Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your son :)
I have been a doula for 15 years and have attended many births at both of those hospitals and can tell you that Kaiser Sunset is definitely a MUCH better choice than St. Joe's! St. Joe's has some hospital protocols that make it extremely difficult to have a natural birth, including not being allowed out of bed after your bag or waters has released or after you are in active labor! There are a few great nurses there who will allow you to break the rules, but there's no guarantee that you'll be lucky enough to get one of them!
The midwives at Kaiser Sunset are great with natural unmedicated childbirth and, even if you don't get one of the midwives, the doctors work on a schedule, which means that if your labor is "not progressing fast enough" they don't care because their shift will be over and someone else will take over.
I'm happy to help you find a great doula. I'm the Membership Director for DASC (Doulas Association of Southern California) and we have almost 300 members and I know most of them personally :)
Happy Birthing,
T.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
T. H., CD(DONA)
B*E*S*T Doula Service
http://www.bestdoulas.com
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
”Where your passions
intersect with the
needs of the public,
therein lies your
vocation.” – Aristotle
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~