I recently moved to the Durham area and had to find a new OBGYN. Ended up being perfect timing as I found out I was pregnant with our first child, due in June. We chose Duke Women's Health Associates, which means we'll deliver at Duke. However, we are not set on this so I'm wondering if anyone has had good/bad experiences with either the OB's at DWHA and/or delivering at Duke. Any advice is welcome!
Thanks!
Re: Delivery at Duke?
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I went to DWHA and really liked all of the docs I saw, particularly the one male doc. Interestingly, the one doc I didn't see at a visit was the one who ended up delivering me - Dr. Piscatelli. She wasn't as warm and fuzzy to me, but I didn't care at that point! I just wanted DD out.
The labor and delivery room was fine. Very spacious and had a couch for DH to sleep. I HATED my post-partum room. It was very tiny and the bathroom grossed me out. I'm sure it was technically clean, but everything was just old and worn out. There were no shelves to put anything and the towels were VERY skimpy. Plus, the beds were those ones that inflate and deflate constantly through the night. I understand why you have those for people who are very sick, just had surgery, etc, but having one of those when you desperately need to sleep is awful. I slept no more than 2 hours each night.
If I have another, I'm not sure what I will do. I liked DWHA, but I wasn't a big fan of my Duke hospital experience. In the long-run, it's probably better to like the docs you have to see so often rather than like the room you'll only be in a couple of days. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer.
There's more options than just Duke if you work there. The insurance at Duke covers Duke and Durham Regional. As far as Raleigh options, you can deliver at WakeMed or Rex, depending on the plan you have.
Dr. Piscatelli delivered my LO as well. I agree that she wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy but she was very competent and did a great job delivering DS.
I feel the same exact way about Duke. I loved the L&D room, but the PP room was terrible! It was so small and it felt dirty to me too. I really couldn't wait to get out of there. It really grossed me out.
One of the best parts about delivering at Duke were the nurses, they were all fabulous. And since it was my first, I liked knowing that if god forbid something did go wrong we would be in the best facility to handle any sort of complications.