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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, these stories worry me a lot too.  I think the biggest things are:

1.  Choose your hospital and doctors wisely.  What are their hemorrhage protocols?  What experience do they have with serious, rare complications?  Do they have a ICU, NICU, etc.?

2.  Educate yourself and your partner, whoever that is.  Trust your providers, but also know enough to know what questions to ask and when to push back.

3.  Don't be afraid to speak up and push back if you feel like you're being ignored.  DON'T be rude off the bat, but don't let politeness take precedence over advocating for yourself.

I had preeclampsia and a very complicated delivery at WHC with the midwives (and OBs and MFMs).  I always felt like I was receiving excellent medical care, but I also know that things were hard and scary enough at the time that I don't feel confident that I would have been with it enough to have caught a mistake.  So ultimately, I think choosing your doctors and hospitals with "worst case" scenarios in mind is the most important thing during delivery, then self-education is most important for the postpartum period.[/quote]
+1

I also delivered at WHC with the midwives and I also work there as a clinician in a different department. I chose WHC because it's a Level 1 trauma center (blood bank will always be stocked with the appropriate products; imaging always available; other specialists in house 24/7, among other things) with a higher-acuity nursery/NICU and multiple ICUs capable of admitting prenatal and intra-/postpartum patients. Children's is also next door and works collaboratively with WHC's perinatal team. [/quote]

Another problematic labor at WHC -- hemorrhage that required a blood transfusion (which I learned puts me in the category of women who suffered "severe maternal morbidity") and although I wouldn't say I almost died, I definitely feel like I got both top notch attention and care at WHC.  I was a midwife patient who ended up with the OBs (transferred to them when I needed forceps), who were very impressive.  Other than my (fabulous) nurse, who got a somewhat panicked look on her face when my blood pressure first tanked, no one seemed frantic or stressed out or even particularly worried.

One thing I really appreciated about WHC -- and they may do this at all hospitals, I don't know -- was that they had 2 or 3 meetings a day (called "huddle") where ALL the staff who were not actively catching babies met to talk about ALL the patients.  So, even though I had never set eyes on my forceps OB before I was consulting with her, she was quite familiar with my case and situation. This is important because contrary to popular belief, your attending midwife/OB is never with you the whole time and -- gasp -- may even sneak in a nap or two, so when shit hits the fan, as it does, they might not be immediately available.

TLDR post labor, I felt fine.  Now, after following all the Propublica stuff and considering a second labor, I DEFINITELY am going to be certain that I am delivering in a hospital that has its eye on MOM's health as well as baby's. I no longer live in DC, but I'd go back to WHC in a heartbeat.

+2 to WHC. I worked there for 10 years and lived close-by so delivering my first there was a no-brainer. Now I live way out in Rockville and I am still choosing to deliver there due to their NICU, proximity to Children's, and preparedness. [/quote][/quote]

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