I want to avoid a c-section, joined GW midwives but got the waitlist. Other Midwife or OB options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

I don't think insurance has anything to do with it. I am not sure why GW has a low c section rate, but I imagine there are a number of factors. The influence of the midwife practice, doctors work in 24 hour shifts so no rush to deliver patients by the end of the shift, emphasis on the latest technology and research on best methods to avoid c sections. Maybe someone has a better explanation, but the lower c section rate is why I choose to deliver there. I pushed for over 3 hours and even though I was begging for a c section (epidural had worn off) the doctors said no because there was no medical need and baby was born healthy soon thereafter. I am very glad they didn't cut me open just because I was hysterical and tired.

To the OP, if the main reason you want midwives is to avoid a c section, you should consider staying with GW OBs. The OB on call delivers you, not any specific doctor, and they are all natural birth friendly. I was not a midwife patient but the midwife on call checked on me during labor anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

Excellent questions.
Anyone care to speculate?

Interesting question, given that women with private insurance have a higher c-section rate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

Excellent questions.
Anyone care to speculate?

Interesting question, given that women with private insurance have a higher c-section rate

I didn't realize that. Now who says profit doesn't motivate OB's to do more profitable procedures on the more wealthy women?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

I don't think insurance has anything to do with it. I am not sure why GW has a low c section rate, but I imagine there are a number of factors. The influence of the midwife practice, doctors work in 24 hour shifts so no rush to deliver patients by the end of the shift, emphasis on the latest technology and research on best methods to avoid c sections. Maybe someone has a better explanation, but the lower c section rate is why I choose to deliver there. I pushed for over 3 hours and even though I was begging for a c section (epidural had worn off) the doctors said no because there was no medical need and baby was born healthy soon thereafter. I am very glad they didn't cut me open just because I was hysterical and tired.

To the OP, if the main reason you want midwives is to avoid a c section, you should consider staying with GW OBs. The OB on call delivers you, not any specific doctor, and they are all natural birth friendly. I was not a midwife patient but the midwife on call checked on me during labor anyway.

Could I please get the names or phone number for these OBs? I looked on the website and called the ones in VA and they said they don't deliver at GW. Who are these 24hr shift doctors that you are referring about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

I don't think insurance has anything to do with it. I am not sure why GW has a low c section rate, but I imagine there are a number of factors. The influence of the midwife practice, doctors work in 24 hour shifts so no rush to deliver patients by the end of the shift, emphasis on the latest technology and research on best methods to avoid c sections. Maybe someone has a better explanation, but the lower c section rate is why I choose to deliver there. I pushed for over 3 hours and even though I was begging for a c section (epidural had worn off) the doctors said no because there was no medical need and baby was born healthy soon thereafter. I am very glad they didn't cut me open just because I was hysterical and tired.

To the OP, if the main reason you want midwives is to avoid a c section, you should consider staying with GW OBs. The OB on call delivers you, not any specific doctor, and they are all natural birth friendly. I was not a midwife patient but the midwife on call checked on me during labor anyway.

When I was doing this research for my first, in 2010, before the midwives came to GW, GW was known as one of the most friendly hospitals to unmedicated deliveries, and had a very low c-section rate. GW sees lots of older mothers, and also lots of mothers without insurance, young mothers who may or may not be in good health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

Excellent questions.
Anyone care to speculate?

Interesting question, given that women with private insurance have a higher c-section rate

I didn't realize that. Now who says profit doesn't motivate OB's to do more profitable procedures on the more wealthy women?

Nah. It's way easier to blame the poors.

[Anonymous]

http://www.gwdocs.com/obgyn-obstetrics-gynecology

MFA's website. To schedule an appoint,want, you need to decide which office you would prefer to visit and call them directly.

The 24 hour shift do trios are the attending OBs, the ones you see for appointments. It's just that they have changed the way the doctor's schedules work to reduce the risk that one might call for a c section simply because their shift was about to end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

I don't think insurance has anything to do with it. I am not sure why GW has a low c section rate, but I imagine there are a number of factors. The influence of the midwife practice, doctors work in 24 hour shifts so no rush to deliver patients by the end of the shift, emphasis on the latest technology and research on best methods to avoid c sections. Maybe someone has a better explanation, but the lower c section rate is why I choose to deliver there. I pushed for over 3 hours and even though I was begging for a c section (epidural had worn off) the doctors said no because there was no medical need and baby was born healthy soon thereafter. I am very glad they didn't cut me open just because I was hysterical and tired.

To the OP, if the main reason you want midwives is to avoid a c section, you should consider staying with GW OBs. The OB on call delivers you, not any specific doctor, and they are all natural birth friendly. I was not a midwife patient but the midwife on call checked on me during labor anyway.

Could I please get the names or phone number for these OBs? I looked on the website and called the ones in VA and they said they don't deliver at GW. Who are these 24hr shift doctors that you are referring about?

http://www.gwdocs.com/obgyn-obstetrics-gynecology

Call the number for the I St location, I think that's the main office. They will get you in with whatever OBs have appts that fit your schedule. I go between the Mst and Ist location based on availabiltity so I am not familiar with the other locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Could I please get the names or phone number for these OBs? I looked on the website and called the ones in VA and they said they don't deliver at GW. Who are these 24hr shift doctors that you are referring about?

What do you mean, "the ones in VA"? The GW OBs work/deliver in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW OBs have a very low c section rate.

and it just occurred to me, that's pretty awesome considering many midwife patients who are higher-risk are transferred there. or maybe those are the same patients really trying to avoid a C- even though they are high risk?

i also wonder what the rate of insurance coverage has to do with the # of C-sections the OBs perform. do you think that the OB population going to GW has crappier insuranc and thus the docs try harder to avoid for finanical reasons?

I don't think insurance has anything to do with it. I am not sure why GW has a low c section rate, but I imagine there are a number of factors. The influence of the midwife practice, doctors work in 24 hour shifts so no rush to deliver patients by the end of the shift, emphasis on the latest technology and research on best methods to avoid c sections. Maybe someone has a better explanation, but the lower c section rate is why I choose to deliver there. I pushed for over 3 hours and even though I was begging for a c section (epidural had worn off) the doctors said no because there was no medical need and baby was born healthy soon thereafter. I am very glad they didn't cut me open just because I was hysterical and tired.

To the OP, if the main reason you want midwives is to avoid a c section, you should consider staying with GW OBs. The OB on call delivers you, not any specific doctor, and they are all natural birth friendly. I was not a midwife patient but the midwife on call checked on me during labor anyway.

I was told that when it was time to deliver I wouldn't be "put on the clock" as many hospitals do. In many places if you're in labor for 24 hours they start looking at c-section. If there is no "clock" then the diagnosis of "failure to progress" seems much less likely, therefore more women are given the chance to labor longer and quite possibly, lower the c-section rate.

[Anonymous]

It might be too far for you, but I used Midwifery Care Associates, which is located in Rockville and delivers at Shady Grove Hospital.

[Anonymous]

The gw docs website has the Mfa obs.
Mfa is an umbrella of over 800 doctors.

The group that works with the midwives at gw are the first set: Gaba, Keller, Larsen, Sheth, Marko, Lesko, Krapf etc they are all amazing!

Dr. Dosouza is great but is a solo doc and can deliver at gw but mostly at sibley.

Santiago and her group are at Alexandria I nova
Hibshman, seigle, McKnight, Salgado also work at I nova Alexandria. They don't work with midwives and have a high cesarean rate.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Any other suggestions outside GW?

[Anonymous]

European trained OBs do not believe in C-Sections.

[Anonymous]

http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Bruce_Ames/profile

He's the best, but he may not be accepting new patients.