Any experiences with Capital Women's Care in Towson?

shadowboxerkd

I'm meeting all the OBs at Capital Women's Care throughout my pregnancy and I plan to give birth at St. Joe's. Everytime i meet a new doc, I try to gauge how open they are to natural childbirth and what the likelihood of me having to really advocate for myself to get what I want. All of the docs (so far) seem really nice and open to it, but it's hard to tell.  Has anyone here had experience with them? Which docs did you like? What was the birthing experience like there?

 

TIA

HarCoMommy

Hello there! I am also going to Capital Women's Care. I go to the Bel Air office for my check ups, and the Towson office for my sonograms. So far I have been very happy with them. Good luck to you!

heinze2b

Hi-

I can you some real recent experience. ?I went to Capital Women's Care for my pregnancy and just gave birth to my little guy bright and early Friday morning. ?On his due date!?

?On a whole, I had a wonderful experience with them. ?At my appointments, I never felt rushed and felt like they'd answer all of our questions. ?We had a scare with our 20 week U/S. ?There was a bright spot on our son's heart, which "could" be an indicator of Downs Syndrome. ?BUT- in the absence of any other indicators, it's "normal." ?However, the radiologist at the Perinatal Center, did not deliver the news that way. ?All she wanted to do was talk about the statistical chance of my baby having DS. ?(Perinatal Center is separate from CWC). ?Anyway- after that U/S, we had our appointment with Dr. Guidice. ?He put us completely at ease. ?He is by far my "favorite" doctor there. ?I had a few appointments with him and really enjoyed the way he interacted with us. ?I liked the other doctors too, Dr. Zern and Duke are very nice. ?Dr. Buescher and Facciola are more matter of fact and not as "warm and fuzzy." ?Dr. Facciola delivered my son. ?When I called Thurs. night w/ a question, b/c I was bleeding, her response was "didn't you take childbirth classes," I was completely taken aback and answered her as such. ?Then, my contractions came HARD and FAST, so we called again about an our later and she seemed bothered. ?She basically said I could go to the hospital, if I wanted, but (not with these words) said it'd be a waste of time. ?Well, when I got there I was 7 cm! ?Again, I was bothered by her "bedside manner." ?She seems to be more stern and not as compassionate as the rest. ?This is our first baby and it would have been nice to have a little more TLC, but all of that aside, the delivery was fine and when I was slacking with pushing, she definitely motivated me. ?My husband liked her, but he wasn't the one giving birth. ?:)

The L&D nurses at St. Joe's were great. ?Mother/Baby was okay. ?Again, he is my first, so I would have liked a little more guidance. ?They sort of left us to our own, unless we asked for help. ?But there were also some great nurses in Mother/Baby too. ?

?Sorry this was so long. ?:) ?Again, I would definitely recommend CWC. My one bad experience does not out weight the 9 months of great care I got. ?

?HTH! ?Best of luck to you! ?You'll do great!?

ABMcKinney

I agree with the previous post about Drs Facciolo and Buescher not being "warm & fuzzy". They don't coddle, and they are extremely matter of fact about everything. That said, those 2 are the ones that I would rather have delivering my baby because I trust, 100%, that they are going to do nothing but the very best thing for my child and I. Dr. Buescher delivered my son via c/s and I was very happy with the way things turned out. I am attempting a VBAC with this pregnancy and she has been very, very supportive! I hope she's the delivering doctor again.

As far as supporting natural child birth, I didn't find a lot of support. Dr. Buescher especially pointed out to me that 90% of women get an epidural and there's a reason for that I think if you are going to try natural you have to go in there knowing that you are going to have to do it without the complete support of the doctors and nurses- the nurses especially pushed me to get the epi.

shadowboxerkd

Thank you so much for the responses! So far I've met Buescher, Duke, and Facciolo. Giudice is next. I liked all 3 so far. I found Facciolo actually really nice, but a little high strung. She lent me a book about natural birth, which I thought was cool, though she might not be the soothing presence I'll need when I'm in labor. I didn't find Buescher to be too matter of fact, but we'll see.  Do we get to meet with the midwife as well? And I'm assuming that whoever delivers the baby will depend on who's on call that day, right?

Glad to know what I'm in for in terms fighting for my right to birth naturally...DH already knows that his role is to put his foot down when I can't!

gogo2325

I hated this practice - felt rushed, no one ever answered my questions, when I did ask questions, I was made to feel silly for even asking, I never knew what was going on and I do not want to guess when it comes to who will deliver my child.I want to know EXACTLY who will be there.

I called, one time, after hours and got Facciola and she was so nasty to me for daring to bother her. I do not like her at all.

I loved Melissa and  Dr. Duke but was not impressed with the rest. Guidice also made me feel silly for asking my questions and he seemed very distracted. At one appointment, the doc noticed that my wedding bands were on a chain around my neck and said that I "must have measured my rings incorrectly because it was way too early for me to be swollen."

WTF? Yes, you are right. I measured my rings incorrectly. REALLY? Maybe someone should have checked me out to see WHY I was so swollen but no one did.

I left this practice at 30 weeks for a midwifery that actually cares about me and my well-being as well as the baby's.

CWC is much too large for it's own good now. Too much of a cash cow and do not give personal care and that is what I need as a first timer.

I have gotten 4 calls in the past week telling me that in order for my records to be transferred I have to send them something in writing. I have! 3 times already..this is exactly why I switched...

GL to you and I am glad people have had good experiences but they are not the right practice for me.

 

ABMcKinney

shadowboxerkd:

Thank you so much for the responses! So far I've met Buescher, Duke, and Facciolo. Giudice is next. I liked all 3 so far. I found Facciolo actually really nice, but a little high strung. She lent me a book about natural birth, which I thought was cool, though she might not be the soothing presence I'll need when I'm in labor. I didn't find Buescher to be too matter of fact, but we'll see.  Do we get to meet with the midwife as well? And I'm assuming that whoever delivers the baby will depend on who's on call that day, right?

Glad to know what I'm in for in terms fighting for my right to birth naturally...DH already knows that his role is to put his foot down when I can't!

You do get to meet with the midwife but she no longer delivers. With my first pregnancy I didn't want to meet with her at all because I figured why bother if there wasn't a chance she'd deliver my child? This time around I have seen her a few times and always find her to be comforting and willing to take the time to listen to my concerns and give good, thorough answers. Not that the other doctors don't do that but they sometimes get rushed and don't have the laid back demeanor she has.

Whoever is working L&D will deliver the baby. I think they work 24 hour shifts but I'm not sure.

Sam&Andy

I had my first appointment at 9 weeks with CWC yesterday morning.  They were fairly busy and running a little behind, but I never felt rushed.  The woman that did the ultrasound was great.  All of the nurses that spoke to me were great and Dr. Facciola was wonderful.  I'm very happy I chose CWC and St. Joe's.

Assembly_Reqd

We go to CWC and I haven't had issues other than the waiting time. We have gone about 5  times now and 2 of the 5 we ended up waiting 45 minutes.

All the Dr's I have seen seem competent and I prefer the "matter-of-fact" type of care. I want a Doctor in the delivery room with me, not a Mommy.

If you want a natural childbirth and think you may need more emotional support I would look into hiring a Doula. She could also be one person who is def. on your side regarding going natural and she can teach you techiniques to keep it natural. Good Luck!

shadowboxerkd

Thanks for all the input! It's really weird, b/c at first I heard all good things, now I'm hearing not so good. I just had another friend tell me she had some problems with them and went elswhere. My experience with them has been great thus far (knock on wood), so I'm not inclined to leave their practice...but I also don't want to wait around until something actually happens ya know? I might just go middle of the road and get a doula, though DH is pretty private and is all about it being special between us, so I'm not sure he'll want someone else there...guess we have some things to figure out!

dugan1001

I have been a patient of CWC since 2001 and just recently had my first child, delivered at St. Josephs. I love them and always found them extrememly helpful. We too had a couple of scares and went to the ER several times...all of which there was a different doctor on duty.

Hayden turned out to be delivered at 39 weeks and was perfect...but I always felt like I could call them etc.

Bottom line...don't listen to other people. GO WITH YOUR GUT. If you don't feel absolutely comfortable then find someone else. You want to be at ease on the day you head to the hospital and not worried about which doctor might be on call.

Good luck!

JillShari

I have had two great natural childbirths with Dr Duke and Dr Faciolo at St Joes.  Both times I had fantastic L&D nurses who helped me during labor with whatever I needed.  The docs did not ever "make" me do anything I didn't want to do.  I was never told to get an epi or that I would need one.  They asked me my preferences at an appointment and never asked again.  If you want details, I'm happy to provide more...PM me.  (My last birth was in June)

Also....go to the library and get Ina May's Guide to Childbirth....VERY empowering and very good read.

KaymieSue

I believe the doctors of Capital Women's Care are skilled however be aware that you need to assert yourself. Make sure your questions are answered, if not in person then write out your questions and leave them for the doctors to review. Be assertive when scheduling your appointments as well. I have been kept waiting over an hour past my appointment time on 3 sep. occasions. Two of my marathon waiting sessions were for the supposed 1st appointment time of the day. It causes unnecessary stress and we do not need additional stress when pregnant.