VHC is wonderful - we loved our practice (Arlington Women's Center) and our nursing staff was amazing. We had a big private room, but maybe there were others that were smaller.

In terms of the NICU, I read somewhere that Washington Hospital Center is now staffing the NICU at VHC; which will make it a higher-level NICU. I'm not sure when that starts, but you can probably call if you have concerns.

We're lucky to have access to such great hospitals around here. I loved my experience, but I'm sure that all are fine in the area. Good luck!

I"m so surprised to read about your bad experience at GW. I delivered there in September and had a great experience. I was there 4 nights and didn't find the residents overly invasive. Although I am pro teaching and was happy to be part of that. It would impossible for a "22 year old doctor" to be interacting with you - there may be students but they only watch and ask an occasional question - these are people who graduated from undergrad and are attending a very competitive medical school so they aren't idiots. anyone who is a "doctor" who is touching you in any way will have graduated from medical school and most likely be AT LEAST 27-28.....

Its important to note that even if a hospital isn't a "teaching hospital" almost all of the hospitals in this area (including Holy Cross and Sibley) have residents that will shadow attendings/your OB and be asked questions, assist etc.

Anonymous wrote:Delivered at GW and will never ever do this again. I had more idiots in and out of both my Labor & Delivery room and my hospital room (they do not let you sleep, I was woken up every 45 minutes the first night after laboring the entire 24 hours prior) than I care to recall. No one at GW talks to anyone else either so everytime another moron comes in to your room you have to start all over again. One person takes the baby for tests, next person comes for baby, baby not there, goes to find baby for more tests, we ask what tests - they all look like a deer in headlights.

F. that. My baby and I are not testing grounds for your 18 year old nurses and 22 year old "doctors."

You should have done a little research - everyone knows GW is a teaching hospital, and everyone knows that you can say no to students and residents.

BUT they need to learn somehow, and better than on real people than on corpses that can't deliver babies.

Oh sure - those kinds of requests "make sense" (at least, I understand what's behind them.) The angry PP seems to have been in a situation where people were coming for her baby and telling her lots of conflicting information, and that's where I was saying that if the residents or nurses-in-training or whatever can't tell you why they want your baby, or if they're telling you multiple stories and looking like a "deer in the headlights," then can't you just say no?

Anonymous wrote:What about Sibley...I had a great private room, the choice of baby in room or in the nursery, etc. Just another option for you.

Yeah but how much did you have to pay for your great private room?

Anonymous wrote:Can you just decline these tests? (I'm really asking, not trying to snark on you.) I'm delivering at GW with Wisdom and if one of their big philosophies is not separating mom and baby, then it seems like if you can't understand why they're taking your baby away because they're explaining it poorly, you should just get to say no thanks.

Possibly. It depends on the circumstances. If there is a medical indication for the test (such as low blood sugar levels, jaundice, etc) then it's likely that you won't be able to decline (and wouldn't want to). The PKU test is standard, required by law, and needs to be done sometime before discharge. It is a heel prick, takes less than 5 minutes. You can delay or decline the other standard newborn procedures according to your own desires (such as the eye ointment, vitamin K injection, Hep B immunization, and bath). The newborn hearing screen can be done at an audiologist's office later in the baby's life if you desire. Remember, ultimately it's your baby. You can decline treatment if you believe it to be unnecessary or delay until later (not talking about babies with medical conditions, folks). For example, get the immunizations, circumcision, hearing test, etc at your pediatrician's office (or other specialist) later that week or month. I believe that the time with baby skin-to-skin without interruption is crucial.

Teaching hospital shouldn't mean that they take your baby for test after test when you keep being told that they are done and complete and ready to be discharged, only to have another flake show up to take the baby for more tests.

Can you just decline these tests? (I'm really asking, not trying to snark on you.) I'm delivering at GW with Wisdom and if one of their big philosophies is not separating mom and baby, then it seems like if you can't understand why they're taking your baby away because they're explaining it poorly, you should just get to say no thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Delivered at GW and will never ever do this again. I had more idiots in and out of both my Labor & Delivery room and my hospital room (they do not let you sleep, I was woken up every 45 minutes the first night after laboring the entire 24 hours prior) than I care to recall. No one at GW talks to anyone else either so everytime another moron comes in to your room you have to start all over again. One person takes the baby for tests, next person comes for baby, baby not there, goes to find baby for more tests, we ask what tests - they all look like a deer in headlights.

F. that. My baby and I are not testing grounds for your 18 year old nurses and 22 year old "doctors."

Wow you sound really angry. Did you not know that GW is a teaching hospital?

This is why I am at inova Alexandria. Not a teaching hospital. All the residents made my l and d experience miserable at my prior hospital.

And I am angry. It was a miserable experience.

Teaching hospital shouldn't mean that they take your baby for test after test when you keep being told that they are done and complete and ready to be discharged, only to have another flake show up to take the baby for more tests. Teaching or not, they have a long way to go there in getting their act together. A couple of the doctors admitted this to us in the exact words when we questioned why 10 nurses had 10 different things they were told.

Anonymous wrote:Delivered at GW and will never ever do this again. I had more idiots in and out of both my Labor & Delivery room and my hospital room (they do not let you sleep, I was woken up every 45 minutes the first night after laboring the entire 24 hours prior) than I care to recall. No one at GW talks to anyone else either so everytime another moron comes in to your room you have to start all over again. One person takes the baby for tests, next person comes for baby, baby not there, goes to find baby for more tests, we ask what tests - they all look like a deer in headlights.

F. that. My baby and I are not testing grounds for your 18 year old nurses and 22 year old "doctors."

Wow you sound really angry. Did you not know that GW is a teaching hospital?

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown rooms are tiny! I webt there for monitoring once. I delivered at GW and had a great experience.

If you went there for monitoring, you were probably not in a "real" labor and delivery room. They have several rooms on the L&D floor that are used specifically for monitoring. I had to spend a night there after having some complications during my c/s where the didn't want to discharge me to the post partum floor, and I agree that those rooms are small. Real L&D rooms are spacious, and so are the post partum rooms. I haven't been to Gw so can't compare, but my GU post partum room was easily twice the size of pp rooms at Sibley - and it came at no out of pocket cost, unlike Sibley that charges 250/night for the privelege.

Delivered at GW and will never ever do this again. I had more idiots in and out of both my Labor & Delivery room and my hospital room (they do not let you sleep, I was woken up every 45 minutes the first night after laboring the entire 24 hours prior) than I care to recall. No one at GW talks to anyone else either so everytime another moron comes in to your room you have to start all over again. One person takes the baby for tests, next person comes for baby, baby not there, goes to find baby for more tests, we ask what tests - they all look like a deer in headlights.

F. that. My baby and I are not testing grounds for your 18 year old nurses and 22 year old "doctors."

My friends delivered at GU last week and the high risk group delivered her. If you are high risk they do but the majority of people would going to the normal OB group.

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown NICU hands down the best. I think the nurses in the GU NICU got the highest ratings as well. My little one was there for 5 weeks and I can't say enough good things. I was suppose to deliver at Sibley before I went into labor early and my doctor advised me to go to Georgetown. The high risk group delivered my baby. It isn't the easiest place to get to but from Rosslyn, it would be much easier than it was for me. I can't speak about the regular OB practice though. I did love my experience delivering at GU 100x more than when I delivered my 2nd at Sibley! Not nearly as busy and much better attention!

I have delivered at all three and would vote for VHC unless you have a known concern for the baby needing the NICU. The GU high risk group no longer actively delivers babies, they "advise".
Also, the food was much better at VHC and the nurses were fabulous..