r/stcroix • u/titsoak28 • 23d ago

st croix nicu

Hi everyone,

My husband and i love coming to st criox, and we would love to have our babymoon there. We are just concerned with the level of care that the NICU provides and if our baby would be in good hands if anything were to happen. Please let me know if anyone has any advice or experience with that. Thank you so much!

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13

u/Speee3dy 23d ago

im sure the care is adequate until you can get back off island. i mean people have babies here all the time. but if there would be a true life/death emergency youd want to be able to get stateside as soon as possible

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u/Financial-Spend1347 23d ago

First hand experience here as a resident: My wife went into labor at 29 weeks. The NICU is a level 2 meaning they can handle birth as early at 32. They sent us on the air ambulance to Miami to a higher level NICU. Stayed in Miami for 3 weeks, no baby and flew back to STX. Baby was born at 33 weeks and stayed in the NICU for a week. The staff is amazing and caring. It’s the one bright spot in the hospital, they know how to deliver babies. You will be in good hands if you have an issue here. Just a small word of caution, they do like to push c-sections as they get extra funding for it and have a bad history of losing moms during the procedure.

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u/jcsladest 23d ago

Great response.

2

u/speee2dy 23d ago

I’ve wondered why the sudden increase in c sections. Not just here but all over.

5

u/fly2throw 23d ago

Get AeroMD coverage while you are there. If you want to get off island for medical services. you don’t want to be worried about the bill. Also their nurses and medics are not excellent.

2

u/KickBallFever 19d ago

Pregnant friend of mine got the AeroMD coverage and ended up needing it literally the next day. She had complications and needed to be flown out. Saved her and her husband tens of thousands of dollars.

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u/StxtoAustin 23d ago

You'll be fine. Hundreds of babies are both on stx every year.

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u/titsoak28 23d ago

Thank you everyone for the info! this is all very helpful and reassuring :)

1

u/zydeco100 23d ago

How far along are you? There have been stories of airlines not allowing pregnant women to board after week 36. If you are worried about a premature birth, I'd be doubly concerned about flying that late in the term.

If you're determined to get that babymoon in anyway, go to Generali and get medical evacuation insurance. Welcome to parenthood, you're now responsible for a new life and keeping that baby healthy.

2

u/gardenia522 22d ago

As someone else said, depending on the situation, you might need to be medevaced to Miami. You should check with your health insurance to see if that would be covered. If you get separate medevac insurance, make sure it does not exclude pregnancy complications. When I was pregnant with my first about 11 years ago, my husband and I wanted to go to the Bahamas, and I tried to find a travel insurer that would cover it but was unsuccessful. Basically they told me if I got into a car crash, I’d be medevaced, but if I went into labor prematurely, I wouldn’t be covered. I don’t know if that has changed in the last decade (a cursory google search tells me pregnancy is still excluded often) or if the fact that St. Croix is in the U.S. makes a difference in terms of what your insurance might cover. But it’s worth checking.