I have recently, at 20wks pregnant, switched my OB care. At first I was switching because I found out that the doctors only deliver babies to the biggest labor and delivery department in my area. That meant that I would have to share a room with another woman, her baby, and family. With my four to six day stay due to my c-section I could have been spending my stay with two different families, possibly three. This complete lack of privacy and not being able to recover the way that I want without thinking of someone else's needs made me incredibly upset. I couldn't imagine, after my private room when I delivered Bean, sharing my space with someone else.
The other issue I had, which really put the nail in the coffin, was the labor and delivery unit policy: only if capacity wasn't at its max can the significant other of the delivering mother stay with her hours other than those designated for visitors. So if the unit is at it's max and it is inconvenient for the nurses to have another body in the room, my husband can't stay? I don't think so.
I was frantic when I heard this. Delivering in a big hospital, sharing a room, with random nursing staff just isn't for our family. Silly me, I actually thought mother's who pushed out or got sliced open to deliver a baby would be granted the small "luxury" of a private room.
Luckily I have a co-worker who has lived in my area for a long time who is also pregnant who told me about a smaller hospital, much like our first experience, and I did my homework. Private room, personal nursing staff, skin to skin time, and modern amenities. Perfect. So I searched around to find another OB practice that would take me. In the mean time I was told by my old OB office to still keep my latest ultrasound and OB appointment because I didn't know when I'd be scheduled at a new place and they didn't want too much time to lapse in between time. Great. No problem.
Well there was a problem on the day of my appointment. I go in and ask them why I'm being taken to the OB room when I should be going to the ultrasound room. They tell me that I didn't have a ultrasound scheduled. Not only does the nurse tell me that, she walks me up in front of the nurses station so that now there is five of them against me and my husband. I tell them that I spoke to someone a week before and then a day before this appointment and the woman confirmed that I had an ultrasound scheduled.
They checked their computer and say one was never scheduled. TP proceeds to tell them that isn't our problem and that we got verbal confirmation that we had an ultrasound. They look at him like he's speaking a different language. By this point I'm so pissed off. I can feel my face getting extremely red and I'm tired and I was really looking forward to making sure my baby had..a well..you know, working brain, heart, and other organs!? But again they tell me I must have made a mistake.
I wonder if they ever had a course in customer service or bedside manor because I wasn't getting the impression that they had. They then tell me I can come in on Monday and I tell all of them that I took off work early for my ultrasound appointment today and that I couldn't take off work early on Monday. They look like I've just said something horrible. I then wonder if I'm the only working mom they see or perhaps the only working mom that answers to a supervisor or has work obligations? I doubt it and decide they are rude and chose to blame the mistakes of their staff on their patients.
By this time I've had it. I loudly tell them that I am glad I am switching OB offices because this place has incompetent people working for it. I also, on my way walking out, tell them that I hope they didn't drop the ball on sending my records to the new office and that I would be calling and hopefully they don't blame their mistakes on me.
When I got to the car I was ready to cry out of anger. I couldn't imagine a place that would deny a woman her care. They say that ultrasounds are scheduled for an entire hour but I know that they only take about 20 minutes max. The "hour" is for billing purposes and so I refuse to believe that my appointment, scheduled three hours before closing, couldn't be fit in at some point that day. Especially since one of the nurses who looked at my file openly stated that I was "late" for my next ultrasound. Excuse me? You mean, my records show I should have had an ultrasound before this one? Who's fault is this? Not mine, because as a well educated mom I know the importance of prenatal screenings and would never miss out on an opportunity to see if my unborn child was developing correctly. I didn't even care that this ultrasound was also a gender screen. I just wanted to make sure my baby was functioning properly.
This is a long rant to say that I will never go back to CNY WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE ever again. I will tell all of my pregnant friends, co-workers, church family, or men who's significant other may be pregnant or trying to get pregnant never to go there.
Luckily I have been accepted at a new OB office and will be visiting them on Friday.
-M
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