Angie's story
For me, switching was a gradual process of trial and error. Baby #1 - I just went to the medical center that I worked for and thought that because it was in an uppity town, the standard of care would be greater. I was wrong. While the maternity care was fine, the labor was a disaster and postpartum was even worse.
Baby #2 - a surrogacy - I did my research and chose a medical center/hospital that had a very new, beautiful "birthing center" built into the L&D floor. I had heard wonderful things about them and then went on to find a doctor there. The first one, was an older woman and had couches in her waiting room. She was experienced but lacked bedside manner in a way that really, really offended me and the Intended Parents (a gay male couple who came with me to nearly every appointment). I was most put off by the office policies that required patients to do their own urine tests (dipping strips in urine and recording results). Her bathroom was disgusting. I was about 5 months along when I decided I couldn't handle that anymore and switched to a group practice with several younger women. They were much better for me and the guys, however the doctor who I saw most, was not supportive of the surrogacy or the gay guys. Other than that, the care was great and I would go back. But then we moved out of state.
Baby #3 - We were immediately matched with a OBGYN in our area. We didn't have a choice. We were new to the area, financially limited and had no support at all. This doctor shouldn't even be in practice but I won't sit here and bash the guy. The only comfort I had from them as medical care providers was that the Nurse Practitioner, a midwife was great. My hospital experience was dreadful and guess what - I only saw my doctor once on my way out of the hospital. There were a couple of nurses that cared for me and my baby well, but overall it wasn't something I would do again. They rushed through a checklist of tasks and had little feeling. There was one nurse, a bit of a busy-body who was able to chitchat while she worked but the others didn't. They even gave me a brand new nurse - for my birth - a student who had just graduated and who had never had a patient deliver before. YIKES is all I have to say.
Baby # NEXT UP - Next time around we are definitely going with a midwife and home birth. I don't care if I have to have the next baby on concrete stairs; we will not be going into that hospital again.
Baby #2 - a surrogacy - I did my research and chose a medical center/hospital that had a very new, beautiful "birthing center" built into the L&D floor. I had heard wonderful things about them and then went on to find a doctor there. The first one, was an older woman and had couches in her waiting room. She was experienced but lacked bedside manner in a way that really, really offended me and the Intended Parents (a gay male couple who came with me to nearly every appointment). I was most put off by the office policies that required patients to do their own urine tests (dipping strips in urine and recording results). Her bathroom was disgusting. I was about 5 months along when I decided I couldn't handle that anymore and switched to a group practice with several younger women. They were much better for me and the guys, however the doctor who I saw most, was not supportive of the surrogacy or the gay guys. Other than that, the care was great and I would go back. But then we moved out of state.
Baby #3 - We were immediately matched with a OBGYN in our area. We didn't have a choice. We were new to the area, financially limited and had no support at all. This doctor shouldn't even be in practice but I won't sit here and bash the guy. The only comfort I had from them as medical care providers was that the Nurse Practitioner, a midwife was great. My hospital experience was dreadful and guess what - I only saw my doctor once on my way out of the hospital. There were a couple of nurses that cared for me and my baby well, but overall it wasn't something I would do again. They rushed through a checklist of tasks and had little feeling. There was one nurse, a bit of a busy-body who was able to chitchat while she worked but the others didn't. They even gave me a brand new nurse - for my birth - a student who had just graduated and who had never had a patient deliver before. YIKES is all I have to say.
Baby # NEXT UP - Next time around we are definitely going with a midwife and home birth. I don't care if I have to have the next baby on concrete stairs; we will not be going into that hospital again.
