VA Women's Health Associates - Dr. Hersch

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with Dr. Hersch delivering a baby via c-section? Dr. Franklin? I'd love to hear feedback on these doctors. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I don't, but my friend had Dr. Hersch for all three of her c-sections. She would not have anyone else in the practice do it because she loved Dr. Hersch that much.

[Anonymous]

I was followed by Dr Hersch, Dr Franklin and Dr Wilson when I was pregnant with twins (2006). It is a great practice. I saw all of them because I did not know when I would deliver. I had a c section that Dr Wilson performed. Everything went well. They only deliver at Reston Hospital. This is a really nice hospital! Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

No experience with them doing a C-section (I had mine done at a different practice). But, in case you're unaware, Dr. Hersch's runs a very religiously oriented practice. I changed practices because I didn't feel comfortable with the way they forced their religious views on their patients.

[Anonymous]

Curious to know more specifics on which religion Dr. Hersch pushes on patients, PP? In what ways did he actually communicate this pressure to you?

[Anonymous]

I am 11:27 pp, I was with Dr. Hersh's practice for ten years and they never once mentioned religion in any visit. I am aware that Dr. Hersh is catholic (found out after years being seen by her). FYI, I am catholic and pro-life.

[Anonymous]

I'm 10:34 PP. Yeah, my friend did mention that Dr. Hersch's practice is openly religious and does not hesitate to mention how they feel...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious to know more specifics on which religion Dr. Hersch pushes on patients, PP? In what ways did he actually communicate this pressure to you?

Like the PP said, it's a very Catholic, pro-life practice. There are crosses hung up in the exam rooms. They will not prescribe IUDs, and at the time Plan B was not OTC, they refused to write me a prescription. (Before I get flamed, I only wanted it on hand for emergencies as recommended by an RN friend of mine.)

I suppose they have the write to not Rx IUDs, but they need to make that known beforehand when I made the appointment that they provide only limited services. This way I would have had the choice not to go there. I chose the practice because it was in my insurance book. When I was seen and they said that they would not provide these services, the Dr. told me that I would need to go elsewhere. Well, you only get one well gyn exam a year - I'd have to pay for another myself. Like I said, I wish I had known beforehand.

They should advertise as a Pro-Life OB practice, instead of one that provides "Complete GYN Care." They obviously do not.

[Anonymous]

I was a patient at Virginia Women's Health for years, up until about the 4th month of my pregnancy, when I switched to Kaiser Permanente. While I had good experiences with their staff over the years, I did feel that Dr. Hersch was judgmental of the fact that I was a sexually active unmarried woman.

The reasons I switched away from the practice were more practical than anything else. They refer everything out rather than doing things inhouse. You have to go outside the practice for even routine sonograms, which I found kind of annoying since there was a sonogram machine in the exam room. And they only deliver out of Reston Hospital, which was an issue for me. (I went to the Tysons office, live nowhere near Reston and wanted to deliver at Inova Fairfax.)

[Anonymous]

I switched from Dr. Franklin after 2 visits when I was pregnant with #1. Did not like her at all. Worst doctor I've ever had. Obviously though, some people had much better experiences.