Is Vegas really a bad place to have a baby?
A recent survey indicates that Las Vegas is a bad place to have a baby. We ranked 48 out of 50. But do you really have to go out of state to ensure a good delivery? The Healthline 3 Team went to get answers.
"I feel like they care about what happens to my pregnancy and my baby and stuff like that."
Naomi Sutton is happy with her decision to deliver at Sunrise Hospital. "I like the fact that it's new and modern and clean. All the people are very helpful. They're not put out by questions, and I ask a lot of questions.
But a recent survey by Fit Pregnancy magazine paints a different picture. It gave Las Vegas a failing grade for its maternal care. We received an F for access to doctors, an F for birthing options and an F+ for breastfeeding support.
"...as far as having a healthy baby in Las Vegas, women can have a healthy baby in Las Vegas," argues Sunrise Hospital's Minta Albietz.
Teri Walsh is a lactation consultant at Valley Hospital. She spends all day helping women who want to breast feed. And she even gives them her cell phone number for after-hours support. "Moms need support," Teri says. "They need somebody to tell them, 'hey you're doing a good job. You can do this,' and show them the right way to do it so they don't have pain and they don't have a bad experience with it."
A Henderson mom of four Healthline 3 spoke with was extremely satisfied with the support she received from Teri. "After talking to her (Teri), it put my mind at ease about some of the things that she was going through and it was all normal and she was good," said mom Kimberly Arden.
Las Vegas also received low marks for not having enough neonatal intensive care unit beds. The magazine says we have 60 percent fewer than average. The valley has nine hospitals with NICU facilities. Several of those are level 3 NICUs. That means they can take the very sickest of babies. Summerlin Hospital, Valley Hospital, UMC, and Sunrise are all level 3. Sunrise has the biggest NICU.
"We take 'em from surrounding areas, surrounding states," explains Sunrise Hospital's Alice Chernich. "Anytime a baby needs to come to a higher level or care or need perhaps cardiac surgery, they can get that here."
Sunrise also has a neonatologist on site 24 hours a day. "So the baby needs resuscitation immediately, they're there to do that," Chernich says. "Those moments are precious. You can't wait two to three minutes to get somebody there. They have to be there. There's no reason to go out of state. It's here."
Every major hospital in the valley called Healthline 3 to say they felt the ranking was undeserved. Boston, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon were some of the cities which received high marks for pregnancy and delivery.
The magazine survey did find one good thing about becoming a mom in Las Vegas: The valley apparently has more fertility doctors than most cities.
A recent survey indicates that Las Vegas is a bad place to have a baby. We ranked 48 out of 50. But do you really have to go out of state to ensure a good delivery? The Healthline 3 Team went to get answers.
"I feel like they care about what happens to my pregnancy and my baby and stuff like that."
Naomi Sutton is happy with her decision to deliver at Sunrise Hospital. "I like the fact that it's new and modern and clean. All the people are very helpful. They're not put out by questions, and I ask a lot of questions.
But a recent survey by Fit Pregnancy magazine paints a different picture. It gave Las Vegas a failing grade for its maternal care. We received an F for access to doctors, an F for birthing options and an F+ for breastfeeding support.
"...as far as having a healthy baby in Las Vegas, women can have a healthy baby in Las Vegas," argues Sunrise Hospital's Minta Albietz.
Teri Walsh is a lactation consultant at Valley Hospital. She spends all day helping women who want to breast feed. And she even gives them her cell phone number for after-hours support. "Moms need support," Teri says. "They need somebody to tell them, 'hey you're doing a good job. You can do this,' and show them the right way to do it so they don't have pain and they don't have a bad experience with it."
A Henderson mom of four Healthline 3 spoke with was extremely satisfied with the support she received from Teri. "After talking to her (Teri), it put my mind at ease about some of the things that she was going through and it was all normal and she was good," said mom Kimberly Arden.
Las Vegas also received low marks for not having enough neonatal intensive care unit beds. The magazine says we have 60 percent fewer than average. The valley has nine hospitals with NICU facilities. Several of those are level 3 NICUs. That means they can take the very sickest of babies. Summerlin Hospital, Valley Hospital, UMC, and Sunrise are all level 3. Sunrise has the biggest NICU.
"We take 'em from surrounding areas, surrounding states," explains Sunrise Hospital's Alice Chernich. "Anytime a baby needs to come to a higher level or care or need perhaps cardiac surgery, they can get that here."
Sunrise also has a neonatologist on site 24 hours a day. "So the baby needs resuscitation immediately, they're there to do that," Chernich says. "Those moments are precious. You can't wait two to three minutes to get somebody there. They have to be there. There's no reason to go out of state. It's here."
Every major hospital in the valley called Healthline 3 to say they felt the ranking was undeserved. Boston, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon were some of the cities which received high marks for pregnancy and delivery.
The magazine survey did find one good thing about becoming a mom in Las Vegas: The valley apparently has more fertility doctors than most cities.
