Check out the other thread.
However I have 2 c sections at Penn (1 emergency and 1 planned) and had very positive experiences.
However I am expecting my third in about 5 weeks and I transferred to lakenau- sadly i could not bring the midwives with me. It is my third so my need for an emotional connection with the doctor is less but I really wanted a private room post birth and was anxious about the constructiona and being there for 3-4 days- hence the change.
I also heard great things about Lakenau. I am not overly enthused with the doctor and miss the pratice I was used to - However I am happy that I changed practice and more importantly Penn considering my personal situation.

At what point in your pregnancy did you transfer....? My concerns are similar to yours but I was worried it might be too late to change.

I moved at about 6 months. To be honest when I talked to the midwives they sort of indicated that they would if they were me which solidified my decision.
Why are they anticipating a c- section? Have you talked to your doctor about your concerns? The issue with c sections is the recovery is longer so you really do not want a bouncing vaginal birth woman in your room(a little jealousy there). the stay is also longer so you could have a stream of room mates which could also be difficult.
My final concern was probably more paranoia and was to do with the actual construction and risk of infection post major surgery.
I had little concern regarding the medical care which I had very positive experiences with.

The c-section is b/c the baby is breech. And, what you're referring to is exactly why I am less than thrilled at the idea of delivering at Pennsy. I know the medical care is excellent so I am sad to give that up but I am just worried the recovery will be awful.

I woudl definitely talk to the doctor. I was surprised at how honest the midwife was with me. It is unfortunate it is so late in the preganancy and if this is your first it could be a big change.
I am not sure who you are seeing but have you considered having the baby "turned"- I forget the procedural name- it is meant to be very uncomfortable but could be worth it. I had a freiedn who also did acupuncture and lay on a "tilted board" to try to encourage movement. If you are with midwives they woudl be more into these holistic choices but perhaps your doctor would advise.
good luck

I am very sorry to read about your tragic loss. I also lost a healthy baby girl due to unforeseen complications - not the hospital's, though. This was in NY. I suffered several losses, some profound, in NY.

My last and final pregnancy occurred after I moved here. Armed with my boxful of medical records, I walked into Jefferson's Maternal/Fetal Medicine - a hypothyroid, crazily blood-clotting preggo of "advanced maternal age" - with no hope of this pregnancy being any different from the other nine. I cannot say enough about the attention, care, compassion, and information I received from the entire staff of Jefferson's MFM. Just walking in there with my history, I was labeled "high risk," but NEVER and NO WHERE was "advanced maternal age" mentioned (I'm 46 btw which is incredibly advanced for an OB patient), and I was grateful for that small consideration.

Several potentially life-threatening issues developed during my pregnancy, but I felt safe. A CVS and followup amnio indicated a birth defect, and prenatal monitoring was increased. While we were all prepared for the worst, no one could have predicted the PROM that sent me by ambulance to L&D for an emergency c-section at 33wks. Yes, Jefferson got me to 33wks - a milestone reached only with my very first pregnancy 16 years ago.

Geneticists were at the ready immediately after her birth to karyotype her postnatally for a truer picture of what I had to deal with. Two weeks later, the results indicated that all defective cells had been confined to the placenta. And while I would always have considered this baby a miracle and perfect in my own eyes, science proved that she was perfect to the rest of the world.

The NICU at Jefferson took excellent care of my new DD, kept her alive, changed her formula based on what I told them about my older DD's history of milk allergy, and she thrived.

I cannot comment on Pennsylvania Hospital, but I cannot say enough wonderful things about the prenatal and postnatal care my baby and I received from the miracle workers at Jefferson.

My perfect baby girl is about to celebrate her first birthday . . . another milestone that I am completely convinced would not be reached without the skill, expertise and compassion of all the staff at Jefferson.

A Boppy pillow to support you when holding your new baby is all you need. Recovery from c-section is not that bad considering it's major surgery.

PM me if you want any tips or info.

My wife is due in September. Her doctor just told her that if she delivers on a particular day of the week, she'll get him, otherwise she'll get a laborist or other on-call ob. Depending on how much you want to have your doctor (and if your doctor is agreeable to this), you can always schedule to be induced on a day when you would get your own doctor. Of course, if the baby decided to come earlier, there's not much you can do. With our last pregnancy, my wife went a few days over and the doctors recommended that she be induced. Everything went great. Relatively quick and easy (at least from dad's perspective )natural delivery. The downside to being induced is that the baby might just not be ready to come out yet, but once they get so far into it, there's no turning back, so there's an increased risk of an unplanned c-section.

I'm just posting to add that the OB health system around Philadelphia is under major strain because of a litigation. Fewer OBGYNs are doing births, instead they're sticking with paps and pills. This means more of us have to go to urban hospitals where we won't see the doctor of our choice just the resident and RN on call.

Something to think about.

Yep, that is def. why Pennsy is so crowded. According to the woman who gave us our tour, the laborist switch is going well. However, the construction sounds like it's taking a toll. I guess it wakes patients up early in the morning and they are offering coffee and pastries to make up for it.....sounds like they are senstive to the difficulties it is causing but there's not much they can do.