Giving Birth at Kaiser Santa Rosa or San Rafael

I gave birth at Kaiser Santa Rosa a year ago. The whole L&D team is wonderful. My husband was able to stay the night with me which was very important to me as well. They are building another hospital building which should be ready in 2010 sometime. Once that's done then everyone will get there own rooms and won't have to share their room with another mom and baby.

Out of the Kaisers you mentioned, Santa Rosa is the only Kaiser that delivers. There is an OBGYN department in Petaluma. In Santa Rosa you only get a midwife to deliver, unless you request "Dr only" or if there are problems. My baby is 6 weeks old and calling me. Feel free to contact me directly for more info. Welcome to Petaluma.
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:-)W.

I believe your choices would be Kaiser Santa Rosa, San Francisco and possible Vallejo. The last I heard, no deliveries at Kaiser San Rafael.

Welcome to Petaluma! We do have a OBGYn dept in Petaluma and I used it for both my pregnancies. Delivery option is Santa Rosa. I have found that for regular apps for the kids and I, that I prefer Santa Rosa or San Rafael (staffing, ease of appts. etc...), but OBGYN in Petaluma has been good. I too wanted a midwife and ended up hiring one for care at the same time, then had the boys at home. You can birth where you choose. If I knew that my doc was going to be there in SR, I would have been fine, but I wasn't comfortable with whomever was on duty. You can also sign up for the birth center in SR or hire a doula to attend you in Santa Rosa Kaiser. They were open to that. There are many combinations. Go with what makes you comfortable. It's your show.

Hi J.
Congratulations on your pregnancy and your move to Petaluma. Kaiser San Rafael does not have a labor and delivery department, I had my daughter in SF and had a great experience.
Good luck!

Hi J.,

Santa Rosa is the only Kaiser in your area that has L&D. San Rafael has an OBGYN dept for prenatal care though. Vallejo and San Francisco also have L&D if you are willing to travel that far. If you want a natural birth with a midwife, I highly recommend San Francisco Kaiser. I hear they are better as far as sticking with your birth plan (as much as you can). I have several friends who had great experiences there.

My HIGHEST recommendation however is to have a homebirth if possible! It was the best decision I have ever made and my birth was faster and smoother than all my friend's births. It was so great to just sleep in our own bed that night too! If you have not already see the documentary The Business of Being Born, you should totally rent/buy it! It's amazing!

If you need a midwife, mine was great! She has been doing it for over 20 years and has attended over 1,000 births. Her name is Diane Holzer and her # is ###-###-####. You can also Google her. My husband and I also attended an amazing birth class that made such a huge difference for us, and the woman who does those (she's also a Doula) is Susan Bradford ###-###-####.

Good luck to you!
Blessings!

I gave birth may 14th at Santa Rosa and had a wonderful experience. You can take a tour of the facilities on Sundays ( i forget the time) or virtually at www.kaisersantarosa.org - and hubby can stay if your roomate is ok with it - it worked for us the first night, but the second night he wanted to go home.

Welcome to Petaluma! I had both my girls naturally with a midwife at the Santa Rosa Kaiser and had an amazing experience both times! My husband was able to stay with me, they honored my birth plan and allowed me to work through labor naturally. I would highly recommend Alexis Becker at Petaluma Kaiser for your prenatal care. She is wonderfully understanding, very calm and centered and supported my natural decisions from the start.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you want any more information about Kaiser Santa Rosa, please e-mail me directly.

Good luck!
E.

Hi J.,
I gave birth to my son at Kaiser Santa Rosa last September (my baby is going to be a year old soon!) and I had a GREAT experience! I took one of the classes that talked about what to expect when delivering (1 day class) and it was taught by two of the midwifes that work there. It was very helpful to hear from them about the procedures and staff philosphies before actually giving birth there. Then when our son was born our nurses and midwife were FABULOUS! Both Grandmothers even commented on how personable the staff was and how genuinely concerned they seemed to be about me and the baby. My choice was to go natural as long as possible (this was my first birth) then opt for the epidural if needed. They didn't push anything on me at all. In the end we had to have a C-section which they will only do as a last resort and I feel very confidant that it was the best choice as my son's heart rate was dipping and I was not dialating. They explained everything in detail, both pros and cons, to me and all of my family for every decision we had to make.
After my son was born they had a great lactation specialist that helped us out and gave great advice in a very gentle way. My husband was able to stay the first night and they allow that as long as you are alone in the room. If they are too crowded and you have to share a room then your husband will not be able to stay but they were doing construction to expand their labor & delivery department so that shouldn't be a problem any more.
Also, you can go take a tour of the hospital to see how it compares to San Rafael. I have not been there at all. Petaluma does not have a labor/delivery facility or an OB/GYN. I highly recommend Dr. Lisa Sorenson at Santa Rosa. Again, I had a GREAT experience with the staff and facilities at Santa Rosa and would definitely recommend them. I have a girlfriend that gave birth at Kaiser in Hayward and did not have a favorable experience at all so I realize how great Santa Rosa was.
Also, we chose Dr. Damen in Petaluma as our son's pediatrician and have been happy with our choice. Best of luck to you and your family.
G. :)