Washington Hospital Center (WHC) -- first time expectant mom wondering about birthing options

[Anonymous]

I would love some recent feedback on people's experiences with the Washington Hospital Center and the OB practice associated with it. I used to see Dr. Ellen Whitaker for gyn exams, and recently had an appointment with her colleages who cover the OB practice, which is apparently a group of female doctors who are associated with WHC. I've now seen Dr. Darolia, who was perfectly nice (though did not exactly wow me), and will be seeing Dr. Melancon shortly. (Apparently expectant moms rotate through the doctors in order to be comfortable with all.) I understand that the practice is associated with -- and I believe only delivers at -- WHC. I don't have many friends with children, but know some who have delivered at Sibley; none are familiar with WHC.

I would love to hear about others' experiences! Some questions (though would love to hear general impressions, since I am sure I do not yet know which questions to ask): Are the nursing staff friendly and attentive? Were you comfortable? (as much as possible). Private rooms? State-of-the-art facilities? On-call doctors? Post-partum care? I read some bad reviews of the lactation assistance, would like to know if that is old information and has been remedied.

Thanks! - R

[Anonymous]

You might want to start here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/54446.page#393473

[Anonymous]

My old OB , Dr John Buek, left georgetown for WHC. He was WONDERFUL!! (if you don't mind an attractive male)

[Anonymous]

I delivered with that practice 2 weeks ago and it went really well. I didn't love the post-partum care, the nurses were nice, but they sort of just left us alone. I expected more help and instructions/education. However, I have seen Dr. Melancon for my whole pregnancy and LOVE her! She didn't deliver my baby, but the dr. was great. Also, WHC relies heavily on residents to do the work, but they were great too. Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

I delivered at WHC with the DCBC midwives in April, and with 2 exceptions noted below, had a fantastic experience. Most of that I credit to the DCBC midwives, who, in my opinion, are just phenomenal and are the only reason (well, along with my doula) that I was able to have a vaginal delivery despite 32 hours of labor and a very stubborn cervix (scar tissue, etc.). I found the facility to be very nice, clean, comfortable, etc., and the administrative staff, L&D and post partum nurses, and other staff members we interracted with were almost all very competent, pleasant, etc. All in all, it was a very positive experience (and only 5-8 minutes from our house, so that was a plus too). The only exceptions I had to the positive experience were both manageable (and I would definitely deliver there again), but I note them anyway, FYI:

One, the first L&D nurse I had botched my IV several times to the point my hand was bruised and in pain; ultimately, when I complained about pain for the 3rd or 4th time, she admitted she kept screwing it up and asked someone else do it--maybe she was overtired, who knows, not great but at least she took responsibility for it.

Two, the anesthesiologist was an ass. I don't recall his name, but he was a middle-aged man with glasses, balding, very brusque attitude. At one point, after I'd been in labor for over 24 hours and finally got an epidural, but was still vomiting, shaking, shivering, contracting all the while, etc., while still trying my hardest to remain focused, he came in, looked exasperated that I was still laboring, and actually made a slicing/cutting motion at his abdomen and said something to the effect of, don't you see, this baby wants to come out here (pointing to abdomen with slicing motion). Unbelievable! He knew, as did everyone there, that I was very intent on delivering vaginally and avoiding a C-section. The epidural he ultimately gave me (after 24 hours labor) also didn't work very well. It did provide temporary relief for a few hours, but then wore off completely despite my getting a booster (or whatever they call the bump up). Ultimately, that was okay with me, as I ended up having what felt like a natural birth about 8 hours later (the pain was horrific, which I could have done without, but I was very glad that I could move around, change positions, wasn't immobilized, etc.). I told the anesthesiologist that I was feeling everything, and he said something like, no, that can't be, I gave you a perfect epidural. WHATEVER.

All the other postives made up for his idiocy, and having our beautiful DD arrive and change our lives made the glitch in the road he caused a distant memory.

Oh, if you do end up there, I recommend bringing an extra blanket and pillows for you and/or your partner/DH. I made DH go get my own blanket and some extra pillows, which he actually ended up using when he slept on the pull-out chair. Then again, that's a good thing to bring no matter which hospital you choose.

GL to you!!