DC Militaries - Bethesda or DeWitt?

Re: DC Militaries - Bethesda or DeWitt?

• RomeRomance06

  March 2011

  My prenatal water aerobics instructor is military. She lives at Ft. Belvoir but just had her baby at Bethesda. She said she delivered her first baby at DeWitt and had a horrible experience so she made the switch to Bethesda for this baby. She said it was fine other than at the end, when she was having weekly doctor's appointments. Good luck with your decision. I do think what hospital you deliver at makes a big difference. I chose my practice based on where I preferred to deliver and we'll see if I made the right choice when I have this baby.

  

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• socoastgal

  March 2011

  I live in Alexandria as well, and we chose Bethesda because we felt more comfortable with all the specialists being there. I wrote this board with the same questions after we first transferred here and learned I was expecting   While I can't offer an opinion for Dewitt, delivering at Bethesda NNMC was a wonderful experience and due to some unforeseen complications at the very end of my delivery, I am so glad we were there. The private delivery rooms are very large, and the post-partum rooms are large, quiet and private as well. All the staff were great, there was a large bathroom and shower, and pull out couch for my husband. My daughter never left us and was right there. It was wonderful. You may not have the Dr.'s or NP's you see during pregnancy deliver, which is the only downfall but I was very happy with all the docs I saw. I'm forgetting the name of the NP's, Eileen might be one. Dr.'s Svwartsman (female), Ramsay (female), and Oliva (male) were all great. I mostly saw the same provider each time, which is very easy to do as you just book each person when you choose dates. Everyone's experience can be so different depending on delivery, but overall it was very positive. The C-section rate at NNMC is also lower than surrounding private hospitals. While emergency's can happen, this being my first pregnancy I did like that statistic too. It is a teaching hospital, so there can be an extra person or few at delivery but you can request less. During pregnancy, if you require any other testing you can have things done right away because all the clinics are right there. My daughter required some specialists visits and we were able to see everyone before we left and easily schedule follow-up. We would drive up the GW parkway to the beltway,and drive the last 2 miles there - easy and smooth. I would recommend early morning appt's as the parking garage fills up. There are also a few "stork parking" spots close to the door.  I was able to get in and out and my husband and I weren't too late for work, rather than taking a whole morning. My daughter was born last June, early in my pregnancy I took the metro a few times as well when the winter weather was bad for driving. FYI, if you are worried about going into labor during rush hour and getting there, you'll be told and reassured that if it was an emergency and you didn't feel you could get to NNMC in time you just head to the nearest hospital to you which for us was Inova Alexandria. The pediatricians there are fantastic, and I continued going there with her until switching to the NP at Bolling as it is closer and easier. I have heard pediatrics at the Rader clinic on Ft. Myer are good as well. Good luck with everything and congratulations!
  

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• cmeyer3946 member

  March 2011

  OMG, THANK YOU so much ladies.  This is extremely helpful.  Thank you so much for taking all this time to write back about your experiences...esp socoastgal.  You girls are the best!

  

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• Smudges*Mom member

  March 2011

  I can't speak to OB/GYN care, but the pediatrician at Rader Clinic is wonderful, but I heard that he was not taking on new patients. I would call and ask though, we love him!

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• JKM416 member

  March 2011

  I haven't heard anything good about DeWitt.  Nothing horrible, but no one seems to want to go there.  I had DS at NNMC and really didn't like the experience, from my prenatal care all the way through my post-natal check-up.  The consensus among everyone I know there is that it's a great place if you're high risk or have complications, but otherwise I hear lots of complaints.  Mostly how intervention-happy they are, how condescending they are and how they won't listen to you, how by-the-book everyone is, and how impersonal the entire process is.  For #3, I'm looking at getting a Prime referral to a civilian (which I had with DD who was born in FL) or going on Standard.  That's how much I don't want to repeat the experience.  Thought I'd throw that out there because I wish I'd listened to all the people who "recommended it with hesitation." We moved here when I was starting the third trimester, so by the time I realized how much I didn't like the care, it was too late to switch.

  
  
  

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• santo614

  March 2011

  I'm at Bethesda now. Eileen, the head nurse someone mentioned, is very nice. I'm not sure she takes on patients though. I have a midwife (Oliviera) and she is just awesome. Very sweet and helpful. When I started, I was tipped to go with a midwife because you'll have more consistent service than with an OB, who is on call and in different clinics a lot. That may be where the PP got a totally different opinion- if she was passed from provider to provider.

  I delivered my DS at Bethesda too. I moved here late in the pregnancy, with complicated issues. Unlike the PP, this was the first place where I felt they listened to me, rather than assuming I was an idiot. (When I got here, my records never made it, so they had no reason to assume I was anything but a normal pregnancy- everything looked fine on the surface). They monitored me closely, and when nothing went as planned, my surgical team was AMAZING. I felt well informed and in competent hands, even in an emergency. 

   I did not, however, like the nurses and procedure in after-care. I hyperventilated during the c-section, but it was physiologically induced. Immediately afterwards, a nurse asked me if I had ever thought about seeing a mental health professional for my panic attacks. I am a mental health professional, and he had no idea what he was talking about. I had another nurse basically say that my DH was not my DS's father, like it was nothing- and then went and whispered to all the other nurses about it when I flipped on her. Thankfully a responsible and compassionate doctor overheard, took my word on it, and got a genetic pathologist involved to set the record straight. 

  I also didn't like that the night staff didn't seem to care how little sleep we were getting, and would bust in at 3am to wake up the baby and run tests.

  All that aside, I would choose great preventive care and competent doctors in an emergency any day. 

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