Delivering/Pediatrician at Georgetown University Hospital

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Has anyone delivered at GU Hospital recently? I've head knee surgery there and it was great, but I know nothing of their labor and delivery department. Any views?

Also, do any of you guys have a pediatrician at GU Hospital? I am looking for recommendations.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I delivered my son at GU in 2005 and my daughter in 2006. Both experiences were great. Now we see Mike Donnelly and/or Amy Burke at GU (the are internists but specialize in pediatrics on the 6th floor of PHC building).

[Anonymous]

I posted a question about delivering at Gtown on the old forums a few weeks ago and got nothing but positive responses. I delivered my first at Sibley and had an OK-but-not-great experience, and my OB also delivers at Gtown, so I'm considering switching. The only issue most people mentioned was that Gtown is a teaching hospital, meaning more people around during labor/delivery and checking on you in recovery.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to second the advice you received from the previous posters. Delivered my daughter at Georgetown and will also have my second child there. Dr. Donnelly is also our pediatrician and we're very pleased. He or Dr. Burke will come see your baby in the hospital if you choose them as your pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

I delivered at georgetown 3 weeks ago and had a fantastic experience.

Also, if you go to their clinic for peds, you may see a resident, but they're fabulous there.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all. This is very informative. I don't mind the hovering by residents and others at a teaching hospital. Also, I've heard from a GU Med alum that the residents on the labor and delivery floor are particularly protective of their patients. Apparently, the nurses are really nice, too. Thanks also for your pediatrician recommendations.

BTW, any thoughts on the OBs at GU Hospital? I've been seeing Wulf and have found her to be rather matter of fact and brusque, while all my friends have had warm and fuzzy OBs at private practices. Every time I am in there for a check-up, she's literally with me for under 5 minutes!

[Anonymous]

I can't say enough positive things about Dr. Burke. I switched my daughter out of Gtown's peds practice when she turned 1. I thought most of the docs were good, but it was hard to see the same person and get any sort of continuity. Burke is super smart, super friendly and extremely responsive to phone calls. She always takes the time to call back personally if we leave a message with a question. She does internal medicine there and I'm pretty sure she's taking new peds patients.

With regard to OB/gyns at Gtown, I saw Dr. Colie for many years and thought she was great. Wulf ended up delivering my daughter and I would not describe my experience with her as positive at all. I ended up switching out of the practice after that.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I also liked Dr. Buek at Gtown.

[Anonymous]

I can recommend Dr. John Buek. Very knowledgeable and great bedside manner. He always took the time to answer any questions/address concerns even if it was obvious he was in a hurry. However, most of the appointments were still 5-10 minutes long. It seems that most (all?) of the OBs at GU are always overbooked and in a hurry, so if you want more time you may consider switching to a different practice. Dr. Wulf is not "warm and fuzzy" but she is very competent. She was the dr who did my emergency c-section and did a fantastic job.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend Dr. Bathgate. She delivered my first, and will be delivering my second.

[Anonymous]

I had started at the GU practice with my pregnancy and saw Dr Wulf. I did not have a positive experience. She was mostly rushed, not warm and sometimes aloof. I also saw a couple of others in the practice. I really liked Dr. Buek, but all of the appointments seemed to be 5 minutes, although he was very nice, great bedside manner. As I kept seeing Dr Wulf more, I wasn't comfortable with her so I switched to another practice altogether and did not end up delivering at GU because of the their OB practice.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, again to everyone who took the time to chat about the OB practice at GU Hospital. I was with a private practice before and my doc stopped doing OB. Plus, that practice is associated with a hospital that is way to far from either work or home for me.

I saw Dr. Colie recently and she had a great bedside manner. However, I couldn't get into see her at my next visit, which will be with Wulf again. The specific issue I have with Wulf is that she doesn't answer questions satisfactorily. In fact, the only time my husband was with me when I saw her, she ended up antagonizing the both of us as we were asking her questions. Her bottom line comment was that she "didn't want to get in the way of a 'marital spat' and we should keep her out of it!" Given that as first time parents to be we were concerned and asking a lot of questions (rather than arguing with her or each other), I would've expected her to be more patient. Instead, she ended up pissing us off and not answering anything. I came out of that appointment completely rattled with my husband in a foul mood.

I am sure Wulf is very competent--she certainly has the right credentials; and I am sure after all this, she may be the one who delivers my baby. However, I do dread my meetings with her because I come out of them with no new information, none of my concerns really addressed (her usual response is, "these are the medical stats. it's up to you whether you want to pursue xyz or not"), and I end up feeling like I could've measured the fundal size myself and read up on everything else on the Internet.

That's the long and short of it. I like GU Hospital, so if anyone knows of a private practice associated with GU, I'd be interested. Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

I concur with the above comments about Wulf. My first and only encounter with her was when I was in labor. She was on call that evening. There must have been a full moon that night, because several other women were admitted to Georgetown that night. The staff was terribly overburdened. My primary interaction with Wulf consisted of a heated discussion between my husband and her of how Gtown couldn't treat me until I was entered into the system and they were waiting for the data entry clerk to do so. She was not very pleasant and I was doubled over in severe pain. I only saw Wulf once more for a couple of minutes many hours later. Shortly thereafter, a new team (including attending OB) took over. Dr. Amini delivered our baby and he was fantastic. We feel fortunate that no complications arose during the hours that we were left alone. The nurses and lactation consultants at Georgetown are great. Thanks to the lactation consultants at Georgetown, our baby gained weight at "a beautiful rate" to quote one of our pediatricians.

[Anonymous]

14:19 switch, switch, switch obs as fast as you can! If she is making you feel that way now it will only get worse the farther you get. You end up with a lot of appointments and its stressful to have a rude ob/gyn. At GU as long as you are flexible on days you should be able to start seeing someone else in the practice. As the appointment scheduler who works on what day for the next appointment. Dr Buek, and Dr Breen are fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, again, everyone. The fantastic-ness of Buek and Breen ensure that they're not available EVER! However, I'm persevering and will try, try and try.