GW

[Anonymous]

I delivered my second at GW in 2017. I chose GW because I had a c-section with my first at Virginia Hospital Center and wanted to go for a VBAC with my second. I had gestation diabetes with my second which meant I could not see the midwives and saw the OBs. I was monitored regularly leading up to delivery. I very much did not care for Dr. Meghan Valentine, whom I saw several times, and ultimately ended up being the doctor who delivered my baby. They pushed for me to be induced, and when I declined, she basically told me to present at the ER if my baby stopped moving. Made me feel terrible and terrified. But, since I had gone into labor with my first, I knew and had confidence that my body could do it again with my second and I did not need to be induced. My prenatal chiropractor and doula also helped encourage me with information about baby's positioning and progress as the weeks ticked by.

Within one hour of arriving at the hospital, my daughter was born. My body basically started pushing as soon as I got onto the bed and they tried to examine me. The anesthesiologist was on call in case I wanted an epidural. As my labor progressed, the OB thought she may have seen meconium in the fluid and a whole entourage of staff immediately arrived in the room for the remainder of the delivery in case my daughter needed NICU support due meconium, etc. Ultimately it was not meconium and my daughter was fine upon delivery.

My post delivery gripe was with the resistance towards pain meds. My daughter moved my tailbone out of her way on her way out, and I had A LOT of pain and discomfort accordingly. I think since opioids are a big issue in DC, GW, at least then, has a pretty restrictive policy re: giving them to patients. I wanted to unleash on the staff and point out that I had just successfully given birth without meds--if I was asking for pain meds, there was a reason.

Ultimately I picked GW because I wanted a hospital that wouldn't just push me to c-section like the experience I had at VHC. GW didn't have a choice since I showed up and started pushing basically. It wasn't glamourous, but, it wasn't terrible, and I got the end result I was aiming for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I delivered my second at GW in 2017. I chose GW because I had a c-section with my first at Virginia Hospital Center and wanted to go for a VBAC with my second. I had gestation diabetes with my second which meant I could not see the midwives and saw the OBs. I was monitored regularly leading up to delivery. I very much did not care for Dr. Meghan Valentine, whom I saw several times, and ultimately ended up being the doctor who delivered my baby. They pushed for me to be induced, and when I declined, she basically told me to present at the ER if my baby stopped moving. Made me feel terrible and terrified. But, since I had gone into labor with my first, I knew and had confidence that my body could do it again with my second and I did not need to be induced. My prenatal chiropractor and doula also helped encourage me with information about baby's positioning and progress as the weeks ticked by.

Within one hour of arriving at the hospital, my daughter was born. My body basically started pushing as soon as I got onto the bed and they tried to examine me. The anesthesiologist was on call in case I wanted an epidural. As my labor progressed, the OB thought she may have seen meconium in the fluid and a whole entourage of staff immediately arrived in the room for the remainder of the delivery in case my daughter needed NICU support due meconium, etc. Ultimately it was not meconium and my daughter was fine upon delivery.

My post delivery gripe was with the resistance towards pain meds. My daughter moved my tailbone out of her way on her way out, and I had A LOT of pain and discomfort accordingly. I think since opioids are a big issue in DC, GW, at least then, has a pretty restrictive policy re: giving them to patients. I wanted to unleash on the staff and point out that I had just successfully given birth without meds--if I was asking for pain meds, there was a reason.

Ultimately I picked GW because I wanted a hospital that wouldn't just push me to c-section like the experience I had at VHC. GW didn't have a choice since I showed up and started pushing basically. It wasn't glamourous, but, it wasn't terrible, and I got the end result I was aiming for.

This is fascinating because I gave birth there in 2018 and they put me on an opioid postpartum that was contraindicated for breastfeeding without telling me that, even though they knew I was breastfeeding, and I wonder if those pills were one of the reasons I had such a hard time producing milk. There was no attempt at informed consent.

[Anonymous]

I had to make the call on my own to do a c section despite the resident telling me we can wait and try to get to "active labor". I told them after all of this, I don't want my baby to be brain dead. After all was said and done, that decision saved me and my baby's life. Shortly after delivery, my blood pressure skyrocketed and they were unable to bring it down for a while, in the midst of that, I had postpartum hemorrhage, the ICU was already called and on standby. Thank God they got everything under control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had to make the call on my own to do a c section despite the resident telling me we can wait and try to get to "active labor". I told them after all of this, I don't want my baby to be brain dead. After all was said and done, that decision saved me and my baby's life. Shortly after delivery, my blood pressure skyrocketed and they were unable to bring it down for a while, in the midst of that, I had postpartum hemorrhage, the ICU was already called and on standby. Thank God they got everything under control.

Sounds very traumatic and glad you’re doing ok now. I also had a rocky delivery and appreciated the various teams like ICU and NICU on standby.

[Anonymous]

I delivered at GW in February and had a great experience w my VBAC. The entire team was supportive, including anesthesia (Dr. Roland, i think). It was such a positive experience as compared to my first child (delivered at Shady Grove). The nurses were great; Dr. Jamshidi was very encouraging of my VBAC plans; and anesthesia was very attentive too.
I cant say enough good things!