The Brock Family Perinatal Diagnostic Center

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had their 20-week ultrasound at the Brock Family Perinatal Diagnostic Center at Inova Alexandria Hospital? I am curious how this center is different than the local Ultrasound Associates or Washington Radiology? Any input is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My doc just referred me to go there around my 11th or 12th week since I am older/overweight/had a LEEP/and a terminated pregnancy as a teenager. Haven't been yet though.

[Anonymous]

I had mine done at Invoa Fairfax, which I imagine is very similar. I think the major difference between having it done at the hospital center vs. Washington Radiology or Ultrasound associates, is that you meet with a perinatologist immediately after the ultrasound is done. The peri reviews your ultrasound and discusses the need for further care at that time. I loved knowing right then and not having to wait!

[Anonymous]

Dr. Poggi is great. Nuff said.

[Anonymous]

Have been twice. Great experiences. Morning appointments litttle wait time, nice doctors and nurses. Really walked out feeling good about the experience

[Anonymous]

I had Dr. Poggi for my 20 week and I was very disappointed. She rushed through the exam and didn't check everything that Ultrasound Associates had checked a few days before. (I had to go to Ultrasound Assocites b/c I had minor bleeding one morning and even though they didn't have to do the 20 week tests they did them because that was their protocol. They did a MUCH more thorough job than Poggi even though they didn't have to.) I have asked tht my doctor send me to Ultrasound Associates for any additional tests and they have agreed to do that - with the exception of the 32 week exam. Because of my age the doc says that the exam must be done by a peri. I will be asking to see Dr. Ghidini in the hopes that he is better than Poggi.

[Anonymous]

I have really liked the center. I did not have a good experience at Ultrasound Associates. They were very rushed, and forgot to take the heart measurements (which is what sent me to Brock)

[Anonymous]

I went there many times for u/s throughout my somewhat high-risk pregnancy. I am not a fan of Dr. Poggi. Dr. Ghidini is ok, but there is another woman who works there one day a week - I forget her name, but she is great! She used to work on Wednesday mornings and I made all my appts then so I could get her. The difference is the docs/nurses take the time to talk with you and review the u/s information. Going to a radiology clinic, you often have to wait to have the info sent to your O/B to be reviewed - plus some of them are in some grungy places.

[Anonymous]

I've been having mine there (due to advanced maternal age). They've been really thorough, and caught an umbilical cord issue that ultrasound assoc missed. It just feels like a nicer facility to me too--and it's easier to get to.

[Anonymous]

Just a word of advice, Brock lost their excellent lab tech and so the two doctors are doing all sonograms. Expect to wait a bit, both times I went recently I waited 45 min after my appt was scheduled. Dr. Poggi was nice and very thorough but it was definitely a different experience than Ultrasound Associates (where I went with my first pregnancy). It was a bit stale. I will admit that I was definitely glad this was my second pregnancy as our experience the first time at the 20 week US was amazing and very pleasant. If you're having complications you definitely want to go to Brock though.

[Anonymous]

i was just there on monday (august 8th), and it was fantastic! the tech was amazing and the doctor we met with after was very informative. it was so nice to talk to a doctor immediately after the ultrasound--no waiting to talk to my regular OBGYN!! i had a horrible experience at ultrasound associates--i have a large subserosal uterine fibroid, and the tech told me repeatedly that it should have been removed becaue it will just get bigger and bigger...she was definitely out of bounds with that comment, and my husband and i did not appreciate it. we (obviously) consulted several OBGYNs before deciding to get pregnant, and here we are, 20 weeks later and doing great!

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recall the other female doctor (name?) who worked at NIH who also assisted Dr. Poggi at times? She was wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I went there with both my pregnancies due to low fluid. In my experience, they are always running late so even with a morning appointment I've been there anywhere from 45 minutes to two and a half hours. They tend to be rushed and some of the staff is rude. They had one U/S tech who was so awful we actually asked not to have her anymore (thankfully she's left the practice). I was often frustrated because one tech or doctor would take fluid measurements and say I needed to be admitted and then another would come in and get a completely different number. On at least one occasion, they got in an argument in front of DH and I. I suppose they're not the worst place to go, but be prepared for the wait and don't expect lots of time to ooh and ah over the sono.

[Anonymous]

I have been there for two pregnancies - one right now and one 3 years ago. I went before b/c I had CMV with my second pregnancy back in 2010/2011 - they did lose their sono person back then and Poggi did most of the sonograms but she was great. Very different experience then folks have mentioned above. One really amazing thing about doctor Poggi - when I was diagnosed with CMV in my first trimester I went to another doctor in Fairfax hospital who is a well known high risk doctor around here - he told me to terminate the pregnancy due to a 40% chance of the baby contracting the CMV. CMV can be very dangerous to a fetus. I then was referred to Dr. Poggi by my OB as well and when I got there she had research papers all over her desk about CMV and the statistics of impacts, etc... She had done her research and gave me her best opinion which was to continue forward and there were some things they did such as infusions and very close monitoring. As it turns out the 40% statistics was an older statistic and she was correct about the statistics being lower than what the other doctor stated. While both doctors had very little experience with a pregnancy in the first trimester where there is a known CMV (most of the time you don't have significant symptoms so you find out much later when the baby has defects showing up on a much later sonogram).
When I went in about 2 weeks ago based on my age, I had a fantastic sonographer. She was very thorough and upbeat. She also made a great decisiont to check my cervix which as it turns out is pretty thin and has to be checked every 10 days and I was put on progesterone. I saw dr. ghadini that day although I have to say I unfortunatly had the same ecperience with him as I had 3 years ago - kind of rushed and did not seem to have read up on my file. He said "so all looks good" and was ready to ship me off and i had to mention the cervix. It was then that he looked at the measurements that the sonographer did and told me to return in 10 days and that the number is concerning. I then saw dr. Poggi again last week she was the same as last time - attentive to my issue and took the time to talk with me about it. Also noticed that I needed an additional test for the babies heart. Definitly a great place to go if you need a high risk doctor.

[Anonymous]

I had a good experience with them until we tried a version to get my breech baby to turn. Dr. Ghidini did the version attempt at the hospital and it was very painful. I expected that but after about 5 minutes I wanted to stop, I was fine with having a c-section. He was visibly annoyed and made a snarky comment because I did not want to try it with an epidural that day.

While I would go back to Brock, and I liked Dr Poggi, I wouldn't use Dr. Ghidini again because of his attitude about MY medical choices.

Turns out my child was wedged in and there is no way a version would have worked on me per my OB that did my c-section.