So, I had my biweekly check in with the doctor today, and I'm just feeling really upset about this practice. I actually cried most of my drive home and then again at home. They are just so impersonal there and treat you like a number. It wasn't that it was necessarily a bad experience, but I guess I just wish I had a little bit more of a personal experience. The doctor literally sees you for a minute -- okay, everything looks good, see you in two weeks --
Luckily, I'm a nurse (though not a labor and delivery nurse) so I know more than the average person about pregnancy to begin with, and I read up on things, but I feel like they never even told me about anything. What if I didn't know?
I should have known from the beginning that this wasn't the right fit for me. It was so impersonal from the start, but I just figured they would get to know me more throughout the pregnancy. Wrong. I wish I would have trusted my instinct and changed from the start.
At 34 weeks, it is probably too late to change doctors or go to a birthing center since the only one in the area is full, but I just felt like venting my thoughts on here. Maybe this will prevent somebody from feeling like I am feeling right now.
If you are looking to be treated like a person, with emotional and spiritual needs, DO NOT go here. I'm confident that they are competent doctors, so if you are looking for just the facts and nothing more, then great. But, if you are seeking somebody that actually has a glimmer of caring about their patients, I would choose somewhere else. I wish I had.
Re: Bad 34wk visit at Bryn Mawr Women's Health :-(
I honestly think that this is common. I had a similar experience with at Penn Care for Women in center city.
I always felt like I didn't get my fair share of time, and that I was rushed out. Many times after waiting more then hour past my appointment time to see the Dr. I would wonder what would constantly cause them to become so backed up. I always would say when its my turn, I am going to take my fair share of the Dr.'s time too!
My entire pregnancy I saw the same Dr. with the exception of 1 visit, only to have some other Dr. I had never met deliver my daughter.
What I came to realize is that I needed to be grateful that I was healthy, and the baby was healthy, and everything was going the way it was supposed, and that perhaps those appointments before did not go as well as mine, or that perhaps there was an emergency. I realized that when I was at the hospital that my life was never going to be the same, and that I was about to get the best gift I could ever ask for, and nothing else mattered.
I am sorry you are having these feelings now. I am sure everything will be fine, and wish you all the best!
DH & I are both 28 Together: 12 years Married: 09/24/2011
BFP#1: January '12 - DD1 09/16/2012
Preterm labor 31 weeks. Monitored for Hellp and diagnosed with oligohydramnios July '12
BFP #2: 06/25 - EDD 03/05/15 MMC confirmed 8/1 - D&E 8/4 retained tissue discovered 8/20
BFP #3 11/24 - 12/15 Heartbeat detected - DD2 07/29/15
It is not too late, switch! Call the office and ask them to have your medical records to pick up at the front desk. I had a horrible birthing experience and do not want that for anyone! Do yourself and your baby a favor and switch. Not sure where you are delivering, but Bryn Mawr hospital has three practices that deliver there and only one doctor from all three practices delivers on the weekend. I had someone from a different practice. I am delivering my second at Paoli. Good luck!
I agree that you need not just power through the rest of your pregnancy if it means a terrible delivery. I interviewed OBs for my pregnancies but they all independently suggested I look into a midwife because they felt I would be disappointed in the impersonal nature of an OB practice. I had MW care for both of my pregnancies (second delivered by a MW, obviously a doctor had to do the emergency c/s with my first).
I hope it gets better for you!
Honestly, as long as you are not high risk and have been receiving prenatal care your whole pregnancy, I don't see why it would be too late to switch. Especially if you find a small practice.
I am new to the area and just started seeing Laveran and Heinzel at Lawrence Park OB/GYN in Broomall when I got pregnant, but so far, I feel like I have received good attention from them, and especially from their nurse practitioner, Melanie Winter. They do listen to my concerns and answer my questions. They probably spend about 10 mins with me each time, and I am not high risk -- they just take time to talk. One concern is that they have yet to measure my fundal height, which I find odd, but otherwise, they seem pretty good to me. They are open to my suggestions for my own care (based on my experience from my DD).
Maybe give them a call? They are a Main Line Health affiliate and deliver at Lankenau, not Bryn Mawr -- but the two are close enough!