Need Referral for OB and Primary at Kaiser West End!

[Anonymous]

Hello- Pregnant with first, 39 years old, just starting my 13th week. I had to transfer from BCBS (I was a Reiter Hill) to Kaiser this week, which I'm a little nervous about.

Can anyone recommend a good OB at West End and tell me a little about what to expect from their care there? New to the HMO world. I could get to Cap Hill office too, though I live in Dupont, so West End is more convenient.
I would actually also really appreciate a recommendation for a good primary care dr. there as I understand I need to chooose one immediately.

Also, do you still have a choice of whether to deliver at Holy Cross or WHC if you go to an OB in DC or you are automatically told to go to WHC? Can people tell me about their experience at both hospitals? My best friend had two premies at Holy Cross and can't say enough good things about them, and I've spent time in WHC for something else and found it to be grubby, but have never seen the delivery rooms.

Very much appreciate any thoughts or referrals.

[Anonymous]

I loved Carla Cargill who is in the Capitol Hill office. She is great: smart, willing to engage in discussions about studies and risks, down to earth, personable, supportive of transitioning me to a home birth. I would recommend her highly!

We had okay experiences at both Holy Cross and WHC, although didn't give birth in either place. We went to WHC for minor pregnancy complications and were cared for by the L&D nurses; we went to the pediatric ward in Holy Cross for jaundice treatment after the baby was born. I believe you have a choice of any hospital that's within the Kaiser network, although your OB might not be at certain ones. Of course, you are probably going to get the Kaiser OB on call that night anyway in most cases so I would choose the place you want to deliver. I have heard that WHC is more friendly to unmedicated births, but I have also heard that Holy Cross has a better NICU so it all depends on what your goals and risks are. Some people have the personality and commitment to have an unmedicated birth anywhere; I was not one of those people, and since I didn't expect/fear to need the NICU I went for a home birth. Had I gone into preterm labor, we were planning to go to WHC, for what it's worth.

[Anonymous]

Re NICUs: I'll be giving birth at WHC sometime in the next 3 weeks, and my understanding was that for truly serious issues, infants are transferred to the NICU at Children's, which is within walking distance. Of course, that does pose a big burden for visiting if mom hasn't yet been discharged from WHC.

I hope someone who actually goes to the West End OB department can correct me on this, but I'd be concerned that the WE OB front office isn't currently that well-managed. I base this on a late-afternoon appointment I had with my child's pediatrician at West End about a month ago. There was one receptionist on duty covering both peds and OB, and she seemed bizzarrely slow about everything. There were 3 or 4 pregnant women in the waiting room looking incredibly grumpy, as though they'd been there a long time.

Hopefully this was just a glitch--maybe a second receptionist went home sick, or there's a position that's just been filled and now the front office works much better. But I feel as though Kaiser is pouring resources into the new Capitol Hill facility at the expense of West End.

[Anonymous]

The Capitol Hill office is in a terrible neighborhood. I'd stick with West End, and if possible, deliver at one of the VA hospitals. WHC is a dump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re NICUs: I'll be giving birth at WHC sometime in the next 3 weeks, and my understanding was that for truly serious issues, infants are transferred to the NICU at Children's, which is within walking distance. Of course, that does pose a big burden for visiting if mom hasn't yet been discharged from WHC.

I hope someone who actually goes to the West End OB department can correct me on this, but I'd be concerned that the WE OB front office isn't currently that well-managed. I base this on a late-afternoon appointment I had with my child's pediatrician at West End about a month ago. There was one receptionist on duty covering both peds and OB, and she seemed bizzarrely slow about everything. There were 3 or 4 pregnant women in the waiting room looking incredibly grumpy, as though they'd been there a long time.

Hopefully this was just a glitch--maybe a second receptionist went home sick, or there's a position that's just been filled and now the front office works much better. But I feel as though Kaiser is pouring resources into the new Capitol Hill facility at the expense of West End.

Not just visiting, but nursing (I'd think). Also, because Children's deals with extreme cases, I have heard (anecdotally) that they they are extremely rigid in the NICU in terms of IVs, formula or sugar water supplementation, and times until discharge. This can be a challenge for babies and parents when the baby is mostly healthy (had a fever during delivery but is otherwise large and full-term, for example). Of course, those are exactly the cases when you wouldn't have anticipated the NICU.

[Anonymous]

PP here: my sense was that WHC has its own, smaller NICU for borderline cases, and only sends babies in significant danger to Children's, meaning that the rigidity described wouldn't apply in most cases. However, I don't remember my source of information for this, so please take it with a grain of salt.

Once I've given birth, I'll post on whether WHC is in fact a dump. For what it's worth, I don't think the Cap Hill center neighborhood is that bad, and boy is parking easier than at WE!

[Anonymous]

I have no idea about Kaiser or any of your other questions, but I had a great experience at WHC. The labor and delivery nurses were fantastic and the deliver room was large and clean. The post-partum nurses were less great, as were the rooms, but I wasn't expecting luxury. It was perfectly fine for the 48 hours I was there. If WHC is more convenient for you, definitely go take a tour and check it out.

[Anonymous]

WHC appears fine, but once you compare it to some other area hospitals, well, there is no comparison.

[Anonymous]

For primary care, I really like Dr. Rebecca Fitch at West End. Fitima Smith is a Certified Nurse Midwife at the Capitol Hill center. She doesn't do deliveries, but would be an option for prenatal appointments (I've had good experiences with her for well-woman care). As far as the location of the new Capitol Hill center, my understanding is that it's right next to Union Station (connected by a covered walkway). The old Capitol Hill center was further north on N. Capitol St. and was not in a dicier area. If you will be using Metro, the new Capitol Hill center is probably at least as convenient as West End.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the comments so far. I appreciate the information. I'll try Dr. Fitch for primary, and take tours of both hospitals in advance.

I still haven't gotten any recommendations for OB's at the West End office- can someone out there please send me a name or two to get started?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Seriously, the neighborhood at the Capitol Hill Center is fine, and you'll never set foot in it if you drive (free valet parking in the garage) or take Metro (bridge directly from Union Station near McDonalds). The new center is really nice.

Anyway, I had a fine experience at WHC and I'll give birth there again.

Sorry, I don't know which OBs are at West End.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Really, I'm not worried at all about the Cap. Hill neighborhood! It's just that I work two blocks from the West End facility and live about 10 blocks from there, so it's MUCH more convenient.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the transition to homebirth, how does that work? Are you just paying out of pocket for a midwife? Are you doing all your prenatal visits with Kaiser but having an outside midwife for the homebirth? On average what are the costs? I'm from California and it seems like homebirth/waterbirth/birthcenters are much more common there. I haven't found much in the d.c. area. My husband just started a new job in d.c. and we have to pick insurance fast. Kaiser is cheapest but will it cost me more in the end if I do a homebirth while having Kaiser?
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Kaiser used to contract with BirthCare in Alexandria for birth center births (meaning your BirthCare visits would be covered if you had Kaiser insurance). But that relationship ended last year or the year before. Based on the information I got last year, Kaiser doesn't cover any midwife-asssisted deliveries (and Kaiser offers no out-of-network coverage for stuff like that). That is my one major gripe about Kaiser--otherwise I've been very happy with Kaiser.

[Anonymous]

RE: WHC & babies with health issues. A friend delivered a premature, very sick baby there. They kept the baby at WHC until the baby was stable enough to transfer to Children's. The baby never had anything but breastmilk. Unless your baby has serious issues, they would not transfer to Children's, and probably they wouldn't do that until after you'd checked out of WHC anyway.