Moms Talk: Does a Mod Maternity Ward Matter to You?

Moms- and dads-to-be: You are being courted.

Area hospitals are hoping you’ll choose them as the place to bring your baby into the world.

The latest issue of the Baltimore Sun Magazine features a story with the tag “Baby Battle” and the headline “Baltimore-area hospitals compete for moms-to-be with hardwood floors, gourmet meals and other luxuries.”

The luxuries include large, private tastefully decorated rooms with flat-screen TVs and 24-hour room service meals, all designed to bring as much of a hotel or spa feeling to an experience that is nobody’s idea of a relaxing vacation, despite the adorable results.

Both hospitals and parents are benefiting from the increase in postpartum posh. High-end labor and delivery is a good business model for hospitals and a comfort to parents.

Besides giving an overview of all the amenities area hospitals like Greater Baltimore Medical Center and St. Joseph Medical Center, both in Towson, have to offer, the story quotes local parents and far-flung experts like Elena Mauer, an editor for the pregnancy website thebump.com, saying we here in Baltimore have a bona fide trend on our hands.

"There is demand for it," Mauer says in the story. "Moms-to-be know going through labor is tough, and they're looking at pampering as a way to help them recover afterward."

Looking back, I’m not sure that having a fancy room made a major difference in my two experiences with childbirth at . We didn’t shop around for a hospital. My doctor’s practice was there, and that was that, but we were satisfied with it just the same. I remember taking a group tour of GBMC’s labor and delivery wing with my husband a few weeks before our first child was born. The room they showed us was a lovely example of what was, at the time, their makeover-in-progress: hardwood floors, flat-screen TV when we didn’t even have one at home, wooden blinds, and plenty of privacy.

At the time, the hospital’s renovations were not yet 100 percent complete, so when it came time to deliver Lucy, we wound up in one of the older rooms. Fast forward to a couple years later and with renovations complete, we had one of the new rooms when my son Isaac was born. Yet when I compare the two experiences, I can’t say that the room itself mattered. I was lucky enough to have a private room with both births, and not having that privacy certainly would have been a big thumbs down for me. What I remember most, besides the of course, is the care I received from the staff at all levels, from the doctors and nurses to the people who came to keep the room tidy or bring me my meals. Everyone was professional and caring and I really missed being pampered like that after we went home.

The other big factor was the food: I tell everyone that has the best oatmeal I have ever tasted, which I’m pretty sure makes me sound more than a little bit weird. And they let you order as much food off the menu as you like. Among my souvenirs from when my son was born is a scrap of paper where my husband and I jotted down everything we wanted to eat for breakfast the first full day of Isaac’s life. I’m pretty sure the food wasn’t exactly meant for my husband, so I apologize for the rule-bending and I am thankful for the silly memory it gave me.