PP unfortunately, it's true. There are a lot of obs that only have privileges at sibley or VHC or whatever. I was pregnant w/ twins & didn't make it to their twin cutoff (34 wks twins, 32 weeks singleton). My ob recommended Georgetown when I developed severe pre-e at 32 wks & needed an emergency c-section. It wasn't a big deal at all to have drs I had never met. My ob was in constant touch, and I knew I was in good hands. I feel like if you deliver that early your only goal is for the baby(ies) and you to be healthy, and you'll likely have a c-section anyways, so it's not like you are laboring for 12 hours w/ an unknown doctor.

My independent OB delivers at both GW and Sibley and says he has no preference. He did tell me that the great majority of his patients choose Sibley and that they have plesane experiences there. I think some of these upper crust women don't like the idea of dealing with residents instead of world class docs.

I told him I wanted GW and that's where we went without a problem.

Don't most OBs have to be affiliated with one of the hospitals that take women who go into labor prematurely?? i had heard that all those who deliver at sibley also have privileges at GW/Gtown but don't advertise it and don't routinely deliver there. I can't believe if you are 28 weeks and go into labor that your doc would be able to help you at G-town or GW.

Anonymous wrote:10:31 what hospital is this?
At my hospital the nurses were very attentive and what you describe would not have happened there

It was at Sibley.

10:31 what hospital is this?
At my hospital the nurses were very attentive and what you describe would not have happened there

Providence and United Medical Center also have L&D units.

Thanks! Providence I had forgotten about, United Medical Center I hadn't even heard of. I remember when it used to be called Greater Southeast Community Hospital. I'm guessing that neither of those hospitals are well-known among DCUM-ers.

In fairness to Sibley, aside from the perceived cache, it also makes sense to a lot of women who just live near that facility. If I lived around Spring Valley I wouldn't be trying to trek over to WHC; I live in the Columbia Heights area and Georgetown wasn't even a consideration for me because I didn't want to deal with traffic and parking and such.

Anonymous wrote:I shared a room and had the nicest room mate you can imagine.
With my first kid the hospital was not that full, only brought I. A 2nd person the day I left.

So my only roommate experience is the one I had. Why are you so terrified about room mates?

I'm not terrified of roommates, but you're not allowed to have your husband stay over in a shared room. I was pretty hopped up on painkillers after my emergency c-section, and not totally in my right mind. I was also unable to get out of my bed to retrieve my baby from her bassinet. When my husband was unable to stay the night (for unrelated reasons) the first night, the nurses took my baby to the nursery even though I said multiple times, throughout the evening and night, that I didn't want her taken there. When my twins are born this fall, you better believe I'll have someone stay the night with me in the room. No shared rooms for me!

I know your comment was meant to be snarky and hurtful, but being "terrified" of something isn't the only reason to not want it.

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown and GW both are connected with medical schools, and I wonder if independent practictioners can't deliver there because those hospitals only want their faculty practicing there. I'm just guessing.

But if that has something to do with it, that would basically leave WHC (which does huge business, though it's not talked about much here other than in relation to the midwife practice because I guess it's too "ghetto,") and Sibley, and...what other non-medical school hospitals do we have in DC? I'm blanking. (Howard University also has a medical school)

I completely agree with this, Georgetown and GW both have more invested in their own faculty, so the higher level doctors who are not a part of it end up at sibley. I think it's a shame that WHC has such a bad reputation and for such a shallow and elitist reason, considering that it's such a good hospital. I did not deliver there, but my SIL did and I was really impressed with their service and facilities, especially considering what I had heard about it.
I delivered at a birth center that has the same ICU transfer program that WHC has (transferring to children's hospital, which is next door) and they saved my baby's life. I had no complications during my pregnancy or birth, but my baby was born really sick and had to be transferred to Children's. I couldn't imagine having her anywhere else. The support that I had and all the newborn and preterm specialists were amazing, that area of the hospital is completely focused on the care of little ones and much more experienced, in my point of view, than hospitals that just have a NICU, but not the same structure. (I saw babies who had their dad's wedding band as a bracelet when they got there.) If I was still in the DC area and had to pick a hospital to deliver, I would choose WHC in a heartbeat.

I shared a room and had the nicest room mate you can imagine.
With my first kid the hospital was not that full, only brought I. A 2nd person the day I left.

So my only roommate experience is the one I had. Why are you so terrified about room mates?

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown and GW both are connected with medical schools, and I wonder if independent practictioners can't deliver there because those hospitals only want their faculty practicing there. I'm just guessing.

But if that has something to do with it, that would basically leave WHC (which does huge business, though it's not talked about much here other than in relation to the midwife practice because I guess it's too "ghetto,") and Sibley, and...what other non-medical school hospitals do we have in DC? I'm blanking. (Howard University also has a medical school)

Providence and United Medical Center also have L&D units.