newly pregnant and looking for silver spring OB...have some leads but want more opinions

[bebek]

Hi ,

I am new to the site and newly pregnant...just 8 weeks along. This is my first pregnancy and I have recently been "discharged " by my wonderful fertility specialist, Dr, Abbasi. I am now in search for an OB in the silver spring area. I want a natural childbirth and originally thought of a midwife. With the recent closings of birth centers in my area...I though I would go with a flexible OB in support of natural childbirth. My gut tells me that I want to deliver at Holy Cross as it is only 5 miles from my home. I have heard of Midwifery care associates in Rockville, but they deliver out of Shady Grove and while about 17 miles away, I think that is too far, but am unsure. I have been reading posts looking for recommendations and have found these doctors:

Dr. Laurie Tyau
Dr Ronald Jacobs
Drs. Heather Sine or Darryn Band
Dr. Morales
dr. Michele Klein
any OB at ob/gyn associates

anyone had a any good or bad experiences with these folks particularly wit a natural birth? Any others to recommend? I have Carefirst Blue Choice.

I have been a patient of Dr. Potts at Capital Women's Care on Lockwood drive and was disappointed with her care...she pumped full of fertility drugs for many cycles before giving me an ultrasound. And I saw Dr Seidel once and it was a whirlwind experience. I felt too rushed an unimportant. My wonderful specialist did an ultasound on my first visit and found I have polycystic ovaries, so I am not going back there despite the good recommendations I have seen on this forum.

Thanks in advance for your helpful feedback.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I am going to recommend Midwifery Care Associates. Usually women who start their pregnancy leaning towards natural birth or midwifery only become MORE committed to that kind of care over the course of their pregnancy. I think you will ultimately wind up disappointed in an OB with regards to natural childbirth. Regarding travel time to the hospital -- first time labors are notoriously long. You could decide to deliver your baby in Chicago and still have plenty of time to get there during early labor. The midwives at MCA are very good and I think you will be thrilled with the service they provide. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about Dr. Michele Klein at Capitol Women's Care (connected to Holy Cross Hospital)?

I went to that practice and we were very happy, though I preferred the other docs to Klein. Nothing wrong with her, I just gelled better with the others. They have two midwives at the practice if you want to go that route, one was wonderful, I think her name was Francis Knoll or something, the other was horrible - I felt like she was really condescending to my husband - likely because he was a male and couldn't deliver babies. He asked a simple question about being concerned I was so close to delivery and still riding the Metro, and she totally got borderline angry with him - started telling us this story that she used to live in Africa and watch women deliver in the fields and go back to work, and we were like, that's neat, but we are in America and are delivering in a hospital. He wasn't bothered by it that much, but I was completely turned off that she treated him. She then asked, right in front of him, if he was going to be my birth partner or if I was going to have someone else.

Just a tangent but it was off-putting, especially since my DH is the most supportive, sweetest guy ever and was a great birth partner with our first!

But I did feel Klein, and all the folks at CWC, were really competent and I would recommend that practice. It sounds like you have a lot of good options though - Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Dr. Michele Klein is great - I had a great experience with the whole practice for my first pregnancy. Wasn't crazy about Holy Cross so I switched to a different practice for my second so I could deliver at Sibley, but Dr. Klein, Dr. Coates and Dr. Norman, who delivered my daughter, were fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Hi, This is a tough decision to make, but it's wonderful that you're working hard to find a compatible caregiver. One of the downsides to any of these OB practices is that, although you can make appointments with one specific doc during your pregnancy, there is no way to know who will be on call when you go into labor. In a way you are really selecting THE PRACTICE as opposed to the individual doctor. Many of my friends found that there was one in the group that they just didn't gel with.

I would second an earlier poster's suggestion that you look into the midwifery group. It's so rare when a first time mom goes too fast to make it that distance and maybe you'll find the kind of support that you need.

I'm not anti-Holy Cross or anti-any hospital for that matter. I birthed 5 children (4 at HCH) and had wonderful unmedicated births each time. Nor am I bashing any of these groups. There are probably great docs in each group and someone who will rave about each and every one. All of my births were attended by docs in the group that you mentioned - although Potts came later - and I was thrilled with the care and hands-off approach of everyone in the group. They were totally supportive of my desire to let the process of birth unfold.

I have heard good things from friends about Dr Klein and that entire group - except for comments about Dr Norman being very interventionist and not flexible in his approach to birthing. Ouch.

Doctors aside, if you truly wish to have a natural childbirth, one of the most important things - months from now when you go into labor - is to stay home and do as much of your laboring at home as you can. You are free to move, eat, shower and are not tied down. I found it sooooo important to be able to move around during labor. Once in the hospital, the food is gone and the monitors go on. I think that the chance of someone getting impatient and wanting to intervene is so much greater if you go in too early.

Anyway, 'nuff said. I hope you find just the kind of support that you're looking for and have a joyous birth. Get back and let us know how the search goes!

[bebek]

They have two midwives at the practice if you want to go that route, one was wonderful, I think her name was Francis Knoll or something, the other was horrible

That is interesting. I have heard that they do not allow midwives to deliver in holy cross...so within this practice, you have the option to see a midwife, but inly up until it's time to deliver and then you switch to an OB? Perhaps she can help you to stay at home in labor until it's late enough to go to the hospital and not be bothered with interventions? or maybe she could even help me deliver at home? Is this right? ooohhh.... so many options!

Sorry to hear about how rude that one was to your husband. That is horrible.

I think I got this quote thing wrong.

[bebek]

Thanks for all of the great support. This is all good info...particularly the staying home for most of your labor part. Before I received these messages I was leaning towards dr. Ron Jacobs...now I've got some rethinking to do. This shouldnt be so hard. ugh.

Thanks for your input. It will surely help me make an informed decision.

keep it coming, folks!

[Anonymous]

At Capital in Silver Spring, with Tyau, et. al., dont expect to see _your_ dr. very much at all. You will rotate between all the Dr's. I went there at first and really didnt like their practice, with lots of wait times, etc. I ended up at OB/GYN associates. I got to see my Dr., Kleinman, almost every time. I can't speak to how pro-natual they are--I ended up with a c-section because my baby was breach, although they were pro-vaginal birth, and they encouraged me to go ahead and try alternative methods to get DS to turn (acupuncture, etc.), they werent going to have me try naturally while DS was breach (he was head to the side and feet down, not even engaged). I really liked the Drs though.

[Anonymous]

I know that you are looking for an MD in Silver Spring, but I have to tell you about Dr. Anne Shrout at Simmonds and SImmonds in North Bethesda. I saw her at her North Bethesda location, believe it or not it's in the upper level office space of the White Flint mall.

I started seeing her after I had to leave the midwife practice for multiple miscarriages and complications. For delivery we ended up going with a midwife, not because we did not trust Dr. Shrout but because they decided I was not high risk anymore (everything turned out just fine). If we had delivered with her I would have felt so good that she was there for us, but we really enjoyed our minimally medical birth especially after the our very medical journey. But I would have felt very comfortable in her capable hands.

However, it was because of Dr. Shrout that we felt confident in the pregnancy after so many false starts and very well cared for. I highly recommend her. Her nurses were great too.

I know it's kind of a strange recommendation because we did not deliver with her. But I saw her for a couple unsuccessful pregnancies into my 2nd trimester and she was compassionate, expert and flexible. She was very emotionally supportive in a real way (those who have gone through this know what I mean), and was very tuned in. She went far out of her way schedule-wise to do the D&Cs herself and I am forever grateful because I so trusted her and felt comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Regarding time getting to the hospital. I had no problem getting to Shady Grove from DC (40 min) to meet our MCA midwife. I called her at 6 am after overnight contractions to let her know I was in labor and didn't leave our house until after 10:30. We got to the hospital at 11:30 or so and our daughter was born at 6:30.

I have heard of first time labors going by super quick but that is pretty rare.

[Anonymous]

OP - the midwives at Dr. Klein's office are not allowed to have anything to do with labor and delivery. They most definitely won't work with you to stay home as long as possible (well, they might encourage you to do so ahead of time but they will not actually help you when the time comes the way a doula would) and no way do they do homebirths! It is really a shame in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP---for the first 30 weeks of my pregnancy I went to Dr. Klein's practice (however, just as a note, she does not do any OB, only Gyn...so you wouldn't see her for your OB appointments and she wouldn't deliver you). I saw both midwives (and, as the above poster pointed out...they are NOT allowed to deliver at Holy Cross, they only see you for your OB appointments). I had a very different experience from the above poster regarding the midwives...my first appt was with Nurse Knolls and I found her to be gruff, impatient, etc. However, I had another appointment with her where she was very, very kind. I also met with Nurse Bennett, whom I found to be kind, straightforward and helpful...so I guess it depends on the person and the day! Anyway, at 30 weeks I met with Nurse Bennett and went over my hopes for my birth (I took hypnobirthing) which included a natural birth. Basically, she said "you can do it but you will be going against the grain". She said she didn't want to lose my business, but basically directed me to a birth center. For the reasons you cite above (distance to birth centers, etc), I had trouble finding one, but ended up switching to Midwifery Care Associates. Best move I ever made. I never had a problem with the docs at CWC, but felt like they didn't know me (blank stares in the hallways, etc). Now that I have switched to the midwives, I have gotten to know all 3, they are SO kind, spend a ton of time with me (it WAS hard to get used to longer wait times for appointments! If this concerns you, get an early morning appointment), they are thoughtful, and I feel really confident going into my delivery (I am due in 3 days). It is wonderful to know that I don't have to question their judgment; we are on the same page, and have similar birthing ideologies. I agree with the above poster--generally with first labors, you have a TON of time to get where you need to be, Shady Grove shouldn't be a problem. Best of luck to you. Sorry for the long post!

[Anonymous]

I think I am going to go with the midwifery care associates in rockville. Thanks for all of your responses. They really have made this stressful decision much easier to make. If anybody else has had some good/bad info with the midwifery care group...please continue to share your experiences.

Thanks again to all of the posters!

[Anonymous]

I LOVE my ob, Dr. Richard N. Footer.

I was new to the area and found him by cross-referencing DC best doctors with my insurance with recommendations from this website forum. He has an office in Bethesda and DC, and delivers at Holy Cross. I live in northern VA but work in DC-- and would never consider getting a dr. closer to my home. Its like being in a small town in a large urban city. He is a one-man practice- takes one vacation a year, has a receptionist/nurse who knows you and you get on a first name basis with. When you call you get her voice- and never voicemail/answering service. When you deliver you get Dr. Footer- as opposed to whoever is on rotation for a large practice. For me it was kind of like a wedding planner- when you interview you want to know if she/he will be there on THE DAY, not have their assistant show up. Dr. Footer is very attentive has been practicing a long time and knows what he's doing. I had a hard time at the beginning of my pregnancy and I had no problem talking directly with the nurse AND Dr. Footer. I HIGHLY recommend him.

[Anonymous]

My mom, sisters and I have gone to OBGYN Assoc. for years. Two of us saw Jacobs exclusively for our pregnancies b/c he is awesome. Another sis exclusively saw Kleinman -- he's awesome too -- they just have slightly different bedside manners (both great, just different). One of the things I love about Jacobs is his team-work approach to pregnancy. He llistened to everything I had to say, provided his input, and highlighted the fact that I made the final call. I read in the archives way back when a comment from a doula saying that he is well loved by the nurses at HC and is a real cheerleader in the delivery room. I was in the room when he delivered my nephew last year and thought the doula was right on -- he kept things positive and upbeat even though my nephew had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. My sis pushed the baby out naturally with his encouragement and support. I needed a c-section for my second baby (although Jacobs would have let me try a vaginal had I wanted to). He was great in the OR.