Recent Labor & Delivery Experiences at WHC?

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are registered to deliver at Washington Hospital Center in the next couple of months. Does anyone have any recent stories, positive or negative, that they would be willing to share? I want to go in there informed, knowing what to expect and what to ask for so that we can have the most positive expereince possible.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I delivered my son there at the beginning of April with a midwife from the DC Birth Center, so my experience may not be entirely typical. I also had a 5-hour labor, didn't get to the hospital until I was about 8-9cm, and was pushing within about 15 minutes of getting there. However - the L&D nurses were awesome. I was GBS+ so I needed IV antibiotics, and one of the nurses inserted the IV while I was in the bathroom - no making me get back in bed.

After he was born, I was able to keep him for about the next 3-4 hours before they took him off to the nursery for all the tests, etc., which was great.

The post-partum rooms are small but they have a ton of private rooms so that shouldn't be an issue. My husband stayed on the pull-out chair, which he said wasn't all that comfortable - I'd probably bring pillows from home. And the post-partum nurses are the exact opposite of the L&D nurses. Not friendly, I had to ask multiple times for things (particularly to get the heplock out of my arm after the midwife had ok'd that), lost our birth certificate paperwork so we had to redo it before check out, told me I'd be discharged around 10am but we were still waiting at 1pm. Just pretty unpleasant in general, but it's only two days, and they were good about knocking before coming into the room. Lots of vitals checks during the first 24 hours, though. The food is awful - definitely have someone bring you take out and maybe even pack a couple of PB&Js or something for after you deliver or the next morning.

I didn't ask to see a lactation consultant so can't speak to how helpful or how available they are.

[Anonymous]

Hi. I had my second baby at WHC earlier this month (first was at Sibley). I used a midwife this time, so my contact with the OBs on call, residents, etc. was basically non-existant. I had a fantastic L&D nurse and pretty decent/friendly post-partum nurses. I agree with PP that it was typical to have to ask for things several times before receiving them in the post-partum wing and/or wait a long time for them. If someone comes to your room to offer a service, accept it then b/c they all said "OK, I'll come back in 10 min." and an hour or more would pass until we saw them again.

In general, I think if you're on your 2nd (or more) child then you will be fine. I think it would be harder for your 1st kid b/c you wouldn't necessarily know a lot of things to ask for ... e.g. there was no squirt/spray bottle in my post-partum room but I might not have known to ask for one if I hadn't already had a kid. I think I was comparing a lot to my experience at Sibley ....... they gave you stool softeners at Sib. but not at WHC, they went over diapering, bathing, nursing, etc. with you at Sibley, but not at WHC unless you specifically asked. No lactation consultant came the first day and I asked repeatedly to see one the next day but was told she was not in but that all nurses had attended a BF training??? Sorry, but there is a big difference b/t a certified lactation consultant and a nurse who attended a training....

We had a private room, it was fine, small. Everyone is good about knocking before entering. We saw two different staff pediatricians and they were both really nice. Overall, I was satisfied with the experience and you will be fine as long as you are assertive and ask for what you want/need. Oh yeah, and the food IS pretty bad. Definitely plan on having friends bring you food, or get stuff from downstairs cafe or something. Post again if you have more specific questions and I'll check back. HOpe this is helpful. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I am scheduled to deliver at WHC in August. I had excellent experience at their ER early in my early pregnancy and at their Perinatal Center, but I have been trying to find our about their hospital tours more recently and different parent services, without much luck.

Services for expectant parents can be found here, but they have not been very responsive: http://www.whcenter.org/body.cfm?id=486 There is never an answer at the number they provide and although I registered for one course online and sent a separate e-mail request for someone to call me back more than a week ago, still no response/course confirmation. This is my first child and I'm terrified that I'm not getting information or support from either my OBGYN who is linked to the hospital (multiple and nice individual doctors, but they don't talk to each other, they don't keep good track of information, and have terrible administrative staff) but I'm pretty sure it's too late to change now.

I'm sorry if it does not help you, I'm simply adding on to your question and would love to hear more about people's experience there, any useful contacts and tips.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who commented - "It is too late to change now".... No it is not. I know women who changed practices a lot later than you.

If you are not happy - change!

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who replied first - it is definitely not too late to switch practices. I changed at 28 weeks with no problem. Really, if you are not comfortable, look into switching. It was the best decision I made.

About the tour etc. at WHC, I never had a problem getting someone on the phone - maybe keep trying? I didn't find the tour all that helpful though, other than knowing to go to the 5th floor on arrival. The woman who did the tour didn't know much, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

I had almost the exact same experience as the two above posters: used a midwife from the DC Birth Center, found the L&D nurses to be great but the Postpartum nurses not so wonderful, etc. I also was on #2 and also had #1 at Sibley, and the only thing that was remarkably different was the quality of the food. WHC has to be TRYING to make "food" that tastes that nasty.

The only other comment I would add is that the staff pediatrician who circumcised our son botched it, and we didn't get good advice on how to care for it as it healed (our first was a girl, and I was pretty clueless). Maybe ask someone who's seen a newborn's swollen post-circumcision penis before to take a look and make sure it looks right before you leave the hospital.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I didn't initially respond to this thread because my experience at WHC wasn't recent (June 2007), but now that I've come back and read others' experiences, I can say that it sounds like nothing has changed in two years! I used the DCBC midwives also, great L&D nurse, not so good postpartum nurses, no access to lactation consultants, they fed me the same line about the nurses being trained in BF (yeah, right). The only things that I remember differently from others are that my son was never taken to the nursery except once to be weighed, all tests were done in the room with us, and I don't remember the food being that awful, just typical cafeteria food, but maybe I have an insensitive palate. I liked the pediatrician we saw there too -- he wasn't freaking out about the weight DS had lost since birth, and he was very supportive of our decision not to circumcise. Overall it was a fine, not great, experience. Having the care of the midwives was much more important to my birth experience than the hospital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having the care of the midwives was much more important to my birth experience than the hospital.

11:15 PP here. I TOTALLY agree with this.

[Anonymous]

I posted separately prasing WHC (posted 5/31-check it out) lauding its praises in saving my life and then saw these posts. I found the nurses to be amazingly caring and going above and beyond to make my stay comfortable. The rooms are tiny, but they are private and you do not have to pay for the private room. Obviously, there may be nicer facilities, but as I said in my PP, I think it is worth considering the worst case scenario and esp. NICU when making your choice.

[Anonymous]

I delivered at WHC last fall, and generally had a good experience. I completely agree with the previous posters who laud the L&D nurses: ours was really amazing. The post-partum ward nurses were a mixed bag - some great, some not so great. But my interactions w/them were quite limited, so there was little detriment. There is a competent lactation consultant (Jackie is her name, I think) on staff, but she's the only one. She also conducts the 2-day parenting workshop, which my husband and I found quite helpful. But if you are interested in breastfeeding, I strongly suggest talking w/the Breastfeeding Center in advance of your delivery date to make sure you know enough when you arrive at the hospital to be assertive in getting what you need and accessing resources. The NICU at WHC is really first-rate: the nurses there are above and beyond. You probably won't ever meet them (I hope not), but if you do - you are in good hands.

BTW, congratulations, and hope you have an excellent delivery experience.

[Anonymous]

OP here...thanks for all of your responses. I really just wnat to be prepared & know what we might need to advocate for and all of your insights have really helped.