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VBAC
jmetzler05
member
Prenatal care vs. delivery experience (some ranting)
jmetzler05
member
in VBAC
Would you say a great delivery environment (midwife and nurses supportive of your VBAC) is worth suffering through some frustrations with prenatal appointments, ultrasounds, etc.? I'm weighing these things as I recently switched OB offices and this new one is driving me crazy with some of their practices and customer service...but I've heard the different hospital they deliver at is much more supportive of natural birth, slower to induce, etc. that all seems better in the long run for my goal of a VBAC. I'm hoping all the current frustrations aren't an indication that they'll somehow let me down when the big moment of delivery comes.
I'm telling myself a lot of it is because it's a smaller hospital, so it has the benefits of personalized care and not rushing patients through as much, but also creates some annoyances like only having 1 u/s tech so I had to wait an hour and half past my appointment time. They also scheduled my first prenatal appointment for yesterday, and when I asked how long it might be so I knew if my husband should leave work early to watch our son or if I could bring my son along to a quick appointment. The office told me the appt. would be at least an hour and they would likely keep me for an u/s immediately after so I should definitely find child care. So, my husband took a half day (which isn't easy for him right now) and turns out the appt. was 5 minutes. The midwife plugged in some of my paperwork info to the computer, asked my last period date, and told me I had to come back next week for blood work to determine if I'm far enough along to even schedule my "first" appointment and after that they would schedule an ultrasound. I was SO wanting her to at least dopplar for the heartbeat...we've recently had several friends and family members miscarry so I just wanted that reassurance. I pushed her a little bit saying I was quite certain I am 10 weeks and thought they'd do an u/s or at least let me hear the heartbeat sooner. So, she took me out to the u/s scheduling desk and ran off. I didn't get to ask ANY of the questions I had that would help me determine if I really want to switch to this practice. AND I find out they call it a "prenatal assessment" and since it's not one of the actual prenatal visits it's considered a specialist by insurances and that makes it a $40 co-pay for me instead of being completely covered like the normal ones are. grrr.
Anyway, so they did the u/s today (took forever) but I'm very grateful that everything looks good. Sorry for the rant...I guess I'm just trying to get myself past this stuff in the hopes that the hospital will still be a better choice in the long run. Or should I take all this as warning signs and run back to my old one?
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Re: Prenatal care vs. delivery experience (some ranting)
I was with a midwife who was the only one I saw for appointments and she was the one who delivered DD. I went over to the office at the hospital for my u/s.
I agree with pp that generally what you get at appointments is what you should expect at delivery. My midwife was a one woman show and I was never kept waiting (she had to cancel/reschedule one appointment during my pregnancy because she was delivering a baby). She never rushed me during appointments or during the birth.
I personally picked my ob based on prenatal care, vs delivery/hospital experience. I had a really really bad delivery with DD. My nurses were awful, my anesthesiologist wouldn't listen to my concerns, therefore a c/s under general... I could go on and on.
But I love my OB, he is great! And super supportive of my vbacing plans. So, I did consider switching hospitals, but I would prefer to be happy with my prenatal care, with a doctor I trust.
And I agree with PP, if you have issues with the care provider, expect the same at delivery time.
I'm going to see how my first "real" appointment goes this week just make sure the other stuff wasn't just flukes. Unfortunately, they are the only practice that delivers at this hospital. I've been asking around more and have heard even more positive experiences from people who delivered there...and mainly how they don't rush with inductions, etc. which I think could be one of the most important things in me avoiding another c-section. Thanks for the input!