ALTA View or IHC Murray

I have delivered at both hospitals and I am about to deliver again at IHC again. I would say hands down that IHC is a little nice hospital because it is newer.

I had my daughter at Alta View 4 years ago. I liked the staff, both the LDR and Post-partum rooms were fairly big, and the food wasn't half bad either. It was a very textbook labor and delivery.

My niece had her baby at Inter-Mountain medical center a year ago and had nothing but fantastic things to say about the experience and the staff. She had an extremely complicated labor and delivery, the baby was in the NICU for a few days and she said that in spite of all of the complications, she couldn't imagine it could've gone any better. The only draw back I've heard is the food is terrible.

Best wishes to you on the new bundle of joy. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful experience no matter at which hospital you choose to deliver.

IHC Murray hands down.

I had both my girls at Alta Veiw and loved everyone involved there. My OBGYN is Dr. Kenneth Larsen. He is absolutely the best! I would reccommend him to anyone.
The staff at Alta View is kind and they actually listen to what you want. I was very pleased. Good luck!

S. - I think you can't go wrong choosing either hospital. I have had 4 children at 3 different hospitals (we moved a lot), but will tell you that I LOVED Altaview Hospital. These are the reasons - 1. It is a smaller hospital, so I felt like I mattered (labor and delivery is down the hall from the postpartum rooms), 2. The nurses there let me do whatever I felt was right while I was in labor (I did it with no meds vaginally), and helped me try different things to ease the pain, help progress, 3. The doctors offices are one floor down, so they can be there quickly to deliver the baby (this also means that if you are downstairs waiting for your appointment, you don't have to wait for the Doctor to drive back from somewhere :).

I think just like the others said, find a good fit for a doctor and go with them. I had Dr. Layne Smith (different from Russell Smith) and I liked him because he was quick - I didn't have to wait long for my appointment, he answered the questions I needed answers to, and I was on my way! (My first obgyn we sat in the office for sometimes up to an hour before going back to a room where we waited another hour sometimes before we were seen!) Dr. Layne Smith was also good because he felt it important for make the decisions about what I wanted for delivery, etc., and didn't pressure me to be induced, etc.

Good luck!

I had my son 7 1/2 months ago at the Intermountain Medical in Murray. My doctor was Dr. Quinn at Western OBGYN, located at the Cottonwood Towers. They have other great doctors in their office as well. I had a great experience delivering there and the staff was great. Good Luck in deciding where you want to deliver.

I had both of my children at Alta View and LOVED both experiences! The nurses are so nice and caring. My OB GYN is also located in the hospital so he came up to check on me while I was in labor and then was there for the delivery. His name is Dr. Russell Smith ###-###-####

Good luck!

I had all four of my babies at Alta View, and I was really happy with my experience there. The OB/GYN I see is Russell Smith, and he is awesome. He always took time to listen to my concerns, he's really friendly (once he complimented me on a haircut that my husband hadn't even noticed!), my husband liked him a lot. And, while the ob I had before him often had waits of up to 2 hours, I don't think I ever had to wait for Dr. Smith for more than 15-20 minutes. I had all my babies vaginally, but my sil who goes to the same Dr. had her second baby c section and since she is a single mom, she asked me to come take pictures of the birth. Everything went really smoothly and as far as I know she was happy with her experience at Alta View. Good luck, and congrats on your new baby! I have a naughty four year old boy too, and he is a fabulous big brother!

I delivered at IHC in December and had a great experience. My Dr. is Lisa Gravelle - her office is located in the IHC women's center a few floors above labor and delivery. I really like her and all of the doctors she works with. I'm not sure if Alta View has a NICU or not, but my friend delivered at LDS and her baby had to be transferred to IHC because they didn't have a NICU there. Just something to think about. Hope this helps! Good luck with your pregnancy! Congrats!

S.,
I am a doula, professional birth coach, so I have had the pleasure of attending births all over. Personally the IHC Murray hospital is the better choice. Both are excellent facilities, but the Murray location has incredible nurses, updated everything, and they are really great at letting your try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)
If yo have any other questions, let me know
Hope this helps
M.

I'd highly recommend Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. I had my C-section there 7 months ago and they do a great job. Great doc, great nurses, everything went very smoothly. The nicest thing about IMC is that the OR's where the C-sections are performed have NICU room on the other side with a pass through window so if the baby had any problems they would get immediate attention. My first ended up in the NICU for 4 days and I wish IMC had been around for my delivery. Both hospitals I'm sure would do a fine job but I'd got with IMC in Murray. Best of luck!

Hi S.,

I had my baby at Alta View 10 months ago, although I did tour the Murray maternity award.

The Murray hospital is newer and very much state of the art. Security seemed to be taken very seriously. One thing I learned from my lamaze classes there, is that Murray is a teaching hospital. Which meant there could be med students observing/learning during my labor. Something I was not to excited about for having my first baby. Although, I am sure I could have requested to not be a teaching case.

I had my baby at Alta View because my Doctor (Dr Kathryn Walker) was at the womans center there. She is a great doctor and I highly recommend her. She is in the same office with Dr Larsen. What I liked was that she was upstairs from the maternity ward, thus they were able to monitor my baby and my contractions from their office. So when my baby showed fetal distress, they (Dr Walker and Dr Larsen) were right there to do the emergency c-section.

I think you need to find a Ob/Gyn that you are comfortable with first. After all, this is the doctor who you will be with for the next nine months. Then the decision may be made for you which hospital to have the baby at if the Doctor prefers to do their deliveries at one over the other.

Otherwise, I suggest taking tours, and asking the same questions at both. You may find you felt more comfortable at one over the other.

Good Luck.

If you hope to avoid a c-section, you need to go to IMC in Murray. Altaview is not a teaching hospital and doesn't have the same backup available, so getting a doctor to be willing to let you VBAC there may be difficult. Your choice of doctor (or might I suggest a nurse midwife?, Julie Jones or Danielle Demeter are both fantastic!) is going to be the most important choice you make, it will effect everything about your experience. I'd definitely recommend you hire a doula and/or take an out of hospital childbirth education class. Those women will know the local birth scene and will be able to talk with you about what you want from your birth and then be able to tell you the REAL scoop about where you can get it. Feel free to private message me if you want to talk about your options and get more information or go visit www.utahdoulas.org for more doulas.
Not all hospitals and doctors are VBAC friendly EVEN IF THEY SAY THEY ARE, so do your research and visit the ICAN website! You might get another c-section even if you really don't need one if you are with the wrong provider!