Delivering at Holy Cross
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Anonymous
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Hi all,
New here and first-time expectant mom. Who has delivered at HC (either Germantown or Silver Spring) and what has your experience been like? I have Kaiser and HC is one of the Kaiser options. We live in Rockville and the Germantown location is about 10min from our house. As such, I thought it was a no brainer to deliver there, but I went to pre-register my birth and came across the hospital's Google reviews and they are... scary. The overall rating is 2.6/5 and almost every review is one star. Holy Cross Silver Spring is not much better at 2.7/5. I can't tell if the bad experiences are mostly related to emergency care and if the labor/delivery care is better. Given that I have Kaiser, my options are limited (and I also don't think I want to get on the beltway while in labor if I can avoid it), but of course my main goal is safety and health for self and baby. I am low risk so my OB (who I LOVE) thought HC Germantown would be a good option for me, but I am astounded at how low the hospital reviews are. Even though I know the wait times can be longer at HC Silver Spring, knowing that the hospital is rated *slightly* better than Germantown and there is a higher-level NICU makes me feel safer. I of course take Google reviews with a grain of salt, but I looked up other DC hospitals (Sibley, WHC, Georgetown, Shady Grove, GW) and the overall ratings were much higher, between 3-4.4/5. Additionally, I looked up two Kaiser facilities I regularly frequent and they were ranked 4.5/5 which reflects my experience with Kaiser (although I'd be inclined to give Kaiser 5/5 as I've felt incredibly well supported with Kaiser and love my care team). These comparisons make me even more nervous about choosing to deliver in HC. Thanks for any insight you can provide. |
Anonymous
| It's been a while--my son turns 8 in December, but I had a lovely scheduled c at HC Silver Spring. It was after a stillbirth so you can imagine I was stressed. But everyone and everything was lovely. I recall the anesthesiologist being particularly kind, the night nurse I had (stayed I think 4 nights) was also particularly good. But overall, if I'd decided to have another kid, I would have gone back. With that being said, you will hear horror stories from everywhere. |
Anonymous
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I delivered at Sibley but had to go to Holy Cross L&D for a situation earlier in pregnancy. HC was definitely "less nice" in terms of facilities. e.g. L&D triage were just beds separated by curtains vs whole private rooms at Sibley. Like I could hear a woman wailing in a bed close by at HC. Women were also walking around the same area that seemed in early labor. So less privacy in that area. There's a teaching element there, I had a rotating med student do my evaluation who seemed so green I wonder if it was his first day. There was also a quick Christian prayer over PA every I forget how many hours, this may be fine for some but I didn't appreciate.
On the other hand I has 2 friends deliver at HC and they were fine. I would personally not pick HC for a future delivery because I think there are better places, but I don't think it was awful or anything. Also, IDK if the ratings you looked at were for L&D specifically or the hospital in general. I will say that the HC Emerg sucked when I had the bad luck to go for non-pregnancy. Like... more than other Emergs that I've seen for family etc. Really sucked. So if people are rating the Emerg, I can see how the hospital might have crappy ratings. |
Anonymous
| I delivered at holy cross with dr Jacobs who I love dearly. It was perfectly fine (and this was April 2020). |
Anonymous
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I delivered DS at HC Silver Spring, and DD at HC Germantown, both while on Kaiser. Had a good experience both times. Both were scheduled inductions; DS was much tougher and took longer, but both ended up well in the end. The hospitals themselves were fine, Germantown was a little nicer and newer looking than Silver Spring, no complaints there. As a PP mentioned, the triage area in Silver Spring is not totally private; there are rooms separated by curtains down a corridor, and you can see and hear a lot- but hopefully you’d be routed to active labor room soon and not have to wait in triage logn. The nursing staff in L&D and also in recovery were almost uniformly great, nothing but good things to say about them.
The OB who did the deliveries was the Kaiser OB who happened to be on call at the time. Neither time was it a doc from my usual KP facility (Kensington). I think the pediatrician who did the initial exam for the babies was also Kaiser, though can’t remember exactly. |
Anonymous
| I delivered at HC Germantown 2 years ago. It was smooth, no issues, very quiet and private, which was amazing. I gave birth and was released to go home within 10 hours. It was a significantly better experience than Shady Grove Adventist. My OB was from CWC. I would deliver there again. |
Anonymous
| I went to HC Silver Spring because I live in the neighborhood. It was perfectly fine! My kid came early and had to be in NICU. I was so glad that we choose the closest hospital because we were going to the hospital everyday for two weeks. That would have been more difficult if the hospital were farther. |
Anonymous
| In no way would I deliver at a catholic hospital. |
Anonymous
| My baby died at HC Germantown. I could overhear the tech saying that it didn't need to happen. I was 36 weeks. Run. |
Anonymous
| I am also on Kaiser and live in Rockville. I plan to deliver at Reston Health Center. The Catholic thing makes me uncomfortable as well and also various ratings were not great. |
Anonymous
I'm so sorry that's awful |
Anonymous
How does that make you uncomfortable? I had a great birth experience at Holy Cross Germantown. |
Anonymous
| They tend to understaff the RNs so just be aware |
Anonymous
NP. If it's saving you or the baby, it's going to be the baby. Not everyone would make that choice. |
Anonymous
They refuse to treat a variety of conditions (e.g. ectopic pregnancies) because of their religious objections. That is a situation where the embryo cannot even be saved and can be life threatening to the woman, so it does not inspire confidence that they will do a good job caring for me or my baby. Also, my family does not meet the Catholic church's rather narrow definition of family (they don't approve of gay people, trans people, conception by IVF, single parenthood unless by adoption, and any number of other family arrangements). I understand this doesn't mean every nurse and doctor will necessarily give me the side eye, but they have a crucifix in every room and frequent Catholic prayers over the loudspeaker. Thus it makes me uncomfortable. Glad you had a great experience but it's just not for me. |