Need Madison OB & Ped Referrals

[danbee]

I'm 5 mths pregnant with our first and will be switching health insurance Jan 1 which means I will need to find a new OB. I'll have GHC insurance & I think that means I can use any of the UW or Meriter OBs. Can anyone recommend someone? I'd like someone who will accomodate requests such as giving me the baby immediately before doing any procedures, no hep B shot, & trying to labor in a variety of positions to delay pain meds (but I have no pain tolerance so I do plan on an epidural at some point). Any suggestions?

I'll also need a pediatrician once the baby comes. We'll be with GHC so someone from there would be good. I do plan on selective/delayed vaccinations, cosleeping and use alternative medicine frequently (acupuncture/herbs) so someone who is supportive or at least not hostile to the above would be nice.

Thanks!

[berrymama]

Hi and welcome! All the things you want for your birth are pretty standard at Meriter for a normal birth. If you need an OB for some reason, check out the ladies at Associated physicians, otherwise I recommend the UW midwives, who also deliver at meriter.

[CamoShades]

If you have GHC insurance, you HAVE to see a UW Health OB (or a GHC family doctor who also does OB) and you HAVE to deliver at St. Mary's. No questions about it. Unfortunately midwives are not covered under GHC insurance, and delivering at Meriter isn't an option.

Your first step will be a visit with Joan Young, GHC's nurse educator and lactation consultant. All newly-pregnant patients see her, and I'd imagine that since you're a new GHC patient, she'll want to see you, too. She's great, and she's a miracle worker in terms of LCs, FYI. When you see her, you can ask her about why midwives aren't covered. She has an answer that *kind of* makes sense, but not really.

Where in Madison will you be located? There are UW Health and GHC clinics all over, and I'm not sure if you want to stay near home.

For family practice, I see Dr. Julie Gendler at the GHC East Clinic, and I LOVE her. She's young and seems up on current research, which is important to me. She is also my daughter's doctor; we didn't chose a pediatrician, because I trust Dr. Gendler so much. She actually does OB, too, so she could deliver your baby. The good thing about sticking with a family practice doctor is that he or she will be there 80 percent of the time to deliver your baby. If you choose a UW Health OB, you have about a 1 in 20 chance your OB will actually be on call to deliver you. And I've found that family docs are less intervention happy than their OB counterparts, FWIW.

Since I had a c-section with my first (she was breech), insurance dictates I see an OB this time around. I'm seeing Dr. Kim Miller, because I personally talked to someone who had a VBAC (no drugs) with her and was happy with her "rules." I'm happy with what I've heard so far, but I'm only 20 weeks so we haven't gotten down to the nitty gritty yet.

I should add that if you hire a doula, GHC will cover a portion of the fee (up to $200, I believe). It comes from the same "refund" money you'd get for joining and using a health club and whatnot. Again, Joan Young should be able to fill you in, or contact member services.

[danbee]

Are you sure about delivering at St Mary's? When I read our handbook this year I was quite sure that it said GHC was Meriter. That's actually one of the reasons we switched. I'll call tomorrow to check but now I'm concerned.

[CamoShades]

I'm 100 percent positive. I have GHC insurance, and I'm currently pregnant with my second child. There are no other options, and I don't believe it changes based on your employer's plan. GHC is pretty strict with its "you go here and see X doctor" policies.

eta: Depending on your "home" GHC clinic, you might use Meriter for ER visits. But maternity care is done at St. Mary's.

eta again: I just thought of something else. I know what UW Health OBs deliver at Meriter also; however, if your insurance is through GHC, they deliver you at St. Mary's. So maybe that's what you heard?

[danbee]

Okay, so I called today and you were right. I have no idea why I thought it was Meriter - that was a big thing that I was looking at. But I probably would have gone w/GHC anyway because it includes dental insurance which saves us a lot of money. Thanks for the advice about Julie. I live a little north of Sun Prairie so I'd like to go to the East Clinic. Just curious, do you do a normal vaccination schedule w/your child? If not, how is she w/that? I just got a long lecture from my OB today about the flu shot.

[CamoShades]

I'm sorry I was right! Really, I am, because I wish I could deliver at Meriter, too. However, I was very happy with my care at St. Mary's after I had DD. I can't say anything about the L&D nurses, because I didn't labor at all. But I asked my OB about it, and another woman I know who had a natural birth there, and they both said the nurses will respect my wishes this time around, "even though" I'm a VBAC patient.

I didn't delay with my DD, but I'm planning to with my next. Frankly, I wasn't educated enough on it the first time around, and she was going to daycare, so I just went with the prescribed schedule. I'll probably go with Dr. Sears' schedule this time. Dr. Gendler is pretty open to ideas, though, so I can't see her having much of a problem with it. I really, really like her a lot. She recommends things but never forces them. I didn't get the flu shot in 2007 when I was pregnant with DD, and she didn't bat an eye. And I feel like she really knows me, like if I saw her in the mall or something, she'd know me by name. (But that probably has something to do with the fact that I saw her throughout my pregnancy and still see her regularly with DD.)

FWIW, I really do like GHC, minus the lack of midwifery coverage. Sure it's an HMO with somewhat limited options, but those "limited" options are good options -- doctors at the UW Hospital, etc. And our plan has fabulous coverage (I will pay $0 for my prenatal care, delivery and postpartum care), so I can't complain there. We can have Dean or GHC, and we choose GHC even though there is a Dean clinic here, which would be more convenient.

[MissMaegie'sMama]

A nice feature of GHC coverage is that it has a complimentary medicine benefit for its members. The plan covers 50% of the service fee for massage, acupuncture, reiki, etc. services at its clinics. I saw a GHC acupuncturist a few times before my due date with my third child because I chose to induce labor with her (long story), and I wanted to prepare my cervix since I was unwilling to use Cervadil for ripening. Worked like a charm, and we had a wonderful epidural-free birth at St. Mary's.

St. Mary's L&D nurses are awesome. I have nothing but good things to say about them. They honored my birth plan and worked well with my DH and our doula. The nurses are willing to support you through even the most uncomfortable parts of labor rather than push drugs on you, so if an epi is something you'll eventually want during labor, you may have to ask for one before they offer it to you.

I also think Joan Young is super. She was always so helpful when I called her with my breastfeeding questions (DD1 was a tricky one to breastfeed, she always kept me on my toes with her peculiar nursing habits), and she never rushed me.

Good luck with your doctor search and your upcoming birth. I hope you'll be as pleased with GHC as I have been.

[Kitten]

I have GHC.

You can use a family practice doc at Wingra clinic for both birth and instead of a pediatrician.

I chose to have a homebirth. I don't do well in hospital settings.

I think I might make an appt to see this Joan Young if I have another baby. I'd love to hear their justification for flouting state law requiring access to midwives.

[CamoShades]

Originally Posted by Kitten

You can use a family practice doc at Wingra clinic for both birth and instead of a pediatrician.

I don't mean to nit-pick, but I'm genuinely curious. GHC doesn't have a "Wingra Clinic," so I wonder which clinic you're talking about. Plus, I believe all GHC clinics give the option of seeing a family practice doctor for maternity care, not just one in particular.

[Kitten]

Wingra clinic is a UW family medicine clinic. GHC covers a couple of UW family practice clinics. We don't go to GHC clinics, I feel it is a conflict of interest to see a doctor directly under the employment of my ins co. I've gone to the GHC counselors a few times and I get the feeling they try to get you out the door and not come back again.

[CamoShades]

Originally Posted by Kitten

GHC covers a couple of UW family practice clinics.

Oh, OK. You must be under a different sort of plan than we are then; I'd never heard of GHC also having a UW Health-Family Medicine Network. This explains it a bit.

[Kitten]

nope, we just have plain old vanilla ghc hmo coverage. To join a different "network" you just choose "wingra clinic" (or whatever UW family med clinic you want to go to) as your primary care provider. The catch is, all your family members have to go to the same family med clinic. You can't have some family members at ghc clinics and others at UW clinics.

[CamoShades]

Interesting. They sure don't make that very clear -- I'm sure because they don't want people going to clinics other than their own.

GHC East is still most convenient for us, and I LOVE our doctor there.

[JlyGrnMigt]

I know this thread is pretty old, but I'm just wondering if anyone here has experience with a FP/OB at the Capitol Clinic.

I'd REALLY like to hear the explanation for not covering midwives. I've heard there actually is a reason, but everyone seems mum about it. I used to provide child-care for a GHC OB, and after listening to me wonder about this she said that she guessed I hadn't heard the reason why right before her kid ran up and they got ready to leave.

Anyway, I'm overseas and not pregnant yet, but hope to be before I get home in December. My primary care person is Dr. Michelle Thomas, but I'm not against switching. I was surprised when my pre-conception checkup consisted of a Rubella test (and nothing else) even though I expressed concern about heavy metals. I'm considering shelling out for a homebirth, but that's a serious chunk of change that could go to other expenses. Therefore, if there's a GHC OB who would give me a dream birth at St. Mary's, I'd love to know!

[wrenb]

Originally Posted by JlyGrnMigt

I know this thread is pretty old, but I'm just wondering if anyone here has experience with a FP/OB at the Capitol Clinic.

My FP/OB is Deb Shenoi at Hatchery Hill. However, when she originally moved to Fitchburg I needed to stay at Capitol due to transportation issues. I asked my GHC naturopath (Keyena McKenzie) about the Family Practice doctors I was considering, and she steered me to Rebecca Bull. Dr Bull can be hard to get in to see (she works part-time) but Dr McKenzie told me that Dr Bull backs up the UW midwives. Good enough for me! Dr Bull was worked well with me and my fertility issues and helped me get as much help as I could for as little money as possible.

Good luck!

[Shell_Ell]

I like Dr Bull and Dr Vohmann- both family practice docs at Capitol clinic.

[sternchen]

Pregnant with GHC

Hi!

I just moved to Madison from Germany a couple of months ago and also have GHC through my husband. I just found out yesterday that I was pregnant : (week 5) and now have a bunch of questions. I hope you don't mind if I just post them here? But I don't know many people here yet.

I have an appointment with Joan Young in two and a half weeks and the nurse on the phone said it will only be an informational meeting. Is that true? Is there no exam then? I find it quite late to only get an appointment in 2.5 weeks...is that normal? When will I have my first appointment with my OB?

What happens at the first appointment? When is the first exam with ultrasound and everything? How many prenatal appointments are there in the first couple of months? Is genetic testing covered or do you have to pay extra for that? How many ultrasounds are done and can you get extra ones?

The lady on the phone yesterday said, that I can change my OB if I want to. I am currently with Michelle Thomas at the Capital Clinic, but I have only seen her once for a regular physical and don't really know yet what to think of her. Does anybody else have any prenatal experiences with her? Also, she just had a baby herself, so I'm not sure how available she'll be...? Any thoughts on that?

@Shell_Ell: I just heard that Dr. Vohmann is German, too and am thinking about switching to her. On the GHC website, she doesn't show up as accepting new patients. Do you think I could still ask? Is she nice?

I hope this weren't too many questions! Any help would be great! Thank you so much!

[wrenb]

It's true, meeting with Joan is almost entirely informational. I saw her at 8 weeks and she did offer to look for a heartbeat, but that's all. If she can match you with Dr Vohmann, I'm sure Joan will. You have a great reason to want her.
My son is 18 months old, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I think I saw my doctor (a family practice doctor) at 12 weeks. She checked me over and got me my flu shot. After that, appointments were every 4? weeks. Ultrasound at 20 weeks. Joan can tell you all about what to expect.
Congratulations!

[sternchen]

Wrenb, thanks so much for your quick reply! And all your info!

I have a few pregnant friends back in Germany and there it's pretty much the same for everybody who is on any of the public health insurances. The first doctor's appointment is between week 5-7 (basically right when you find out), the first ultrasound at week 12 and so on...so I wasn't sure whether it's the same here. I guess I just need to be more patient and wait until I meet Joan

Still can't really believe that I'm actually pregnant...and would just like to have some reassurance.

Thanks again!