I just delivered at Pennsy last Saturday. It was, compared to the experience of my daughter's birth 3.5 years ago, awful. I ended up needing a c-section and shared a room my first night. The rooms are ridiculously small and cramped. Its nearly impossible for both women to have visitors at the same time. My roommate had her TV on some cops show and her lights on until 1am. After I had been in labor since 6pm the evening before, that was not pleasant. That said, the rest of my stay I did not have a roommate. And it was best that the roommate was the first night, as I could not get out of bed the first 24 hours anyway. The construction noise is kind of annoying, but it's only during the week, not on the weekends.

As for the laborist model, it might end up being a good thing, based on the experience I had with the doctors on call from my practice during my stay. It would be nice to have someone around dedicated to the women delivering, etc.

The nurses I had were for the most part fabulous - especially the labor and delivery nurses. Some of the night nurses had an attitude problem but overall I found the nurses wonderful.