I've had to laugh reading the responses because they're so varied, and some are the opposite of my experiences at each hospital.
I have delivered at both hospitals. SMMC 11 years ago, Menorah 8 years ago.
SMMC (1st baby) - Went in at 1 am, had very snotty nurse who said I wasn't having strong enough contractions, went home. Came back at 1:30 pm dilated to 6, only now all of the "good" rooms were full and I was stuck in one of the old overflow rooms just off the maternity ward. Dilated to a 10 - a gaggle of nurses are in the room doing nothing but jabbering on and on about OJ's aquittal and driving me insane. The nurse would not let me sit up during delivery, so I had to push the boy UP through the birth canal and ended up being torn all the way through the vaginal wall. I hardly ever saw a nurse over the next 24 hours, nobody would come help me when I said he wouldn't latch on, and nobody tried to advocate for me to stay past the 24 hours when I was bleeding like a stuck pig and the baby hadn't latched on yet.
Menorah - 2nd baby - Great nurses, listened to what I wanted, checked on me regularly but not intrusively. I did get moved to an overflow room about 12 hours after the birth because they needed the room. And contrary to what someone else said - I thought the food there was HORRIBLE. lol That was really the only thing I didn't like about it. I begged people to bring me food, and I ended up leaving early because I felt fine, the baby was latching on, and I was hungry.
I think the key thing is to have a birth plan WRITTEN DOWN about what you want. Give a copy to your doctor ahead of time and discuss everything on your list. Then, bring at least 2 copies to the hospital to give to your nurse, and maybe one for the next shift nurse if need be. I did not do this with #1, although I had discussed this all with Dr. Magee, but he wasn't there that night so nobody listened to me. #2, I had it all typed up and nobody questioned me. Huge difference.
Oh - I was born at SMMC in 1966, but sorry I don't remember any details. lol