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Earlier this month, New Yorker Nicole Carey gave birth at Lenox Hill Hospital - a posh, private hospital on the Upper East Side where many a celebrity has gone for treatment when in town. But the Long Islander's hospital course went awry when her brand new son Preston's brand new lungs filled with fluid and she herself developed blood clots in her uterus. Preston was taken to the intensive care unit immediately where he would still be a few days later when mom was discharged home.
But unlike most people dying to leave the hospital, mom decided to stick around. She instead took up residence on the sixth floor visitor's lounge, where she slept, read, and waited for the opportunity, every two hours, to walk to the nursery and breast feed her baby. Mrs. Carey, clad in pajamas, became a permanent fixture in the waiting room and a usual sight for the nursing staff, because her health insurance - Oxford - does not pay for extended hospital stays once a patient is officially discharged.
The NY Times ran a feature on her sleepover on Saturday, and Carey made it clear she understood why her insurance didn't allow her to stay. But to go home would mean a 90-minute drive each way to the family home in East Northport, and though she could have afforded to stay in a nearby hotel, it would not have been nearly as convenient, especially with a tight breast feeding schedule. Carey said, "It would just be nice to have just a bare room with bunk beds so parents can be with their babies when they’re sick."
Lenox Hill was eventually able to find a spare room for Mrs Carey, the same room she had stayed in just nights earlier. And after nearly 118 hours in the hospital, mom and baby went home last Saturday night and finally slept in their own beds.
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To me, the headline implies that the hospital fought her instead of letting her stay, but there is no indication of that in the story. Can someone clarify this matter for me?
The hospital didn't fight Carey and many employees at Lenox Hill did try to help her. I think the headline refers to what health insurance implies - your newborn baby might be in the hospital, but you're fine, so you have no need to be there.
As an anti-managed care MD who deals with the hassles of the insurance industry every day, I understand the temptation to criticize Oxford (now a division of United Health, an even bigger health care for-profit enterprise). But, Oxford is under no obligation to pay for mom's continued stay if she is not sick. The resolution of this story speaks not to the evils of managed care but to the wonderful people at the hospital, who could have seen the mom's continued presence as a liability risk, but, instead, saw her very human plight and responded admirably. They deserve credit for making the mother comfortable and able to continue to nurse her baby.
Unfortunately, if every parent with a child in a neo- or perinatal ICU did what this woman did, hospital waiting rooms would begin to resemble refugee camps. The Ronald McDonald House organization operates residential and comfort facilities in or nearby medical centers for use by parents who have hospitalized children.
While I understand the need of parents to be close to their children when they're hospitalized (same can be said for almost all patients who like to have their family close by), I don't understand why this Long Island woman chose to give birth (routine procedure)in Manhattan. There are plenty of good hospitals on the Island.
Lexiphane, thanks for the Ronald McDonald House tip. I suppose the articles are a testament to a mother's desire to be near her child during the first days of his life.
And famdoc, you're right - the staff did seem very helpful. But it brought up something I wondered - can't family members can usually stay in a hospital room if the patient is in a room? What does that mean for the babies' family members then? I can understand not wanting to leave, in case something changes.
Jen--At the hospital in which I have privileges, every effort is made to allow parents to room-in with children, particularly in the ICU. The pediatric rooms are equipped with flip-out sofas and roll-away beds are available. Of course, there are circumstances where the presence of an adult (or a sibling or other visitors) can jeopardize the health of a child: if the child has a condition that makes him/her suceptible to infection (cancer, HIV, etc.). I can count on one hand the number of calls from parents of hospitalized newborns/children regarding their inability to have access to their hospitalized child. And that's in 19 years of practice.
Regarding the mom's choice to deliver in NYC even though she lives on LI: there are many factors pregnant women consider in deciding where to deliver. She might have been working in NYC at the time her pregnancy was diagnosed and/or had a relationship with an OB/GYN in NYC or she might have had a risk factor and decided to deliver at a hospital with a good perinatology service, etc.
One cannot criticize her decision to deliver in NYC based upon her place of residence.
You people should consider yourself fortunate if you had never had an extended stay at a Hospital. You should consider yourself doubly lucky if your room doesn't have a reclining chair for a loved one to sleep over.
So, unless you plan on staying healthy forever, the odds are you will be in one. If not yourself, then a loved one. Karma pays back in full and then some.