Anybody has used Greater Washington Maternal Fetal Medicine? What's your experience?

[Anonymous]

You might want to see both... Unfortunately its really not uncommon to have miscarriages when you are 40+. An RE can increase the # eggs and IVF can help find the good ones.

I had 2 amnios at GWMFM and was a patient at SG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was referred to GWMFM after three miscarriages in a row (had been working with Columbia Fertility). They did more testing relating to cause of miscarriage and then monitored my subsequent pregnancy. They were wonderful - wonderful - and so patient with someone as scared as I was any time I entered their office (bad experiences with discovering miscarriages at nuchal testing and sonos, etc). I worked with Gallagher as well, but they all seem good. Good luck to you!

Hi, this is OP here. Thanks for your feedback. Did they find anything that might have caused the miscarriages and did they suggest any treatment? I have done some testings at the suggestion of a doctor there and so far nothing seems to be wrong. They now refer me to SG.

[Anonymous]

I hated my experience with them. I went to their office once a week and only saw the doctor once. He dictated my plan of care but never discussed it with me. Next pregnancy, I'm going with a different practice.

[Anonymous]

I used GWMFM for NT screen and biweekly ultrasound cervix checks (Rockville office) as well as the 20 week anatomy scan (silver spring). Here is the good and the bad.

The good: Supposedly they have better machines that make it easier to see things/problems. Easy to make appointments. Easy to park at all locations. Ultrasound techs - which is who I spent the most time with - were very nice / friendly and seemed very competent. Docs I saw (for grand total of three minutes despite having tons of appointments there) were very nice, too.

The bad: They run REALLY late. I sat in the waiting room for over an hour (once even for two hours - I should have got up and left) on multiple occasions waiting to be seen. Always get the first appt in the morning. Also, they billed me for stuff I specifically told them I did not need or want (e.g., genetic counseling to go along with the NT scan, which I did not make an appt for and which I told both the front desk and the genetic counselor I did not need or want before they did the NT scan and the blood draw) and then they tried to get me to "split" the $250 cost with them after they billed my insurance company, who refused to pay for it. Oh, and the $250 fee they wanted me to split is not even the negotiated rate (that was $97)! Another example - I went in for the standard 20 week scan and they billed my insurance company for an additional $1000 for fetal echo cardiogram / umbilical cord doppler that a) was not ordered and be) was not even conducted. Cost to me for that was $330, and if I had not been paying attention I might have just paid it without questioning it. It's taken at least four phone calls (so far) to try to get this resolved. Ridiculous - I have better things to do with my time.

Be careful if you use them. I'm now going to my regular OB for the rest of this pregnancy, but if I need to see a specialist like this again I'll likely use another practice.

[Anonymous]

I was referred to the practice due to my AMA and twin pregnancy. We met with Dr. Pinckert, and loved him. We ended up using GWU MFA, Dr. Susanne Bathgate, because she was much closer to my house.

[Anonymous]

LOVED them! I went for the genetic testing but I had other issues my OB office refused to address, and this office did. I wish that I could have just used them for the rest of my pregnancy. I didn't see Pinckert, but I know several women who have and loved him. I saw Manley and she was great.

01/10/2012 14:28: I had the exact same problem with my 20 week us. Waited over an hour and a half and then told bladder was too full.

[Anonymous]

I had one of these one hour waiting room waits with a full bladder, but sonogram tech's great personality made up for it. I was only there for my NT scan. It was night and day different from my unpleasant sonogram at my doctor's office. I think that sonogram tech had trouble seeing anything (7.5 weeks) so she did the whole thing in dead silence. I finally asked if she saw any evidence of pregnancy. At Greater Washington, she chatted about every part of the scan like she was just as excited as we were.

[Anonymous]

I had a CVS, an amnio, and monitoring for twins at GWMFM, by Dr. Pinckert. No complications from the procedures at all, and Dr. P is just wonderful. Very warm and caring. I highly recommend him.

[Anonymous]

Same experience as others.

The bad: can be looooong wait times.

The good: Nice facilities, nice tech/machines, nice sono people and doctors.

I went there for my NT testing etc. The geneticist will take as much time as you want explaining everything to you. Good experience.

Then I went for my 20 week u/s. Was pregnant with twins and unexpectedly, to the surprise of everyone, when the sono tech moved to look at baby B, he had died. In my opinion, the sono tech handled this tough unexpected moment very well and the doctor who came in a few minutes later was great (can't recall her name, Caucasian female). Very good experience there with this very bad occurrence.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Sacks at Columbia Fertility referred me to Dr. Pinckert, since I was high risk due to twins and AMA. I did a consult with Dr. Pinckert, who was wonderful. We ended up using an OB at GW because it was much more convenient, but I highly recommend Dr. Pinckert.

[Anonymous]

I used GWMFM for both kids and obtained a pre-pregnancy consult before getting pregnant with #2. I would use both them and SG. I never had a wait time issue with either pregnancy and I was there quite a bit. I only went to the Rockville office (and I think there are other offices). Once you pick your day, you pretty much stick with that day, so if your first appt seems busy and you know that you need to go back, then pick a different day. They were so accomodating to us. When I went in one day, I had not had enough to drink so they told me to go out to lunch and come back and would see me when I got back. My regular OB would have sent me away or made me sit in the waiting room. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I’m currently a patient there and have been seeing Dr. Gallagher. He did my 20 week rescue cerclage and his practice also did 2 anatomy scans because of a slightly high AFP test. The scans came out fine and a repeat AFP test came back within normal range. I highly recommend Dr. Gallagher because his bedside manner is great and he is very positive and reassuring. I have called at least 5 separate times with question and each time the Silver Spring nurse is very nice and helpful and will usually go and ask Dr. Gallagher his opinion just to be sure she is giving me the correct information.

[Anonymous]

I was cared for by Dr. Pinckert during my pregnancy from week 12- delivery. I saw him or another dr at every appointment. I went to the Fairfax office and only experienced a long wait once when they had an emergency. I love Dr Pinckert and feel I got excellent care!

[Anonymous]

bad experience. They listed my allergy as my current medication, misspelled my name, and the doctor relays decisions through the nurse without discussing with me. And a friend's blood sample was not properly labeled and the water in the waiting room was moldy. The rudeness of the clerical staff could be dismissed as unimportant compared to these other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:bad experience. They listed my allergy as my current medication, misspelled my name, and the doctor relays decisions through the nurse without discussing with me. And a friend's blood sample was not properly labeled and the water in the waiting room was moldy. The rudeness of the clerical staff could be dismissed as unimportant compared to these other things.

Sorry you had such a bad experience, but I think you are an outlier. The vast majority of people love this practice. I saw Dr. Pinckert during my twin pregnancy, visited all three offices, and have not encountered one rude staff member, or any sort of unprofessionalism.