more caring... Just wanted to share my experience, maybe it helps in making a decision. All the best!!

Reply
Whitney
3/18/2014 03:04:58 am

Thanks Ines! I love hearing feedback! What made you choose Paulinen vs. St. Joe?

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