For those who go to Kamm, McKenzie etc...

iheartnutella

I have my first u/s and appt next week with my current OB/GYN office, but if I decide to stay with an OB, I want to switch to another office  I'm considering this one and have several questions for those who go there for OB and have time to answer :-)  TIA!!

 

Questions about the office:

-How long do you have to wait on the phone when scheduling appts, wanting to speak with a nurse, etc?
-How do you like their reception staff?
-How has your experience been with their phone nurse(s)?
-How long do you typically have to sit in the waiting room when you go for scheduled appts?
-How long do you typically have to wait in the exam room?
-How long does it take to get lab results?

Questions about the caregivers:

-Do they assign you to a "main" doctor and you may see others at times (and be delivered by whoever is on call), or do you just rotate caregivers all the time?
-Is there any caregiver who is notorious for being everyone's least favorite?  Why?
-Has anyone see the CNM or know who gets to see her?  Does anyone know if she does deliveries?

Questions about L&D:

-Were the providers you saw interested in your birth plan, or was it more like "this is how it works and this is what you're going to do"?
-For those who had low-risk / "normal" deliveries - were you allowed to walk around, change positions, eat/drink, not be continuously monitored, etc, or were you pretty much confined, no food/drink, etc?  I realize this may have more to do with WakeMed's policies...
-Is there anyone who wished for an unmedicated birth, and if so, were the providers you saw supportive of that?
-How did you like the nurses and staff at WakeMed?

 

megm4705

Questions about the office:

-How long do you have to wait on the phone when scheduling appts, wanting to speak with a nurse, etc?

I typically scheduled my appointments before I left--but if I needed to call and reschedule I maybe waited on hold for a minute or two depending on the time of day
-How do you like their reception staff?

Love them--after a while I didn't have to tell them my name they just checked me in
-How has your experience been with their phone nurse(s)?

Great--They typically call you back pretty quickly within 30 mins on the rare occasion an hour
-How long do you typically have to sit in the waiting room when you go for scheduled appts?

Maybe 10 minutes depending on time of day
-How long do you typically have to wait in the exam room?

depends on the doctor--newer ones I've waited about 20 minutes
-How long does it take to get lab results?

next day for the most part

Questions about the caregivers:

-Do they assign you to a "main" doctor and you may see others at times (and be delivered by whoever is on call), or do you just rotate caregivers all the time?

I have a main dr but you see all the doctors so you can get to know them
-Is there any caregiver who is notorious for being everyone's least favorite?  Why?

IDK if there is 1 that everyone dislikes--I have mine but my opinion has started to change
-Has anyone see the CNM or know who gets to see her?  Does anyone know if she does deliveries?
I saw Janice for 3 appointments and loved her--you can schedule appts with her, IDK how far along she sees patients--she does not do deliveries

Questions about L&D:

-Were the providers you saw interested in your birth plan, or was it more like "this is how it works and this is what you're going to do"?

N/A I had 2 scheduled sections
-For those who had low-risk / "normal" deliveries - were you allowed to walk around, change positions, eat/drink, not be continuously monitored, etc, or were you pretty much confined, no food/drink, etc?  I realize this may have more to do with WakeMed's policies...

N/A
-Is there anyone who wished for an unmedicated birth, and if so, were the providers you saw supportive of that?

N/A
-How did you like the nurses and staff at WakeMed?

I love WakeMed--my first day nurse and my weekend day nurse (I was there Friday-Monday) were amazing.  My weekend nurse I had her both Saturday and Sunday and she really spoke up for me when the night nurses were convinced I needed to supplement with formula--My night nurses on the other hand--good at their jobs but didn't want to listen to me when I refused to supplement and that I knew his birth weight was off but you'll find nurses that you don't like where ever you go

Hope that helps--my best friend works for them and loves it.

Mrs_M&M

Good lord girl, enough questions?  LOL, just kidding.    Hope this helps!

Questions about the office:

-How long do you have to wait on the phone when scheduling appts, wanting to speak with a nurse, etc? Usually no time at all
-How do you like their reception staff? Super nice
-How has your experience been with their phone nurse(s)? Super nice
-How long do you typically have to sit in the waiting room when you go for scheduled appts? They are usually running on time when they call me back to the nurses.
-How long do you typically have to wait in the exam room? Overall, I was usually in/out in about 30-45 minutes from start-finish for all of my appts during PG, which included the time w/ the nurse to go over my weight check, etc. and the time w/ the doc.
-How long does it take to get lab results? A few days to a week, depending on the test.  They have a phone number w/ voicemail you call for results.

Questions about the caregivers:

-Do they assign you to a "main" doctor and you may see others at times (and be delivered by whoever is on call), or do you just rotate caregivers all the time? Your choice.  I chose to do a rotation to meet them all, then stuck w/ my few favorites towards the end.
-Is there any caregiver who is notorious for being everyone's least favorite?  Why? Nah.  My least fave was Harden b/c he had the most serious bedside manner, but I still felt like he'd be a great doc to deliver.  I only saw him once b/c I REALLY liked a few of the others and wanted to see them more.  But...I know a few people in my birthing class liked Harden the best.  So everyone has their own opinion.
-Has anyone see the CNM or know who gets to see her?  Does anyone know if she does deliveries?  I chose to see Drs. each time.  I saw the NP once for a random issue, but wanted to get to know the delivering docs as much as possible.  Not sure about a CNM.

Questions about L&D:

-Were the providers you saw interested in your birth plan, or was it more like "this is how it works and this is what you're going to do"? WakeMed Raleigh was AWESOME.  You spend more time w/ the hospital nurses in L&D anyways, so THAT is who you need to be concerned with, regarding birth plans.  I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED my L&D nurses.  They made my experience absolutely wonderful!  I could only be so lucky to have them again someday.
-For those who had low-risk / "normal" deliveries - were you allowed to walk around, change positions, eat/drink, not be continuously monitored, etc, or were you pretty much confined, no food/drink, etc?  I realize this may have more to do with WakeMed's policies...  I could do whatever I wanted, but did have to have the IV in b/c I needed pitocin, so if I moved around, I had to take the IV thingie w/ wheels w/ me.  It made it a PITA to move.  Also, b/c of the pitocin, they had the fetal monitors on me, and I could only move so much before they'd shift (therefore making the monitors go haywire, thinking the baby's HB stopped).  But I was able to move as much as I could, given the circumstances.  I brought snacks to eat.  You're not 'supposed' to eat, but you could if you wanted to when the nurses left.  But the pig that I am...I had NO appetite.  Too much going on.  I was ravenous the next day though.
-Is there anyone who wished for an unmedicated birth, and if so, were the providers you saw supportive of that?  They were supportive of whatever I wanted.
-How did you like the nurses and staff at WakeMed? See previous answer!    I wouldn't deliver anywhere else! 

iheartnutella

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my buttload of questions :-)~  That helps a lot!