Consistent Care Across Three Deliveries [Sian Dill]

My name is Sian Dill, that's Sian like the color, Dill like the pickle. I am from Tyler, Minnesota. I have three kids, a 6-year-old, a 2.5-year-old, and a 1-month-old

Why have you returned to Brookings Health System after your first delivery?

For my first child, I was still working here in Brookings. So convenience was a huge factor for me when I was looking for my appointments and delivery. This was the obvious choice just because I could go to my appointments and be back to work within an hour. That was super convenient. There are so many reasons why I kept coming back for my next child, and then this most recent one. I don't live in town. So this last time, I had more choices for where I was going to deliver because I knew I had to drive regardless, and I still chose to come back to Brookings because of the people, really. That was kind of the highest thing on my priority list was I wanted to come back and see my doctor and have the same experiences with the nurses, both in the clinic and at the hospital. That was the biggest thing. And then the facilities here are great. I mean, a brand new labor and delivery unit, who wouldn't want to have their child here in Brookings?

What changes have you noticed in the new OB unit?

The differences between the old and the new OB unit, the rooms are a lot bigger. They are probably two or three times the size as the old units. They're much brighter. There's more space in the actual unit itself.

What's stayed the same throughout your pregnancies?

I actually had a lot of the same nurses consistently through my three deliveries. So that really made things comfortable. I mean, I had nurses come in this time around and like, "Oh, I remember you from last time that you were here." And that really made me feel comfortable right away.

How was your pregnancy care leading up to delivery?

It's like a family event when we went to my doctor's appointments with my middle son, my daughter was there with me almost every time, people know her name. She would come in and she would get to listen to the baby's heartbeat. The nurses would interact with her and give her stickers and suckers and kind of help her in that time. And she got really excited about going to doctor's appointments and the same with my son too.

How was the relationship with your doctor?

I got to work with my doctor that I have been seeing for the last six years. And that was really important to me. I mean, she's delivered two of my babies. I know that that's not maybe the norm for other delivery units is to actually deliver with your doctor that you see in your appointments. You maybe see an on-call doctor or something along those lines. So that was really important to me is that, you know, she was there with me because I've created such a good relationship with her.

How did the staff support you?

You can really tell that the nurses and the doctors take a lot of pride in their work. They talk about continuing education and being on the cutting edge of the latest trends in both labor and delivery. And my delivery nurse, she helped me out so much during that phase. She was in the room with me constantly helping get into different positions to make sure that was engaging correctly. And that was really special and important to me is that she wasn't trying to go and be with other patients. It was a lot of one-on-one time with me. It seems like there's a lot of focus on maintaining a small ratio between patients and nurses and caregivers in the hospital. And that has really stayed consistent throughout my pregnancies.

What did you appreciate most about your care?

Just the fact that everyone was really welcoming at the hospital, and not just like the nurses and the doctors, but the secretaries when you walk in, the custodians that are around the hospital cleaning, the food service staff. Everyone is just really happy to be there, really interactive. And that was one thing that really stood out to me. And the fact that they included my family in the whole process when they came to visit and just really engaged with them.

Why would you recommend Brookings Health System?

I don't know why people would go out of town for their labor and delivery for their appointments because we have such great care here in Brookings locally. The staff, you know, in the hospital, the doctors, and the nurses, they're so great to work with. The facilities are beautiful, brand new. It's just, I honestly don't know why anyone would go anywhere else.

Are you one of Brookings Health System's grateful patients who would like to give back to us? Learn more about how you can give back at brookingshealth.org/mythanks.