Recent GW delivery experience and update my obgyn gave me

[Anonymous]

I will be delivering at GW this summer and after reading reviews that PP care is a miss I asked my obgyn how I can make it better. She said GW offers signs you can put on your door so you are not disturbed and can specify who can disturb you..also if you don't want many people around you during L&D you can let them know.

I would love to hear from others who recently delivered at GW how was your experience?

Thank you

[Anonymous]

I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

And people wonder why women are choosing home births.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

And people wonder why women are choosing home births.

I am that PP and no, it did not and would not drive me to home birth. It just irritated me and is worth OP knowing if she's planning to rely on this signage to get some kind of restful PP retreat.

GW is a very busy hospital with a lot of constant commotion and very good outcomes for mothers and babies alike. Know the good and bad going in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

And people wonder why women are choosing home births.

I am that PP and no, it did not and would not drive me to home birth. It just irritated me and is worth OP knowing if she's planning to rely on this signage to get some kind of restful PP retreat.

GW is a very busy hospital with a lot of constant commotion and very good outcomes for mothers and babies alike. Know the good and bad going in.

I am sticking with GW as I trust their care, home births are not for me I am grateful science had advanced that we don't have to bleed to death at home.

Good to know the sign might not be noted, will prepare myself and be sure to set the expectation with my nurse. For 2 days its not the end of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

I am so sorry that sucks. I have had an enjoyable experience at GW so far except for the non-stop stopping by the residents/Dr/nurse. I will go in prepared and let my husband deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

And people wonder why women are choosing home births.

I am that PP and no, it did not and would not drive me to home birth. It just irritated me and is worth OP knowing if she's planning to rely on this signage to get some kind of restful PP retreat.

GW is a very busy hospital with a lot of constant commotion and very good outcomes for mothers and babies alike. Know the good and bad going in.

I am sticking with GW as I trust their care, home births are not for me I am grateful science had advanced that we don't have to bleed to death at home.

Good to know the sign might not be noted, will prepare myself and be sure to set the expectation with my nurse. For 2 days its not the end of the world.

I'm the 2019 PP, but I just realized that I misread your OP. I did *not* have (or need) a sign during L&D, and I was not really bothered at that time. I was induced, was there for 48+ hours before things finally got moving, and it was fairly calm and certainly not a lot of commotion aside from hearing other laboring moms on the ward. My experience with the sign was post-partum, which is more notoriously chaotic at GW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one of those signs (in 2019) and it was entirely ignored, both by my regular care team of nurses and by the random male OB who did not work with me during labor but wanted to pop by and tell me he reviewed my chart (thanks?) and walked right past the sign on my closed door without even a knock to give me this news while I was topless trying to figure out breastfeeding.

So, y'know, good luck.

And people wonder why women are choosing home births.

I am that PP and no, it did not and would not drive me to home birth. It just irritated me and is worth OP knowing if she's planning to rely on this signage to get some kind of restful PP retreat.

GW is a very busy hospital with a lot of constant commotion and very good outcomes for mothers and babies alike. Know the good and bad going in.

I am sticking with GW as I trust their care, home births are not for me I am grateful science had advanced that we don't have to bleed to death at home.

Good to know the sign might not be noted, will prepare myself and be sure to set the expectation with my nurse. For 2 days its not the end of the world.

I'm the 2019 PP, but I just realized that I misread your OP. I did *not* have (or need) a sign during L&D, and I was not really bothered at that time. I was induced, was there for 48+ hours before things finally got moving, and it was fairly calm and certainly not a lot of commotion aside from hearing other laboring moms on the ward. My experience with the sign was post-partum, which is more notoriously chaotic at GW.

Actually your response was correct, I would want quiet and peace after delivery and had so much commotion after the loss of my first child. It was all so new and we were just surviving.

I will go in prepared regardless My preference would be Sibley but its just so damn far!

[Anonymous]

I had no issues with postpartum care at gw this past September. My only real complaint was the room was tiny ( and had some hvac thing that looked under construction taking up a third of the room). It made it hard to fit our clothes, let alone have a space for the tray of food. But I wasn't expecting luxury- I got to postpartum care around 10 pm on a Thursday and was discharged by noon Saturday. All my needs were met. Yes there were frequent vital checks through the night but honestly I was a ftm and had a brand new baby and had been awake for 48 hours already, was thankful someone was checking as we didn't know what we were doing and we were exhausted and the nurses would help change the diaper, teach us to swaddle, etc. I hated one of the lactation consultants ( just thinking about it is still upsetting) and had one resident come in shortly before discharge and tell me I shouldn't try for another for 18 months which was upsetting given in already old and already needed fertility treatment. My dr said that at my 6 week visit that was untrue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no issues with postpartum care at gw this past September. My only real complaint was the room was tiny ( and had some hvac thing that looked under construction taking up a third of the room). It made it hard to fit our clothes, let alone have a space for the tray of food. But I wasn't expecting luxury- I got to postpartum care around 10 pm on a Thursday and was discharged by noon Saturday. All my needs were met. Yes there were frequent vital checks through the night but honestly I was a ftm and had a brand new baby and had been awake for 48 hours already, was thankful someone was checking as we didn't know what we were doing and we were exhausted and the nurses would help change the diaper, teach us to swaddle, etc. I hated one of the lactation consultants ( just thinking about it is still upsetting) and had one resident come in shortly before discharge and tell me I shouldn't try for another for 18 months which was upsetting given in already old and already needed fertility treatment. My dr said that at my 6 week visit that was untrue

Thank you for sharing your experience! Your perspective is helpful.

My obgyn told me due to the location rooms are small and bigger rooms usually go to mom who have c section. Their is one room which can't be reserved but is bigger with better food and bedding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had no issues with postpartum care at gw this past September. My only real complaint was the room was tiny ( and had some hvac thing that looked under construction taking up a third of the room). It made it hard to fit our clothes, let alone have a space for the tray of food. But I wasn't expecting luxury- I got to postpartum care around 10 pm on a Thursday and was discharged by noon Saturday. All my needs were met. Yes there were frequent vital checks through the night but honestly I was a ftm and had a brand new baby and had been awake for 48 hours already, was thankful someone was checking as we didn't know what we were doing and we were exhausted and the nurses would help change the diaper, teach us to swaddle, etc. I hated one of the lactation consultants ( just thinking about it is still upsetting) and had one resident come in shortly before discharge and tell me I shouldn't try for another for 18 months which was upsetting given in already old and already needed fertility treatment. My dr said that at my 6 week visit that was untrue

Thank you for sharing your experience! Your perspective is helpful.

My obgyn told me due to the location rooms are small and bigger rooms usually go to mom who have c section. Their is one room which can't be reserved but is bigger with better food and bedding.

The hvac thing was COVID-related. Prevents the air from recirculating.

There are no bigger rooms for CS moms. They’re all the same exact size except for the deluxe suite, which is always full and cost extra.

[Anonymous]

Rooms are tiny but the nurses provide top notch postpartum care. I think if you convey to your nurse you’d prefer to not be checked on as much, they can accommodate that. You’ll still get visits from the pediatrician and the hearing test consultant (got a crazy bill for that, watch out!) though.

I personally liked the food too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rooms are tiny but the nurses provide top notch postpartum care. I think if you convey to your nurse you’d prefer to not be checked on as much, they can accommodate that. You’ll still get visits from the pediatrician and the hearing test consultant (got a crazy bill for that, watch out!) though.

I personally liked the food too!

This was my experience too. Also as a second time mom in 2022 they left me almost entirely alone (I had to call the nurse’s station for ibuprofen one time) — I had an easy delivery and was clearly comfortable nursing and caring for my baby, and I’m pretty sure they were badly understaffed that weekend — I was ready to leave at 8am Sunday but they couldn’t manage to get our paperwork together until 5pm.

This comment is not a detriment to GW — they were attentive with my first when I was very anxious and had no idea what I was doing — but more a comment in favour of their triage capabilities. Also in my experience the nurses and MUCH nicer and generally more helpful with breastfeeding support than the lactation consultants. If you want an LC, get an appointment with the breastfeeding center 1-2 days after you leave the hospital.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rooms are tiny but the nurses provide top notch postpartum care. I think if you convey to your nurse you’d prefer to not be checked on as much, they can accommodate that. You’ll still get visits from the pediatrician and the hearing test consultant (got a crazy bill for that, watch out!) though.

I personally liked the food too!

The quality of the PP nurses varies widely. Your PP experience will be dependent on nurse quality.

I had 3 babies at GW and two fabulous nurses, the rest were mediocre to awful.

I also thought the food was pretty good for hospital food and never felt the need to supplement.

Glad you had a good experience, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rooms are tiny but the nurses provide top notch postpartum care. I think if you convey to your nurse you’d prefer to not be checked on as much, they can accommodate that. You’ll still get visits from the pediatrician and the hearing test consultant (got a crazy bill for that, watch out!) though.

I personally liked the food too!

The quality of the PP nurses varies widely. Your PP experience will be dependent on nurse quality.

I had 3 babies at GW and two fabulous nurses, the rest were mediocre to awful.

I also thought the food was pretty good for hospital food and never felt the need to supplement.

Glad you had a good experience, PP.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I am feeling better about what to expect.