Omaha 7th 'best city to have a baby'

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loyalomahan
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Omaha 7th 'best city to have a baby'

Post by loyalomahan »

Source: Fit Pregnancy magazine, February/March 2006
examining 47 criteria -- including fertility services, maternal and infant health risk, access to hospitals and doctors, safety, affordability, stroller friendliness and birthing options.
Rank City
1 Portland, Ore.
2 Boston
3 Minneapolis
4 San Francisco
5 Denver
6 Seattle
7 Omaha
8 Charlotte, N.C.
9 Colorado Springs, Colo.
10 Sacramento, Calif.
11 Baltimore
12 San Diego
13 Oakland, Calif.
14 Cleveland
15 San Jose, Calif.
16 Columbus, Ohio
17 Milwaukee
18 Nashville, Tenn.
19 Atlanta
20 Miami
21 Chicago
22 Wichita
23 Honolulu
24 Albuquerque
25 Tucson, Ariz.
26 Jacksonville, Fla.
27 Tulsa, Okla.
28 Indianapolis
29 Kansas City, Mo.
30 Virginia Beach, Va.
31 Mesa, Ariz.
32 New York
33 Oklahoma City
34 Los Angeles
35 Louisville-Jefferson, Ky.
36 Fresno, Calif.
37 Arlington, Texas
38 Phoenix
39 Austin, Texas
40 San Antonio
41 Washington, D.C.
42 Long Beach, Calif.
43 Fort Worth, Texas
44 Philadelphia
45 El Paso, Texas
46 Dallas
47 Houston
48 Detroit
49 Memphis
50 Las Vegas
Last edited by loyalomahan on Thu Jan 26, 2006 4:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Big E
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Post by Big E »

Are they crazy? You can't raise children in the city! ;)

-Big E
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loyalomahan
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Post by loyalomahan »

Specifically
What’s Good

-According to data from the CDC, maternal mortality in Nebraska is especially low.

-Pedestrians have a 58 percent lower risk than average of being killed by a motor vehicle -- among the safest in our survey.

-Expecting and new moms have plenty of parks: Omaha has 78 percent more public parks than average, relative to population.

-Omaha has 27 licensed home day cares for every 1,000 children under 4 years, the 6th highest in our survey.

-There are lots of NICU beds here, 59 percent more than average, the 7th highest in our survey.

-Omaha has 63 percent more miles of stroller-friendly public pathways and trails than average for cities in our survey.

-According to the Urban Mobility Report from Texas A&M University, Omaha has one of the best commutes of any city in our survey. It takes only 18 percent longer to drive the same route during rush hour than in free-flowing traffic. That takes a lot of pressure off parents rushing to day cares at the end of the day.

-Hospital costs here are among the lowest in our survey.

-There's 41 percent more public park space than average here, relative to population.

Needs Improvement Most

-Nebraska lacks progressive laws guaranteeing a nursing mother the right to breastfeed in public.

-Relative to the number of live births, Omaha has fewer midwives than almost any city in our survey -- less than one-tenth the national average.

-State laws do not require health insurers to cover fertility treatment, or even to offer such coverage.

-Pregnant mothers in Omaha are 56 percent more likely than average to smoke during pregnancy -- almost 14 percent puff while pregnant. That's the 7th highest percentage in our survey.

-The local climate can be extreme -- not conducive to getting out and working off pregnancy weight gain (but wait, we're one of the top cities for fitness too! :) )
TechnicalDisaster
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Post by TechnicalDisaster »

I think this speaks volumes regarding the safety concerns brought up in another post about Omaha's Hospitals (Lacking NICU, 24 hour OB's, etc.)

The most disapointing statistic(IMHO):
Pregnant mothers in Omaha are 56 percent more likely than average to smoke during pregnancy -- almost 14 percent puff while pregnant. That's the 7th highest percentage in our survey.
That really is a terrible statistic. :cry:
"This is America.  It is my God given right to be loudly opinionated on issues I am completely ignorant of."
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Brad
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Post by Brad »

^I heard that on the news, while I can't say it suprises me, its very bad.
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Swift
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Post by Swift »

My girlfriend's mom smoked the entire time she was pregnant (24-25 years ago--1980-81).

This is yet another study that I think is wrong (the previous one being the technology one that had SF rated at 11, much lower than it should have been).

I know this isn't about how many babies are being born (san francisco has the smallest population of people under age 18 of any major city in the US), or about elementary schools (the SF school board has been closing or consolodating schools left and right due to lack of enrollment and of money, a huge controversy)...but I have to argue about the doctors thing. My girlfriend has needed the service of a doctor many times since she's lived here...the majority of doctors she called to set up an appointment were not accepting new patients. Those doctors that were accepting new patients didn't have any open appointments for four months. Most of the time they told her to just go to the emergency room instead, regardless of the fact that it was not an emergency.

So yeah, I call bull-|expletive| on this study.
Calibraskan
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Post by Calibraskan »

-"Pregnant mothers in Omaha are 56 percent more likely than average to smoke during pregnancy -- almost 14 percent puff while pregnant. That's the 7th highest percentage in our survey."

They're probably part of the strong contingent opposed to the ban on 'smoking in bars'!! :oops:

Nebraska's Orange County (Lincoln) probably ranks better in this category!
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Post by joeglow »

-Relative to the number of live births, Omaha has fewer midwives than almost any city in our survey -- less than one-tenth the national average.

-Please explain why this is a bad thing. Some people want to go to a mid-wife and more power to them. However, bad **** DOES happen and I would much rather have someone there who can do a crash c-section and knows what to do if things are so bad that, god forbid, my wife would need an emergency hysterectomy. I have heard of too many stories from Doctors of seemingly normal pregnancies turning VERY bad. Knowing that this could happen, I would feel comfortable with more people using someone capable of performing an emergency surgery.

Despite the rather obvious, to me, error, I think it is great we ranked as high as we have. I know the couple my wife works for is from Chicago and would agree with Omaha being higher than the Windy City.
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Uffda
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Post by Uffda »

Some people want to go to a mid-wife and more power to them
Not all midwives are the ones you think of helping a woman give birth in a bed at home. A few years ago, I dated a woman in SDak that was a RN/Midwife --- she had a few years of special training beyond her RN degree and also worked in an OB/GYN clinic.
joeglow
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Post by joeglow »

Uffda wrote:
Not all midwives are the ones you think of helping a woman give birth in a bed at home. A few years ago, I dated a woman in SDak that was a RN/Midwife --- she had a few years of special training beyond her RN degree and also worked in an OB/GYN clinic.
-Oh, I know that. In fact, in Nebraska, I do not think a mid wife can legally deliver a baby at home. Great to see Nebraska has recognized the need to be near a medical facility in case an emergency arises (not all states have realized this yet).

But the fact still remains that they are NOT surgeons. If an emergency arises where you need a surgeon, you may very well be S.O.L.
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Re: Omaha 7th 'best city to have a baby'

Post by jsheets »

loyalomahan wrote:Source: Fit Pregnancy magazine, February/March 2006
Do you have a link?
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Re: Omaha 7th 'best city to have a baby'

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

jsheets wrote:
loyalomahan wrote:Source: Fit Pregnancy magazine, February/March 2006
Do you have a link?
Ask and you shall receive:

http://magazine-directory.com/Fit-Pregnancy.htm

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
Go Cowboys!
MTO
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Post by MTO »

Well I guess its just another reason to ban smoking.. Bad mommy’s BAD! :evil:
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cosita
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Post by cosita »

joeglow wrote:
Uffda wrote:
But the fact still remains that they are NOT surgeons. If an emergency arises where you need a surgeon, you may very well be S.O.L.
If something happens so fast while using a midwife within a hospital setting and there isn't time to get the dr next door while they're breaking down the table and dumping the iodine on your tummy for a splash and slash you were propably sol to begin with.
Kaiser started me off with midwives both pregnancies, the second one they assigned me an obgyn halfway along because I developed GD.
In a world as quick to sue as the one we live in, and in a practice as highly sued as obgyn a hospital would be out of their mind to offer midwivery services without weighting the risks first. Hospitals go above and beyond to protect themselves, hence the rising c-section rate.
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Uffda
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Post by Uffda »

The above quote wasnt mine. :D

The woman I knew was a Certified Nurse-midwife she worked within an OBY/GN clinic in Sioux falls that was part of one of the hospitals there. To get her certification she had to complete these requirements:

* Completion of an accredited nursing program
* Licensure as a Registered nurse
* Satisfactory completion of a program in nurse-midwifery from an accredited institute

http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/midwife.shtml
cosita
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Post by cosita »

So sorry about that. :paranoia
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Post by joeglow »

cosita wrote:If something happens so fast while using a midwife within a hospital setting and there isn't time to get the dr next door while they're breaking down the table and dumping the iodine on your tummy for a splash and slash you were propably sol to begin with.
-You are assuming the hospitals have a full time Doctor (or even a resident) on staff to begin with. Do a quick call of the hospitals here and ask them which ones do. I assure you, you will be very surprised.
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Post by Coyote »

Omaha Company Gains National Recognition
KMTV wrote:For the sixth year in a row, Working Mother magazine named First National Bank "Best Company for Working Mothers." One reason it won was because it's close to work and the teachers work close with the kids. Aside from the daycare, First National Bank was also recognized for it's flexibility with job sharing and telecommuting.
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Post by cdub »

I can only speak to our experience but when our midwife was about to deliver our baby, at about 3am, there was a doc just dying to jump in.  If she had needed him he would have been there in about a minute.  As it was everything was fine and she told him to buzz off.  She said they are always looking to get in at the last minute and do the delivery  :)
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