Georgia Babies
atlvol
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Emory vs. Northside? Thoughts?
atlvol
member
Hi everyone! I am new to the board 
I have been going to Northside OBGYN for my annual checkups since I moved to Atlanta 4 years ago, and I love it! But now that I am pregnant, I am thinking I will want something more convenient to our home (and our offices) since I will be going there more often! Does anyone have any thoughts on the Emory Clinic & delivering at Emory Midtown? I was doing some searching online and found Dr. Deborah Karp & Dr. Eva Lathrop @ Emory, I prefer female. I have some friends that have delivered at Emory, but we aren't telling anyone yet and they would know something was up if I started asking about their OB doctors! Any advice is much appreciated!!
I have been going to Northside OBGYN for my annual checkups since I moved to Atlanta 4 years ago, and I love it! But now that I am pregnant, I am thinking I will want something more convenient to our home (and our offices) since I will be going there more often! Does anyone have any thoughts on the Emory Clinic & delivering at Emory Midtown? I was doing some searching online and found Dr. Deborah Karp & Dr. Eva Lathrop @ Emory, I prefer female. I have some friends that have delivered at Emory, but we aren't telling anyone yet and they would know something was up if I started asking about their OB doctors! Any advice is much appreciated!! This discussion has been closed.
Re: Emory vs. Northside? Thoughts?
Welcome
i can't help out With the Emory part, but I can tell you I drive 45 min with no traffic to my dr bc I love her. It's a female practice off chamblee dunwoody and they deliver at northside. I also had issues, so was going more than normal during both pregnancies. I say this bc I think loving your dr and being comfortable are very important during this process
pic by http://www.southernportraitanddesign.com/
I'm a FTM so this is my first experience, but I am going to Emory Clinic and planning to deliver at Emory midtown. I'm going to my prenatal visits at the college campus location because its most convenient, but if the midtown location is not inconvenient for you, I would suggest going there. I can never find parking until I get to the very top of the deck and there is construction you have to drive and walk through to get to the clinic part I go to. Plus, the midtown location has better equipment...they would not attempt to listen to my baby's heartbeat until my 16 week appt because they said their doppler was not very strong, but they said if I had gone to the Midtown location that they had better/stronger dopplers and we could have heard it earlier. Plus I have to go to the midtown location for my anatomy scan on friday (I can"t wait!) even though all my other appts have been at the college campus location. So all that equipment must be at the Midtown location.
I also looked online and researched at the beginning to try to find a female OB there to start seeing, but when I tried to schedule an appt before I was pregnant in march for my yearly exam, they said she was only taking new patients who were already pregnant...but then when I tried to call in July after i got pregnant they said she was not taking any new clients and I was set up with the NP and said I would just see her at first. I saw the NP for my first 3 appts, but she was really nice. I could have seen an OB for my last appt but the only one available that week was a male so I asked for the NP again. I'm seeing a female OB for my next appt, but she is brand new there (but Harvard educated so that sounds good to me). Its a large practice, but it seemed like all the more established female doctors I read about online were unavailable. Most of their OBs are also med school professors and are very busy...but also very knowledgeable...but kind of hard to schedule with. You might be more assertive than me though and know more about what you want since youve done this before...so you might have better luck than me in getting scheduled with a doctor.
They said it will just be whoever is on call when I go into labor that delivers the baby. But they said as it gets closer, they can give me the on call schedule so I can see who is going to be on call around the time I am due so I can try to schedule some prenatal appts with them. If it looks like a male doctor might be on call close to my due date, then I will see one, but until then I will just try to schedule with whatever female OBs are available. I plan to get a doula too so I for sure have a familiar female face in there helping me since it will just be me and my husband.
I haven't had a problem so far with Emory though. The hospital tour was good, everyone has been nice, and I haven't had to wait when I go to my appts. Plus, they are letting me do my anatomy scan at 18 weeks5 days...I was worried I would have to wait until after 20 weeks based on things I read so that was a pleasant surprise. I dont plan to go anywhere else...but I haven't been anywhere else so I don't really know any different.
You may want to keep in mind thought that it is a teaching hospital so they sometimes ask if you would mind if one of their med or nursing student is present. But you can always say no.
Hope that is helpful in some way.
Oh sorry, I ready wrong. I thought you said you delivered at northside before, but I guess you might be a FTM too.
I delivered at Emory Midtown and my son was a preemie and stayed in Emory NICU for 8 days....For those nine days, I have to say I was really impressed and happy with both of our care. The delivery suite was large, bright and clean. Both the OB nurses and the NICU nurses were on top of things and were very helpful and kind. I never felt like I needed to constantly call a nurse for help or remind her about getting me something...which is sometimes the case in some hospitals...although I have nothing to compare it to, since this was my first.
Their lactation experts were good and I still keep in touch with my son's primary NICU nurse. Their NICU has a survival rate of 99% or something like that which was really reassuring to me.
My doctor was Dr. Joseph Tate, and even though I was a little apprehensive about having a man as my OB....his bedside manner and 30+ years of experience put all of that to rest.
I live less than a mile down from Northside....but when I get pregnant again....I still plan to go to Dr. Tate and would still choose to deliver at Emory Midtown...even though it is about a half hr drive for me. Hope this info helps...let me know if you have any other qs abt Emory or Dr. Tate.
So glad to hear you like Dr. Tate so much! I just started seeing Dr. Tate. I read so much about him, we decided to make the drive to see him. Plus, I really wanted to have an Emory baby. Since two thirds of the women I know do Northside and the other 1/3 do Piedmont, I like to be different and not go with the mainstream. I'm also one of the rare Emory babies from back when Emory Campus did deliveries.
I was a little apprehensive about not seeing a woman, but he really is sweet, knowledgeable, and a talker. I didn't have to ask any questions and I came out knowing way more than I ever thought to know or ask. He is straightforward and obviously so experienced. Plus, you can tell he is all natural about the ordeal. The only downside is the wait, since he spends soooo much time with each patient, so I plan on trying to always get early morning appts. So, on the plus side: you get a lot of attention, the only negative: you wait for it.
If seeing Dr. Tate, take a few snacks! They have water for you, but I would recommend a big ol' bottle of drink and food and a book.
Brooke... so glad you found Dr. Tate...did you know that women come from as far as South America to have him deliver their baby? Esp if it is a VBAC. His PA is really good too...the pre-natal visits become more frequent after 36 weeks...I would recommend seeing the PA instead then as you dont have to wait so long for him...yes definetly take snacks! There are also a few good restaurants nearby.
I dont know how Northside is but my friends call it the "Baby factory"...that might be a good thing or a bad thing. Ultimately it will depend on the OB or the OB resident on-call..oh yeah thats the other thing with Dr. Tate...only he delivers, sometimes a resident may assist him,