This blog post is sponsored by WomenCertified®, the collective voice of female consumers and the home of The Women’s Choice Awards

WomenCertified completed its yearly, national poll of women, and the results are in!

Obstetric

Obstetric Hospitals were rated on multiple, in-depth criteria including a standardized survey of patients’ perspectives of hospital care reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, research and analysis that weighs criteria identified as the most important to women for patient satisfaction based on a joint study on customer satisfaction by gender conducted with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and clinical criteria.

And the 2013 Women’s Choice Award for Obstetric Hospital Winners are…(drum roll, please!)

Athens Regional Medical Center (Athens, GA)

Baptist Medical Center – Nassau (Fernandina Beach, FL)

Carrie Medical Center (Carbou, ME)

Catawba Valley Medical Center (Hickory, NC)

Gibson Area Hospital (Gibson City, IL)

Great Bend Regional Hospital (Great Bend, KS)

Inland Hospital (Waterville, ME)

Kaiser Permanente – Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa, CA)

Kaiser Permanente – Orange County (Anaheim, CA)

King’s Daughters Medical Center (Brookhaven, MS)

Lakeside Women’s Hospital (Oklahoma, OK)

Morton Plant Hospital (Clearwater, FL)

Pikeville Medical Center (Pikeville, KY)

St. Elizabeth Healthcare (Edgewood, KY)

St. Mary’s Hospital – Athens (Athens, GA)

Union Hospital (Terre Haute, IN)

Western Baptist Hospital – (Paducah, KY)

Wooster Community Hospital – (Wooster, OH)

The full list of 356 winners is available at www.WomensChoiceAward.com.

“We congratulate our winning hospitals for having earned the trust of our country’s most significant consumer group,” said Delia Passi, CEO of WomenCertified® and a leading national women’s consumer advocate former publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines.

WomenCertified also unveiled the results of the most recommended baby products among women. “It goes without saying that one of the most important product categories to women are baby products. Honoring brands with The Women’s Choice Award, whose focus on product excellence and alignment with women’s identified preferences is important to our mission at WomenCertified, where women help other women with tough, consumer decisions,” Passi continues.

The winning baby product brands include:

OshKosh B’gosh

Sealy

Carter’s

Playtex

Huggies

Simmons

Evenflo

Leapfrog

Fisher-Price

Safety 1^st

Desitin

Diaper Genie

Nuk

Johnson and Johnson

Graco

The full list of winners is available at www.WomensChoiceAward.com.

Congrats to all the winners!

This week, states along the East Coast were hit by Hurricane Sandy, causing thousands to lose electricity for days. Several of these places included hospitals in New York and New Jersey, which were forced to evacuate patients due to power outage. While some were fully functioning within a few days, others are still struggling to return to normal. Here’s some helpful information regarding where to go for treatments, including deliveries and emergencies.

New York

On Monday evening New York University Langone Medical Center evacuated over 200 patients, including 20 NICU patients. All patients were transferred to nearby hospitals and their family members were informed. As of noon today, the hospital is still closed due to damage and will stay closed until Monday, November 5. Patients with previously scheduled appointments have been contacted and will receive care at nearby facilities. To confirm or cancel appointments, or for any questions regarding patient care, call 888-724-1830 or visit the hospital’s website.

Hurricane Sandy also hit Bellevue Hospital on Monday night, causing the generators to break. The staff was able to provide a temporary fix to the issue, but after witnessing the damage in the basement they realized an evacuation was necessary. The process began Wednesday night, making sure those in the worst conditions were moved first. By Thursday morning, all patients had been moved to nearby hospitals including Mount Sinai Medical Center. Bellevue will remain closed until further notice, but doctors will be working remotely from other hospitals. For more information, patients can call 212-562-5555.

In Brooklyn, Coney Island Hospital faced a power outage and was forced to evacuate patients. Patients were moved to other New York hospitals on Tuesday afternoon, and were all moved by 6:30 that night. As of noon today, Coney Island Hospital will be closed until further notice, and doctors will visit patients at their new locations. However, limited ambulance and outpatient services will start Monday, November 5.

New Jersey

On Sunday evening, Hoboken University Medical Center transferred over 80 patients in critical condition to nearby hospitals. The patients will be welcomed back once the damages have been fixed. However, the hospital’s emergency and OBGYN centers have remained open.

Evacuations also took place at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, but has since returned to it’s normal operations. Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, Camden’s Cooper Hospital and Lourdes Hospital cut back on nonessential procedures, such as elective surgery and outpatient treatment during the storm. They have since returned to normal hours and operations.

Hospitals in other areas hit by Hurricane Sandy, including Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, remained fully functional during the week.

Do you have any hospital updates? Let us know below in the comments!

Plus, more from The Bump:

Packing a Hospital Bag

Best (Unexpected) Things Moms Brought to the Hospital

Baby Symptoms and Conditions

As if going into preterm labor isn’t stressful enough, many new parents and their fragile new babies had to endure a mid-hurricane evacuation from the NICU when a New York City hospital lost power due to Hurricane Sandy.

After its basement flooded and the backup generator failed to start, the New York University Langone Medical Center was forced to evacuate patients. With over 200 patients to transfer, the staff and rescue workers had to work extremely fast. They immediately began moving the 20 babies they had in neonatal intensive care, most of whom were relying on respirators, down the nine floors of a darkened stairwell. In many cases, the heroic nurses who transported the babies had to switch to battery-operated respirators and hold them close to avoid the cold weather.

According to the Huffington Post, workers were met outside the hospital by almost two dozen ambulances who transported patients “to other hospitals, including Mount Sinai, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer, Lenox and Bellevue Hospital Center.”

With the help of rescue workers and members of the community, the staff was able to clear the hospital in 15 hours.

“By 11:00 Tuesday morning, all 300 patients were safely transferred from NYULMC to nearby hospitals,” NYU Langone Medical Center tweeted this morning. “We thank FDNY, NYPD, and Office of Emergency Management and accepting hospitals for their immediate assistance. We also thank our dedicated faculty, staff, and medical students for their tireless efforts during the storm.”

A huge thank you to all those involved in the NUY Langone Medical Center evacuation, to the NICU nurses who work tirelessly to care for premature babies in their daily jobs, and those going above and beyond to keep people safe during Hurricane Sandy.

Did you have a baby in the NICU? How has your family been affected by Hurricane Sandy?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Surviving the NICU

Hurricane Sandy: Share Your Photos, Tell Us Your Story

Preemies