Hospital Recommendations First Time Mom
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Anonymous
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Hello Everyone,
I recently found out I was pregnant and doing my due dilligence on the hospitals in DC to give birth in. I am seeing a lot of mixed reviews amongst all the hospitals (Sibley, Georgetown, GW, etc.) Would love to see if anyone has given birth the last couple years and if anyone had recommendations! Thanks so much 
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Anonymous
| Congrats! Great insight I received for a mom of three and health practitioner in the DC area is that you really can’t go wrong. We have incredible, high quality care available across all the options. One outstanding difference that most will say doesn’t mean much unless you spend extensive time in the hospital is the post delivery at Sibley are new and top notch compared to GWs old, unimpressive. Not sure about others. NICU at GW and Georgetown are top notch but Georgetown is a teaching hospital so you’d need to be comfortable with that. There are other variances but really, you can’t go wrong (or on the flip side, you could potentially have a negative experience anywhere) so take comfort in that. |
Anonymous
| Sibley is so nice-- particularly now as the maternity ward is separate from the rest of the hospital |
Anonymous
GW is also a teaching hospital. Georgetown NICU is level 4, whereas GW is level 3. However, unless your baby has a known heart condition or something where they’d potentially need ECMO right away, I wouldn’t make a decision based on that. If your child had meconium aspiration or something and ended up needing to be intubated/ventilated, GW can handle that, but Sibley’s NICU, which is a level 2, cannot. |
Anonymous
| Sibley is great because they are not "Baby-Friendly". Pre-Covid this meant they'd take the baby to the nursery to allow you to rest. Baby-Friendly hospitals mostly require the baby to stay with you in your room at night. Not sure what Sibley's policies are during Covid though. |
Anonymous
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GW is a teaching hospital and pretty hectic in post-partum care (negatives for me). But they have options to deliver with midwives or OBs and an incredible NICU in case you need it (positive). I don't think GW is technically "baby-friendly" (my understanding is those hospitals don't have nurseries at all?) but they lean toward you rooming in. I sent DD to the nursery for 3 hours on night 2.
The only consistent complaints I hear from friends in the area are about post-partum care at GW - the baby has a set of doctors/rounds and the mom has a different set and they don't coordinate them at all so it's relentless. The women I know who chose to return to GW for subsequent births were either very committed to the midwife model or had reason to believe they would need the NICU. |
Anonymous
| I’m at WHC, which also has mixed reviews but I’ve had good experiences so far. It’s not cushy like it seems Sibley is, but it’s close to me and and I’m pleased with the providers I’ve seen. I’m due next month so we’ll see. I have friends who delivered at and/or received care at GW and Sibley and have heard a bunch of mixed reviews there as well, especially with GW. |
Anonymous
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You can quickly narrow down your search based on your priorities. Of the following, what's important to you:
High-level NICU Midwife care Small L&D Cushy post-partum Wide choice of private practice doctors Metro-accessible Epidural pain relief Unmedicated Figure out what's important to you and it'll become clear which hospital/practice to go with. What was right for me isn't right for every other woman. |
Anonymous
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I've given birth twice since 2017, both times with the midwives of Medstar at WHC, and I just love them. For me personally, midwives in a hospital setting was the best of all worlds. Whatever your birth plan is (or not having one, like me) is fine with them. I found them knowledgeable, encouraging, non-judgmental, non-alarmist, gentle, and caring. Other folks will chime in that the post-birth rooms and staff aren't great, and that's probably true. It's a baby-friendly hospital, so the baby rooms in with you after birth, and I liked that, but the rooms are very small. High-level NICU if you need it, too.
Congratulations, OP! |
Anonymous
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I gave birth at GW in 2018 - one of the reasons I picked them over Sibley was because they had a much lower c-section rate, I'm not sure if that's still the case. I labored for 40 hours and pushed for almost six, I ended up needed a vacuum birth to get my daughter out but I really appreciated that they exhausted all options to help me avoid a c-section.
PP care was a bit hectic with lots of people (OBs, Peds, LCs, Nurses) coming in around the clock, but I had my husband with me so he dealt with them, especially in the first 24 hours. The nursery was open at the time, but I'm guessing it's closed now for COVID. |
Anonymous
Just weighing in on Sibley's c-section rate-- I have heard that the reason it is higher is because their population tends to skew towards older mothers (therefore complications, I guess?). Something to consider! |
Anonymous
| Many women choose Sibley to have a planned C section and are older, hence the higher rate. I delivered my first at GW and would never recommend it. The experience was awful. |