Dr. Bajaj at Capital Womens Care in DC

Anonymous
I also would not recommend the practice to anyone. I didn't switch despite my misgivings, and it made for a very difficult third trimester, delivery, and post-partum recovery. It is SO important to have an OB you trust. If you like and trust a doc at 2141 K, stay with it. But if you don't, I would SERIOUSLY consider leaving.
Anonymous
I was the previous posting--1st pregnancy. Thank you so much for your advice. I have not seen any of the doctors at the practice yet, but I think I will follow my doctors rec. and see Hibshman. I called my doctor and he said stay with Hibshman as well. I know she went to alexandria, which is no big deal if she is good. Thanks for your advice. I feel better that I have made a decision
Anonymous
I've been seeing Dr. Bajaj for almost a year now -- I've been trying to get pregnant. Like others, I like her manner very much, but have decided to look elsewhere because I don't trust the office. They lost my chart many months ago -- so now each time I see Dr. Bajaj she asks me to remind her what's going on. I have to tell her my history of tests and results, and then she recommends the next step. I don't think she ever writes it down because they don't have my chart anymore. After three appts like this, I'm worried that she's not more worried. I, too, live in downtown DC and have decided to brave the suburbs and (based on recommendations from this forum) try Physicians and Midwives in Alexandria. I just don't feel like Capital Womens Care is really paying attention to me. The biggest complaint I hear about P&M is that it is too big -- but it can't be any bigger than the baby factories in DC!
Anonymous
Since you are interested in natural childbirth, I HIGHLY recommend Drs. Sanders and Schaffel, of Women OB/GYN of Washington. They were totally supportive (and psyched) of my interest in natural childbirth, and I was able to give birth intervention-free at Sibley. Loved them both. They took time to talk with me at every appointment, and Dr. Sanders still calls every couple of weeks to see how I am doing.

One drawback: They don't take most insurances. So depending on how your insurance treats out-of-network docs, they could be quite expensive. For me, it was worth it.
Anonymous
If you are going to move to the alexandria for your care you might want to look at Physicians for women which are upstairs from P and M. They are a smaller group and it is also the group that Hibshman moved to. She was at the old office but left. I switched over to her new group and it is night and day. Very happy with my choice. Also it is so much faster to get to her office on 395 corridor than in DC.
Anonymous
Based on previous posts and experience of my friends, I (unfortunately) disagree with PP. If you are considering natural childbirth, you may want to read several recent posts regarding Physician for Women. The poster found that several of the doctors at the practice were not supportive. I know Hibshman is supportive of natural childbirth, but as with many on-call practices, you don't know who will show up to catch your baby. I also know a couple who were set on attempting natural childbirth and the doctors were so dismissive, they left the practice.
Anonymous
I want to have a natural birth and am thinking of switching to Reiter Hill and Johnson. I've read good thing about Dr. Melody Abraham. Has anyone had good experiences with the other doctors at that practice?
Anonymous
I have to second Sanders and Schaffel. I have delivered twice with them and in between was dealing with some fertility issues which they also helped me with. They are incredible, the staff is friendly and helpful and the wait times are the best I have experienced in any DC practice.

They call immediately with all test results -- positive or negative. They call just to "check in." It is amazing to me that doctors like this even still exist. They know exactly who I am and they remember the details of my situation -- without even checking the chart.

Because they were out of network I had to pay $1000 co-pay to my insurance company (which covered 9 mos. of visits, delivery and post-partum), but as the previous poster said, this was worth it to me. (I recently paid a plumber $150 to come to my house for 20 minutes -- so if you do the math, the doctors are relative bargain).

I have previously been at 3 other practices in DC (had a failed pregnancy and switched to S&S part-way thru my 1st pregnancy) and there is no comparison.
Anonymous
To the PP who asked -- Reiter, Hill and Johnson is NOT AT ALL the practice to go to if you want a natural delivery. There are dozens of other practicioners I would recommend you go to before them. A low-intervention birth can be very hard to acheive around here, and the very most important thing you need to do to acheive it is go with a practice and a hospital who actually support your choices. Start a new thread and give a little more info, like where you want to deliver, whether or not you're open to midwifery care, and I can offer some suggestions.
Anonymous
The best advice I received during my pregnancy is that it is never too late to change your doctor. I was seeing Dr Bajaj right up until my 35th week. I also wanted to deliver naturally and wanted to avoid all interventions (being induced, etc.). While I didn't feel that Dr Bajaj was unsupportive, I didn't get the feeling that the practice would be supportive of our birth plan. Even though I felt Dr Bajaj was moderately supportive, I was concerned about the other doctors. So I decided to change at what turned out to be the very last minute. I ended up switching to the midwives at the DC Birth Center. It was the best decision I could have made. It turned out that my water broke the day of my 36 week appointment and I gave birth to my daughter at Washington Hospital Center. The midwives were absolutely AMAZING! In my opinion, midwives are the best choice if you are committed to a natural childbirth. This is just my opinion and I know there are a lot of great OBs out there. As far as I know, no midwives deliver at Sibley. But WHC treated us very well and our L&D nurse was outstanding. I wish you the best of luck!
Anonymous
just a quick note: i have two little ones, my youngest was delivered by Bajaj almost 6months ago - she was my OB all along my second pregnancy. i was worried while seing her that she might not be experienced enough, at the end though i ended up getting induced by her, she broke my water and although i asked for an epidural, we never got there cause my no.2 was in a real hurry (just like my first one was too) so i ended up having a natural birth, again. bajaj did a great job. no complains at all. you can try do the natural birth if your pregnancy and baby / labor permits. good luck.
bburk1
Member Offline
When I learned I was pregnant last spring, I had gone to Dr. Picco for my annual exams twice and was actually looking for another OB-GYN because of the rushed manner and bad experiences with the staff and practice. I experienced no collaborative or caring approach. So, when I got pregnant, I was a bit worried because I didn't know if I should change at that point and being new to D.C. didn't have any idea where to go. I went to Dr. Thomas Pinckert for a CVS test and then for monthly sonograms. He was so absolutely excellent -- as was his entire staff. I asked the geneticist there about switching to another OB, and she assured me that the Capital Womens Care was a really good practice. I decided to stay at Capital Womens Care because I was actually seeing Dr. Pinckert more and he took a great deal of time with me and answered every question I needed to know. Dr. Picco has been more engaged with me as a patient as my pregnancy progressed. For me, this has worked fine, but I might change when I am through with the pregnancy. I also see that the office operations have improved since the first of the year. Still, I do caution people about the practice.
Anonymous
I too had Dr Picco and Dr Bajaj and promptly left the practice based on their mannerism. I switched to Reiter and Hill and am much happier. My suggestion is leave that practice...awful office administration as well.
Anonymous
I agree with the prior PP.
Anonymous

For the poster that said that she left the practice due to Dr. Picco's mannerism, what did you mean? I've found that she speaks very fast, but always answers my questions. Did you have other concerns?

Also, it is interesting that the reference is to transfer from Newman's practice to Reiter, Hill and Johnson. I've seen lots of negative posts about that practice as well.
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