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VA Hospital Center
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callieschaper
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| I delivered my son at Virginia Hospital Center and I cannot say enough good things about my visit. Everyone that worked there was attentive, polite, and professional. Maybe I was starving but the food wasn't too bad either. I recommend having the lactation consultant come to your room everyday. One of my favorite first memories of my son is when the nurse showed me how to feed him skin to skin. I also recommend asking your husband, mom, girlfriend, etc. to help you remember advice/comments/orders from your nurses and doctors. Those pain pills really did a number on my memory. My L&D nurse will always have a special place in my heart - she really saw me through that faithful day. Good luck to all of you expectant moms. I learned that there are a lot of people in this world that really care about new moms and babies. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for posting a positive story! I'll be delivering there anytime now to a few weeks. |
Anonymous
| I thank you, too, for posting your experiences at VA Hospital Center. I'll be delivering there in October, and although I'm looking forward to it, VA Hosp. Center doesn't get nearly the publicity several other hospitals do. I'm glad to hear about the positive reviews about the lactation consultant. I'm also looking forward to the fact that we'll have a private room (they only have private rooms there). Thanks again for the positive post!! |
Anonymous
Glad to hear you had such a great experience! What practice were you with? I need to change OB/GYNs - just found out I am pregnant  and I want to find one from VHC. I have searched the archives, but was curious about your more recent experience.
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Anonymous
| That's so great to hear-I'm delivering there in a few months. Thanks for the info. |
Anonymous
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I'm delivering there in September. I had my first at Inova Fair Oaks...I'm hoping for a VBAC so I switched to Dr. Tchabo who delivers at VHC. Prior to me switching OB's my husband and I wanted to check out VHC...so we recently took their tour. Let me tell you - it was the WORST tour I have ever been on. The guide did not answer peoples questions with accurate answers...she concluded the tour when people were still asking her questions, etc. etc.
We saw that the hospital met our criteria though. However, compared to our tour at Fair Oaks, it was really, really, really bad! At least my husband and I can both laugh at how bad the tour was! |
Anonymous
I had two positive delivery experiences there as well, and I noticed improvements from my first delivery in 05 to my second in 07. They really seem concerned with making the patients happy and satisfied. All private rooms are great, too. And, like the OP said, I thought the food was great, too! 
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callieschaper
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Just to follow up with a couple of questions/comments:
My OBGYN is Dr. Jane Piness. I highly recommend her. I notice a lot of people complaining about waiting for a doctor appointment so I want to address that issue. Yes, we waited at times for an hour or so to be seen. That was because the doctor was delivering a baby or had something important to attend to. I enjoyed catching up on my celebrity gossip magazines and the oppurtunity to not be a work. I took the birthing class through Dr. Piness's office and found it very helpful and informative. I am sorry that the hospital tour was so lousy. I did manage to come up with a complaint - the private rooms were drab. How can a girl expect to recover with white walls and tacky pictures on the wall? |
Anonymous
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Hi, I'm the poster who complained about the tour. I considered complaining to VHC about the awful tour guide, but then again, the guide was a volunteer....I might make a mention of it though when I go into labor and am there. My DH and I might have noticed the poor tour better though than others since we had one to compare it to and we are not first time parents.
Second, the postpartum rooms at VHC are much bigger than the ones at Inova Fair Oaks, from what I recall. Its funny that you thought they were drab as my husband and I took one look at them and were excited for the extra space! |
Anonymous
There are different sized postpartum rooms, and I would guess that they show you the bigger ones on the tour. Both times I delivered there, I got one of the smaller rooms. My DH did not stay overnight with me, so it was not a big deal, but it was tight when I had guest, etc. If your DH is planning on sleeping on that pull out couch, I would ask for one of the bigger rooms if they are available. I agree that they are drab, especially compared to the lovely delivery room with hardwood floors and nice lighting!
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Anonymous
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I delivered DD#1 there in early 06 and we took the tour that came with the birthing class that we took there. Two women taught the birthing class one night a week for several weeks and on the last class they took us to tour the L&D and recovery.
I also had a pretty good experience there. My only surprise was that they did show us a larger, nicer recovery room and I ended up as far away from the nurses desk as you can get and in a room much smaller (& without a rocking chair) than they showed us in the tour. My mom and husband were with me in recovery almost the whole time and one slept overnight with me each night and it was really tight. I was a little jealous because I had come into the hospital at 3am on a Monday and didn't deliver until 730am on tuesday. In the meantime, tons of women had come in after me and delivered before me and got the larger rooms. I joked that since I labored much longer, one of the larger rooms should have been reserved for me for recovery! I felt like Rachael from "Friends" that said while in labor when another women came in labor after her and left before her to deliver - "no, i'm next. I was here first!" haha I also had really good L&D nurses - I had the same nurse the morning I came in and then again right when I delivered (she came back on her shift the next day). The night nurse was not as friendly or attentive and had some issues believing me when my epi only took on one side and when I told her i was ready to push. Once she left, the amazing nurse I had during the day returned and was great. Again, in recovery, the first nurse I had was really young and almost seemed nervous dealing with us. Once she was gone, the rest were really great. |
Anonymous
| I am sort of laughing at the whole "tour" of hospital complaint--I didn't do one and maybe it's because I am pretty laid back and didn't look at a hospital as a trip to the caribbean. I only cared that there were qualified doctors (check) and that I had my own room (check). What I did take away after I delivered was that my experience seemed to be better than other friends who have delivered in the area who didn't a)have a private room b) had bad food when VHC had a cool "room service" menu so you could pick your food and have it when you wanted it c) had to have baby in their room the whole time when you may want to have baby in nursery so you can sleep--notice that a new trend is how a lot of hospitals are branding how great it is to keep baby with you the whole time. That may be fine if it is your choice but as someone who was recovering from a csection--those three nights of complete and stressfree sleep really aided my longterm recovery--it is a clear cost saving measure since they don't have to have as many nurses and it bothers me that some woman who really need that time to recover are being forced to keep baby in whole time. |
Anonymous
| Anyone deliver with Dr. Tchabo at VHC? I have heard that its unlikely he will actually help you deliver, but it will be one of the residents...... is it possible to refuse care by the resident and have Dr. Tchabo instead? Part of the reason I'm interested in switching to him for preg. #2 is that i really want another natural birth and I want a natural birth friendly OB - which I have heard he is. I'd hate to get a resident who isn't...... |
Anonymous
I am the 11:01 poster and my OB is Dr. Tchabo. It is true that he did not deliver either of my children, but he was right there for both of them just in case and was guiding the resident along. I think if you are interested in a natural birth and express that to Dr. Tchabo beforehand, he will do his best to honor that. For me, I did get an epidural both times, but it was my choice. No one was pushing them on me at all. Dr. Tchabo also came to check on me during my labor a few times. |