Highland Hospital Labor & Delivery
- See also: Alameda Alliance for Health
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.Hi I had the same problem. After researching pretty much every doctor on the list, I figured out that my only real option was Highland Hospital, in Oakland. There is a long waiting list to make an appointment (maybe a month or so), but they also have a same-day clinic where you call in the morning and they schedule an appointment for the same day. Once you arrive, they see you right away -- there is no wait, which is way better than Lifelong, where (from what I've heard) you have to sit there and wait for hours before you can see someone.
There are tons of doctors at Highland Hospital that you can choose as your primary care physician, but it doesn't really matter which one you choose, because Alameda Alliance will let you see anyone there, and you can't really request a particular doctor when you make an appointment.
Best of luck!
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Baby deliveries at Highland Hospital?
Jan 2006
I know, Highland is where you go when you get shot - but our Dr. said that the level of care would be better at Highland vs. Alta Bates (those are our two choices), apparently she has experience at both facilities. We are looking for people who have experience at Highland. We are at the beginning of our research so we don't know much, I have read through about 50 posts on expereiences on Alta Bates, most are hit and miss but sounds like if your baby needs some care other than recessitatioin (don't even know all the things that can go wrong), I guess 1 in 19 is the magic number of your odds of something irregular happening. Sounds like Alta Bates is where they send all the really sick babies. Please Advise with any insight - thank you so much! Scottay
I haven't any personal experience with birth at Highland but, for what it's worth, did recently have a student from my childbirth class give birth there. She had a positive experience. She came in very clear about her intentions (she wanted an unmedicated birth) and did a great deal to prepare herself. She also brought her mom with her and they acted as a team throughout the labor. She reported after the birth that the staff took her seriously and were quite supportive. Things went smoothly and her requests were honored. Good luck wherever you end up. Sabine
I am a volunteer doula at Highland Hospital, and I work at the hospital in another capacity as well. I delivered my daughter at Alta Bates, so I have some ability to compare the two sites. My experience at Alta Bates was great, particularly because I was in the care of a fantastic midwife. At Highland, all deliveries are attended by either the on-duty doctor or midwife. In most cases, the midwife takes care of all non-high risk deliveries. In my experience, Highland's midwives are wonderful - skilled, nurturing, and supportive of a woman's choice to birth with or without medication. I have been told that they have a slightly lower rate of epidural than Alta Bates, as well as a lower rate of C-section. (Don't quote me on that though). The Highland midwives assist women to manage labor pain through breathing techniques, positioning, massage, etc., and are happy to have families or doulas participate in the birth. The nurses are also supportive, although some nurses are a! bit gruff. I can't offer too muc If you want any other info, please feel free to email me directly. ab
I think part of the answer depends on whether or not you have good labor support (partner/friend/doula) and if you desire a natural childbirth. I have attended births (as a birth coach for friends) at both Highland and AB and while in both cases the end result was healthy mom and baby (the most important part!) my overall impression was that AB is a MUCH more positive environment to labor and deliver in. At AB the staff was professional and attentive and gave plenty of support for an intervention and drug-free childbirth. Since my friend had a good support team (partner, myself and another friend), the staff also respected her desire to be left alone with us for large stretches of time. This is not to say they were neglectful - the staff was always checking in and gave us good advice on how to best support my friend throughout her labor. In stark contrast to this was the experience at Highland. As a huge caveat to what I have to say, I realize that there are many wonderful people working at Highland. The L&D ward was definitely busy that night (and many of the women there were there alone - no partners, no friends) so I imagine the nurses were stretched thin but the lack of care was still disturbing. As was the heavy pressure to have an epidural when my friend (who desired a natural childbirth and had never asked for anything for her pain) reached 6 cm she was told by her nurse that this was her last chance to get drugs and that it was only going to get worse from here on out. Of course, this scared the #*$% out of my friend so she relented . . . only to have the anesthesiologist arrive almost 2 hrs later, shortly before she began having the urge to push. So, my take-home: Unless you have a doula or experienced support (which is a great thing to have no matter what) I would definitely NOT recommend birthing at Highland. Vanessa
some positive things about highland for delivery to consider are multilingual, multicultural care with full translation services, 24-hour midwife service, a full-time perinatologist, a teaching/learning environment, and many experienced female (and male) providers. email me if you'd like to know more as you learn more about your options and choices. mish
I work at highland in L&D and think it’s a great place to have your baby! You should just check with your insurance first because some of my friends have wanted to deliver there and been unable to due to insurance limitations. Depending on your history and preferences we do vaginal deliveries for people who had two prior c-sections even!