searching for OB in Harford County

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Well, I feel kind of uncomfortable posting this on a public forum, but it was Jasmine. I had heard good things about her but I was uncomfortable and disappointed in the entire visit, start to finish. Among other things, I felt like she didn't listen to me or care about what I had to say at all, she was totally unsympathetic to my symptoms and experiences thus far in the pregnancy, and she implied that they will force me to induce if the baby is late, despite my history of overdue healthy babies. I don't know if she was having an off day or what, but I guess her bedside manner just really doesn't work for me, it was a very frustrating visit. And even if the other midwives are wildly different and more supportive, I don't want to risk delivering with someone like that. I'd really like to find someone like I mentioned in my post. If only my old OB weren't out of state....

Hmmm...thats a tough one around here I think - I just switched to the midwives at susquehanna in order to have a more natural/intervention free birth in the hospital. We were leaning towards homebirth- but had a hard time with a lot of the red tape in MD.

Anyway I really loved Dr. Sopher & I do think that she is one of the most natural minded ob around here- but her partner Dr. Levy is def. more on the intervention side. I really liked him, but others do not - he doesnt have the best bedside manner so you might be stuck with him... That said he did deliver 3 of my babies & I did have great experiences with him - I just wanted to try a more natural approach this time.

Mary Beth Nance is a great doula around here if you're looking for one btw. Good luck & feel free to PM me if you have any ?s.

Interesting about Jasmine - I met her once & really loved her - although she is the one that ultimately 'talked me out' of a home birth

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HILARIOUS! I was just going to jump to post... "I bet I know which MW you didn't like... give them another try, the other 2 are GREAT." Sure enough, that is the one I didn't like! I really disliked her, but trust me, the other 2 are FABULOUS! They really are.

I lucked out & Karen was on call when my DS was born. Lynn had stripped my membranes (by my request) that morning. Jasmine only saw me for PP care & she even managed to totally screw that up!

Yes, she is of the mindset that "YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD!" So she WOULD push induction at 42 weeks! I make that statement because of my experience with her with GBS. Gonna write a novel here, but I figure it's always more fair for me to tell the whole story & let others make up their own minds, vs. simply stating, "I don't like that lady."

So when I found out I was GBS+, i didn't really question the need for ABTs. I just was devastated at the thought that I couldn't labor at home as long as possible. THat had been my plan & I just couldn't picture myself spending hours upon hours laboring in the hospital. Then it occured to me, "Hey, maybe I can just get an IV of the ABTs at home!!!" My Mom is a nurse & when my SIL was horribly ill during pregnancy, my Mom did IV fluids for her at home, so the idea of an IV in the house wasn't unusual to me. (Besides, let's get real here, it's just a plasic bag on a rack, connected to a tube in your arm. Why CAN"T I get that at home if I have a nurse (my Mom) start it for me?)

So I called and ASKED if that was possible. ALL I DID WAS ASK, "Hey, can I get IV ABTs at my house?"

Well, they said 'no' because they need to keep giving them every like 5 hours or so, not just one dose when labor starts. (I hadn't understood that at the time I asked the Q.) So I dropped the issue & that was that. I NEVER SAID I would refuse ABTs! (In hindsight, I will follow the protocol they do in the UK - which is to do ABTs only for TWO or more risk factors - and GBS+ swab is only one. but I didn't decide that until later & much more research.)

So... again, to be clear, all I did was ask, "Can I get those IV ABTs at home?" THey said, "No." I said, "Oh, OK, fine." (most of these discussions were with Heather, the OB Nurse, who is HORRIBLE, by the way.)

I have a ridiculously good memory, so I'm gonna quote things here word-for-word.

At my next apt, Jasmine literally peered over the top of her glasses at me and said, "We were very worried about your plans. It's very important you get these ABTs." (I think she may have said, "CDC requires it" "Baby could get very sick." etc.

WTF?! I never planned to not get the ABTs! And like I don't KNOW the risks. Puh-leeze! I could quote the stats up & down! I am Miss Research!

Then, I had had a sudden 7# weight gain in one week (But it was 1:00 and I'd just had a big heavy lunch.) Of course, including those 7#, I'd gained like 21# TOTAL thus far, so still not high. She says, AND I QUOTE, "You've gained 7#. Can you explain that?"

Let me repeat, "Can you explain that?" WTF?

As far as my birth plan was concerned, I wanted DH to catch. One of the other MWs saw that and said, "Oh I love when Dads catch! " Jasmine says, "Well, the other issue there is that sometimes the shoulders get stuck and that can be dangerous, but after the shoulders are delivered, he could."

Again, she just is an "Err on the side of caution" type.. .and erring on the side of caution in birth has led to many bad things... LOL, let's try not to "err" at all. Of COURSE if my baby's shoulders were stuck, we'd let the MW do her job to help free them (which SHOULD be to encourage me to change positions... but anyway) she's the only one of teh 3 who thought to comment on it.

I could write a novel about how she screwed up my PP care too if you're interested.

OK, now, LOL, getting to my recommendation. On another thread about MWs in DC, one poster said that you could specifically request, "anyone but X." For #2, I'm sold on homebirth, but if I went back there for some reason, I'd ask that. LOL, I plan to beg the other 2 to see if I can clean their houses or do ANYTHING so they will come in on their day off to help me if Jasmine is on call when I go into labor. Worth a shot, right? Hey, if enough people make that request, maybe they'll get the hint....

Oh, and apparently one of the other MWs HERSELF doesn't think too highly of Jasmine! This is a funny story... so I went to 41W3D. The MW did my AFI + NST. She told me that "standard protocol is to induce at 42W." and then she says.. and again, I quote, "So are you gonna let us induce you on Monday?" I LOVE how she says, "Are you gonna let us" Before I could even answer she says, "Well, I went to 43W with one of my kids & it was fine."

So... to me... she said, in so many words, "Our hospital protocol is to always induce at 42W, but I'm fine with waiting (i.e. I don't AGREE with that protocol.)" LOVE that lady!

We also discussed membrane sweeping to help induce. She said that Jasmine refuses to do it for GBS+ Moms, but she & the other MW do it. She laughed at Jasmine about this! She said Jasmine did a membrane sweep for a patient once and the baby got GBS, so because of that, she refuses. She made a comment like, "You can't make decisions on isolated cases."
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Yup, that's the whole concept of epidemiology! You just can't make medical practice decisions based on anctedocal evidence.

I can't remember if it was the MW or DH who then said, "Yeah, you can't say ONE patient ate a big mac then went into labor, so you should recommend eating big macs to induce labor." So we all had a good laugh at Jasmine's expense.

Finally though, I'll just fess up now & say DH & I got DS circumcized. (YES, I researched it extensively. YES, I know it's just cosmetic, I do NOT recommend others to do it! So please, let's not go there.)

I tell you this only because Dr. Bellantoni did the procedure. He came in and said, "You do know it's a cosmetic procedure?" He did kinda try to talk me out of it! And I give him great credit for that. I talked about my reasons with him and he did say, "Well, yeah, it's a minor procedure with small risks, so I can see why people chose to do it anyway." When I mentioned that I did have an ex boyfriend (european) who said his foreskin was tight & painful sometimes & even considered having the procedure done as an adult, he said, "Well, yeah, but epidemiologically, the chance of that happening is small, so it doesn't make sense to circ every male for that small possibility."

WOW! An OB talking about "epedimilogically" - yes, he used that word! So while my interactions with him were minimal, they were good.