Dr. Laurie Tyau in Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

Anyone familiar with her? I have only visited her office once. She was nice, but, not overly friendly. This is fine with me if she gives good attention to her patients during pregnancy. I am not pregnant yet, but, am going to be trying soon. I am thinking about looking into other doctors, but, I figured I would see if anyone has any opinions on her first. Thanks for any input!

[Anonymous]

I visited her on a recommendation as well, and started out with their practice, but since its such a big practice, I never saw her again, even though I started as "her patient." I wasn't all that happy with the practice (epic wait times, didn't love some of the other doctors) and I ended up transferring for a completely different reason--insurance change. I ended up with OB GYN Associates in Silver Spring, in the Holy Cross building and loved Dr. Kleinman and Dr. Novak. Even though there were several Docs in the practice it felt smaller and more on top of things.

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely recommend Dr. Tyau - I've been using the practice now through 3 pregnancies and one miscarriage (which required special follow-up care). Dr. Tyau was my primary OB for my first pregnancy and I felt like she was great.
However, I have noticed that the waits in the SS office are long (I usually go to the Rockville office). And, if you are not comfortable with all the doctors, you might want to look elsewhere - when you are dealing with pregnancy, why add more stress? I've been very happy over many years, but would urge you to listen to your gut feelings on the matter of your doctor. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

This is my third pregnancy, last one I had a miscarriage
which Dr Tyau did a D&C. As a whole, I would not
recommend her because I don't feel she particularly
connects to the patient, at least for me I believe
as a clinician and a mother, the doctor should
be more compassionate, if you are looking for
someone that will look for your interests she is not
the one, worries more about bureaucracy.
I have made up my mind, that I don't want her taking
care of me anymore because I don't trust her
judgment for my baby's wellbeing.

fo

[Anonymous]

I started out at this practice and really, really like Dr. Tyau as well as the other Drs. I saw. However, between the unreasonable wait times and the fact the staff gave me some misinformation related to some fertility issues we were going through, I switched practices and am SO HAPPY I did. I think the Drs. in the practice are good but I think it's too large of a practice and is somewhat mismanaged.

[Anonymous]

My son was born recently, and CWC (Band/Tyau et al) was my OB practice. I was a Rockville office patient and wait times were minimal. I started as Dr Tyau's patient, but saw the other OBs throughout my pregnanacy. I felt Dr Band really took the time to discuss any concerns my husband and I had. My husband didn't like the visits with Tyau because as he put it, she answers your questions with as few words as possible. Doesn't offer any detailed explainations or additional info beyond the question asked.

In the end, I didn't meet the OB that was on call during my delivery until that day at the hospital. So you may want to consider a smaller practice if that's a concern.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Tyau seems like a competant doctor, but she really doesn't connect with her patients and seems to have the attitude that 'doctor-knows-best' regardless of the opinions and prefereces of her patient. She delivered my (healthy! thank goodness) daughter, but her disregard for me has left me still furious even though time has gone by.

Although I liked some of the other doctors in the practice (Dr. Sine, Dr. Resta, Dr. Band) when I went in for my checkups, I would not recommend the practice. If you do choose the doctors at Capital Women's Care on Georgia, please know that they if you want a natural birth they may not be a good fit. One doctor told me, "Sure, we won't give you an epidural until you ask, but 90% of our patients have an epidural." What that means is that they won't be supportive of a more natural way even if you tell them you want it.

Here are some of the highlights of my experience -- Dr. Tyau sent me to the hospital to be induced with the words "You just have to trust us, this is an emergency. Do you want to have a stillborn child?" And then didn't come to see me in the hospital until 16 hours later. It's just unkind to tell an expectant mother there is a problem and then never explain what the problem is. I still don't know what the problem was. When she finally did come to check up on me the next morning, she broke my water without discussing that move with me. Dr Tyau didn't look apologetic or surprised at the rush of liquid, and when I asked, "did you just break my water" Dr. Tyau claimed it was an accident. Somehow, I didn't believe her since I was was undialated and she gave me the longest, roughest pelvic exam that I've ever had. The fact that my water was broken meant that I needed a c-section 15 hours later when I started running a fever. Throughout the whole ordeal, I don't think Dr. Tyau even looked at my birth plan for my preferences or sympathized with me that things were not going according to the plan.

I hope that helps. I didn't start to realize that CWC on Georgia wasn't a good fit for me in about the 35th week. My daughter was my first child, so it took awhile for me to figure out what I thought was important. In hindsight, I wish I had looked for another doctor or practice even though it was late in my pregnancy because you really want to have someone you trust when you are giving birth and I've learned that when dealing with a practice group you really have to like all the doctors.

[Anonymous]

It's funny to see some of the responses with Dr. Tyau, because I had the total opposite experience with her. I think she has great bedside manner, and was pretty on point with all my visits during my pregnancy. She always knew what was going on in my charts, and was empathetic at the 39th week of my pregnancy because she saw how much dis-comfort I was in, so we ended up scheduling an induction. She seems to be very well rounded, bright, good bed-side manner, and great judgement. I would go back to her. She did not deliver my baby because I did end up delivering before the induction. I had Dr. Sine deliver my baby, and she was great. She was a positive coach the whole way through the labor. My only complaint is that the office is really dis-organized with charts and information. And, I did have to wait a long time. Plus, I really dis-like Holy Cross. They are a terrible hospital to deliver in. The nurses are nasty, and they are running a baby factory. It was one of the most un-professional staff I have ever seen.

[Anonymous]

I am going to Dr. Tyau for uterine fibroids and she was recommended to me by a co-worker. For my first appt she was very nice and attentative to my concerns. I also like how she sits you down in her private office first to get to know you and you her as well as your concerns.

[Anonymous]

Like 11:40, I feel like Dr. Tyau is very personable and friendly. Dr. Tyau, Resta, and Sine are my favorites in that practice. Also, I really like the front desk staff and the nursing staff. I didn't have any problems with them at all. I called the nurse line *a lot* during my pregnancy, and the nurses always called back the same day and were very nice and reassuring.

That said, I'm not in love with the practice. I was a very nervous first-time pregnant woman, and I didn't think they did as thorough a work-up as other practices seem to do. For example, they rarely measured my fundic height, and I thought it was pretty standard to do that at each app't in third trimester to assess fetal growth. Also, the 32 week ultrasound is the last one they do, and most of my friends who go to other practices have a 36 week ultrasound as well. I just felt like the docs weren't as on top of things as I wanted them to be. To be fair, I had a normal, healthy (albeit very uncomfortable) pregnancy, so maybe if I'd had any problems they would have caught them? I just didn't think they were monitoring my pregnancy closely enough.

Also, I really liked Holy Cross. I was in labor for 27 hours, and the nurses in L&D were *amazing*. Really on top of things, really sympathetic, personable and encouraging. The L&D suite I was in was gorgeous. Once I got to the maternity ward, things weren't so impressive: security was a joke and I felt like anyone could walk in off the streets to go to the maternity ward and the nurses there were hit or miss (some were awesome, while others would barely remember to give me my pain meds).

[Anonymous]

Well, Dr. Tyau delivered my first baby via emergency cesarean. He was frank breech. She and her team of dedicated nurses put me under general anesthesia so that neither me nor my husband could witness the birth of our first child. She cut my uterus w/ an inverted T incision because baby's head was stuck. Although I am grateful that my baby was totally healthy and that I had no physical complications. I had major emotional complications and PTSD from the whole experience. To make it worse, when I went to see her for my 6 week visit, she said to me, "well if he was further down in the birth canal, I would have just let you push him out." She said it w/ a smile, and I think she was just trying to be nice and to make light of the situation..... She also told me about my inverted T incision and when I asked her if I could VBAC, she said it would be no problem. When i became pregnant the second time, I was told by another doctor in that practice that I could NOT VBAC due to my type of incision, the inverted T. I thought they were just giving me crap because they don't attend many VBACs, but then when I started shopping around for providers, pretty much all of them told me that I should have a repeat cesarean due to the type of scar I had from the first cesarean. I felt like Dr. T totally lied to my face, she withheld information that would have been very important to know up front. I did talk to her during my second pregnancy and she back peddled, saying well it would be better to just have another cesarean. (on a side note, check out special scars website, by Jessica Tiderman, it IS possible for women w/ inverted T or even classical incision to VBAC-just rare that it happens in hospital bc docs are so afraid) I think she is a nice person and a skilled physician, but her communication is poor and that poor communication caused harm for me. I would never go to any of the doctors in that practice again if I were pregnant (if I wanted a natural birth), they are all about interventions (which, sometimes are totally necessary and it's great to have a skilled physician when they are needed). If you want lots of intervention and don't care if you end up w/ a cesarean, then that's a good practice for you.

A side note, i was born through my mother's birth canal, in a frank breech position, 38 years ago. The obstetrician who attended my delivery was seemingly drunk, and slurring his words. My mother was not cut open and we were both fine...... Frank breech is the safest position for a breech vaginal delivery.

If you want a natural delivery, go for a midwife practice, they are your best bet......

[Anonymous]

As a physician, I have to say they are the most competent OB providers at holy cross- they are the ones you want delivering your baby in an emergent situation or in the OR. Dr. Tyau may not be oozing warmth but I absolutely trust her judgement in the delivery room. I agree that they do not measure fundal height regularly, but honestly, is a crude measurement. I have found the practice conservative, responsive, and competent. The wait times can be long, I agree.

[Anonymous]

Can't speak much to Dr. Tyau (only saw her once), but I delivered my son with this practice this year. The wait times were not at all an issue for me. I easily got early morning appointments without really trying and got out pretty quickly. I thought the practice was managed well (not disorganized). The staff was very nice, and I was happy with my delivery at Holy Cross. I plan to stick with them for my second baby.

For what it's worth, my favorite doctors were Resta and Sine. They were good talkers, so I didn't feel like I had to ask very specific questions to get answers. They just provided lots of information. Dr. Tyau struck me as having a more reserved personality.

[Anonymous]

I stayed with this practice through 3 pregnancies because of how well they handled my first pregnancy. I ended up with unexpected complications, and Dr. Tyau was the one to catch the problem, based on external height measurements of the uterus. From there they acted quickly, and I have a healthy daughter as a result, though I know she was at real risk (based on many tests in the hospital).

When my second pregnancy came soon after, Dr. Tyau ordered some tests which identified (on the first try!) that I have a rare condition which caused the problems in my first pregnancy. Knowing that, we were able to 'fix' it, and my next 2 pregnancies went without problems. I was so impressed that she was the one caught the problems the first time, and then identified the root cause, that I've stayed with them ever since. I trust their judgement. The reality is that pregnancy can be risky for baby and mom, and I'm grateful they're skilled in helping us through it!

FWIW, Dr. Band supported my VBAC wishes for pregnancies 2 and 3, since I didn't have risk factors for problems there... Front office staff is very warm, nursing support was wonderful. Agree on the long waits!

[Anonymous]

One of the best doctors I've used --she is caring, patient, kind and spends time explaining. I don't understand the comments from many of the DCUM and D's. Dr. Tyau has a great bedside manner --maybe she just doesn't put up with self indulgent whinners.