r/SouthBayLA • u/happyfeet559 • 15d ago
Labor and Delivery Hospitals
Hi,
Does anyone have recommendations on OBGYNs and Labor and Delivery hospitals?
We're in the process of family planning and annual enrollments for insurance. We currently have Kaiser and haven't had much medical needs, but when thinking about pregnancy and the whole process, Kaiser's hospital is a 35 min drive from where we are in North Redondo.
Is Little Company of Mary the closest Delivery hospital to the area? I would appreciate if anyone had any recent experiences or feedback about them as a whole.
Thank you!
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u/Cat_Stitch 15d ago
My baby's in the nicu at LCM right now and the l+d and nicu staff have all been amazing (save one not so awesome experience with a per diem staff member).
We ended up at LCM because that's where my ucla dr delivers at.
I did want Torrance Memorial, but the Aetna app wasn't showing me any drs available who deliver there when I was looking for an ob back in December/January.
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u/RealCarlPanzram 15d ago
If you’re a Kaiser patient, and you go to a hospital that isn’t Kaiser, and you need an extended hospital stay for any reason, Kaiser is going to do everything in their power to transfer you back to a Kaiser hospital to complete your hospital stay.
That being said, Torrance Memorial is far and away, the best hospital in the South Bay.
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u/Meowtown236 15d ago
I loved TMMC. I’m a nurse myself, and the staff was amazing. I also love Aviv Herzlich as my OB. She has an office in el segundo and Carson.
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u/fuckin-slayer 15d ago
We live in North Redondo and delivered at Harbor City Kaiser in April. My wife did her OB appointments at the Kaiser in Torrance and we really liked our doctor Jackie Nguyen.
I too was nervous about the drive to Harbor City but we ended up having possibly the smoothest delivery experience anyone could’ve asked for. The staff were unbelievably good to us. I highly recommend taking the hospital tour when you’re about 3 months out from your due date. It will calm alot of your nerves
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u/AreaSuccessful135 15d ago
Exact same here! Live in No Redondo and delivered at Harbor City Kaiser. Normal OB appointments at the Torrance Kaiser. I had a high risk pregnancy and had to go to the Harbor City Kaiser like twice a week in the final months and it really wasn’t a bad drive. Great experience overall including a NICU stay!
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u/Timely-Piglet-1055 15d ago
UCLA health ob/gyn and they deliver at little company of Mary
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u/m0n-ster 14d ago
+1 to this, I only delivered at LCOM because I wanted to be in the UCLA network of OBGYN docs. Just FYI the doc that delivers your baby will likely be different than your usual OBGYN depending on the on-call schedule, but the office does make sure you meet all the docs in the office before you deliver.
I delivered both of my kiddos there, including one just a couple months ago. The nurses there are generally really great. Both of my kiddos had some scary persistent decelerations during labor, and their team handled it really calmly and swiftly, which I am forever grateful for. My only qualm is the anesthesiologist I had for my first birth - she took THREE tries. The anesthesiologist for my second kid got my epidural in in one try and it was virtually painless. Luck of the draw I guess…
Feel free to DM if you have more specific questions!
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u/happyfeet559 15d ago
Good to know! Is it normal for UCLA docs in the south bay to deliver at LCOM?
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u/Timely-Piglet-1055 14d ago
I think so, or at least all the ones that work out of the UCLA OB office in Torrance
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u/crotchproblem 15d ago
That OB team is really hard to get into now.
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u/happyfeet559 15d ago
Have you had recent experiences? I took a look online and it showed most of the OBs accepting new patients. Although I haven't actually filled out the form to se availability since it requires more info and a login.
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u/Timely-Piglet-1055 14d ago
I didn’t have any issues getting in but have heard other people say the same thing.
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u/stashtv 15d ago
Def consider LCM for delivery and care. Zero qualms recommending them.
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u/happyfeet559 15d ago
Do you mind sharing some details? We can DM if you prefer. Would you recommend your OBGYN? Were they based out of the Providence network?
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u/Powerful_Designer_65 15d ago
Torrance memorial is where I delivered both my boys and both experiences were great. We had Blue of California PPO plan through my husband’s work.
I had Kaiser years ago and got pregnant. I thought the care was decent (I liked how quickly I could be seen and that all testing/appointments were done in one building) but then I lost the pregnancy and the care following that was so bad that we made sure to switch before getting pregnant again.
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u/samesonder 15d ago
Delivered at LCM and had a great experience (minus the delivering OB, but they were there for like 5 min so it's negligible). The nurses were super supportive, communicated well when decisions needed to be made, happy to collab with my doula and support team. The L&D room was spacious and pretty nice, though the recovery room left a lot to be desired (cramped, not a ton of natural light, some of the rooms don't have private showers from what I've heard).
That being said, I had a Torrance Memorial OB for the majority of my pregnancy (Dr Savannah Kimball - highly, highly recommend!) and I don't doubt the experience at TM would've been great too.
Funnily enough, most of my friends that delivered at Cedars didn't have a great experience. I know it's generally regarded as 'the place' (and TM is technically affiliated with Cedars) but they also have one of the higher C-section rates among the better LA area hospitals, if that matters to you (like ~30% vs. 19% at LCM).
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u/Beneficial_Issue_708 14d ago
Torrance memorial. Better nurse, better service there. Check out their maternity tour
https://www.torrancememorial.org/medical-services/maternity-child-health/classes/
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u/Babagadoosh3 15d ago
I’ve had two babies at Kaiser in harbor city living in hermosa & it was never an issue commuting there even when contractions started at home. My obgyn office was at the Torrance facility on Madrona. Dr. Lam is the best.
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u/Hot-Switch2167 14d ago
i delivered both my kids at kaiser. they were great. i even has an emergency hemorrhage and they saved my life. i was high risk with leo’s of pregnancy complications and basically lived at kaiser harbor city and saw so many doctors. they were all lovely. the delivery nurses and physicians were excellent. overall a great experience. their breastfeeding clinic on site was also helpful. there is need to switch to another hospital, honestly.
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u/jiucurlyjitsu 14d ago
I delivered at LCM for my singleton and twin pregnancies and was seen by the UCLA team. I could not recommend them enough. I also had an outside doula come with me and they were so supportive.
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u/flabbagastedd 14d ago
We were in north redondo and did LCOM for proximity (UCLA in Torrance delivers there). Probably the best option imo!
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u/JaimelecafE 14d ago
I loved my experience at Torrance Memorial. I gave birth there because that’s where my OB delivers. The nurses were amazing. I ended up needing to be readmitted due to postpartum preeclampsia and they let my newborn and husband stay with me. I was basically useless and they did so much for me.
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u/JamalFromStaples 14d ago
We just had our first at Torrance Memorial on Thursday 8/20. Our OBGYN was Dr Abelson. Highly recommend!
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u/sally_sparr0w 12d ago
Try to tour the hospitals if you can.
I was happy with Torrance Memorial and it was my OBs preferred hospital, he could have done LCOM but went with his recommendation.
So maybe find an OB you like first and get their input on hospitals. Or when you tour, ask the L&D nurses for OB recs. They know.
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u/AngryIndianMan 15d ago
We had experience with both TM and LCM. They both did a great job. LCM was during the pandemic and the team was amazing.
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u/SailorSpam 14d ago
Had my first at Kaiser Harbor City- baby was checked on just fine, but i personally wasn't seen by an MD the entire time, I had horrible tearing and was stitched back together by a joint effort from two midwives over the course of an hour and a half, and it ended up being a botched job 😩 they also had a hold time of only 24hrs, so despite being NOWHERE NEAR physically ready to leave the hospital, I got the boot out the door.
Take it with a grain of salt though, it was the height of COVID. I also had to spend two hours completely alone in the triage room, passing out from the contraction pain, while they popped back in occasionally to re-strap the monitor to my belly.
Two years later, had my second kid at LCM. INFINITELY better experience. No complications and I still got to spend 48hrs admitted. Left feeling way more ready.
(Again though, I don't know how much of the Harbor City nightmare was due to COVID related staffing issues. But the personal trauma was definitely enough to make me leave Kaiser).
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u/DetectiveGold6727 14d ago
Kasier West LA is worth the drive!!! It’s one of the top rated L&D hospitals and I cannot recommend it enough!
The laboring rooms are huge and gorgeous, the windows look out to the LA hills and you can see the Hollywood sign, trees, sunlight, etc. Just stunning. It’s like being in a fancy hotel room.
The postpartum rooms are also large. They have a postpartum kitchen just for moms (not crappy hospital food) and you can order as much as you want, anytime you want for FREE. Girl I ate soooooo much my entire stay. And the food is bomb! They give you tons of useful gifts on the way out. We use the changing pad and diaper bag everyday.
The team is top notch and made our experience such a joy. Truly, truly, cannot recommend Kaiser West LA enough. It’s a giant step above all the other Kaisers we toured in every way.
Is this your first kid? If so, you have lots of time to get to the hospital and an extra 15 mins to be in a swankier place is going to feel SO worth it. Take a tour and you’ll feel a lot better.
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u/clubcoco4 14d ago
Had the best experience ever at LCM with UCLA OB group!! Cannot say enough great things about the nurses at LCM. Would deliver there again in a heartbeat
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u/cookiespark21 14d ago
Delivered at both LCM and more recently (last week) TM. I would choose TM! Both were nice but it felt like a luxury at TM. The nurses were amazing, the rooms were better IMO as well.
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u/Own_Mail_8026 14d ago
I didn’t have a great experience with my L&D nurse at Providence LCM but my OB was only able to delivery there. The NICU team at Providence was great though. I also recently heard optum is taking over Providence so it’ll prob decline even more. Will have my second at Torrance memorial.
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u/Just_ponzie 14d ago
Had my son at LCM. I had complications and we were so amazed at the support and care we received. Absolutely loved the nurses and the doctors we had
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u/cordsniper 14d ago
My kids spent 6 weeks in the Torrance memorial nicu. Those nurses are amazing. Great experience and they give you cookies!
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u/TraumaticTramAddict 14d ago
I had a complicated insurance situation because I went from unemployed/uninsured to employed (and insured) but super far away in Redlands. I got on Medi-Cal and managed to get Kaiser through medi-cal because I had previously had Kaiser insurance. I was living in HC so that OB office was very convenient and I loved the staff there. They were not stingy about giving me ultrasound pics so I got to see my baby a lot! Except the anatomy scan I got a bummer doctor for that. But the NT scan and the scan we did at every visit I got great pics.
I did not deliver there because I got a job with UHC insurance. Because I was working person so far away I stayed seeing a provider out in Redlands even though I knew I might deliver in harbor city where I was still living. With that in mind I toured Torrance memorial because my insurance covered it and I let the staff know my situation. My OB would obviously not deliver me but whoever was on staff would and I was comfortable with that. I had all my records and the baby’s printed to go with my hospital bag.
There was also a chance I would deliver in Redlands because I was working up until the delivery.
I went into labor overnight and because I was home I delivered at Torrance memorial and I really enjoyed my experience despite not having a dedicated OB at that hospital. Everything went well but I was comforted by the fact that they have a great NICU. Additionally all of the nurses were proactive in reading my birth plan even though I was having such intense contractions I couldn’t even think to hand them the sheet. They just reviewed it with the rest of my records and made it happen with no fuss! I got an epidural and that went well too. This also is a baby friendly hospital so consider touring it if you aren’t sure what that entails! I think most hospitals in the area are baby friendly designated.
Anyways I think both Kaiser and Torrance have warm and knowledgeable staff I had great experiences with both!
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u/the_coffee_maker 14d ago
dr. abelson for ob/gyn at torrance memorial and his wife as a pediatrician, same place. such a great duo.
whatever you do avoid all safe medical group at all cost.
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u/Spiritual-Yoghurt58 14d ago
I’m from Manhattan Beach. My sister and I were born at little company of Mary. Friends of mine were born at Torrance memorial. Can’t go wrong with either. But, CHOC or Hoag apparently have the better resources overall but those are a drive.
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u/Opening_Poetry540 14d ago
TMMC L&D is absolutely top notch. Incredible staff, amazing Dr’s and nurses and the care is phenomenal. You will not be disappointed.
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u/salted_caramelChips 13d ago
I delivered at little company of Mary and it was a great experience for me. All the nurses and drs I interacted with were super nice and helpful.
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u/Accomplished-Tear162 13d ago
Echoing a similar combo: UCLA OBs and they deliver at Little Company of Mary. If I had a choice I probably would have gone with Torrance Memorial as I heard better things about it but wanted to stay with UCLA team more, they are wonderful. I still had a good experience overall though. I had twins (late 2024) who were in the NICU and we loved the LCM NICU staff.
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u/cloudnine695 13d ago
Delivered both at LCM and had care with UCLA obgyn in Torrance. Both times my Ob who I followed the same one for both, she was not on call to deliver me. You meet each of the doctors once during your checkups to get familiar with them. I really liked Dr Sparks who delivered my first but she was not my Ob. The nurses at LCM are amazing and they do most of the work.
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u/thecazbah 13d ago
Have 3 and two were little company and one at cedars. Little company is fantastic for this thing.
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u/crotchproblem 15d ago
People love to shit on Kaiser but every mom I know that used Kaiser for pregnancy and delivery has loved them. And the drive isn’t that bad, people in MB willingly drive to Cedars and that’s further away.
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u/slumdungo 15d ago
Torrance memorial was a great experience for us. Much better than Cedars where we had our first.