I am writing this 1 year after Dr. Beth Julian-Wang delivered my daughter and with even more clarity I can say that I would never recommend Dr. Beth Julian-Wang to anyone I even remotely care about. My daughter was born healthy, but the physical issues I faced after the delivery were severe. I am still going to physical therapy for effects related to my level 4 tear from delivering my daughter. The biggest disappointment I have with her and her office is that they never took any of my concerns post-partum seriously. I had to be my own advocate and be almost aggressive with Dr. Beth Julian-Wang and the nurse practitioner to get the answers I needed. Specifically, nursing was very hard on my body and I could not maintain enough fluids. This affected my bowel movements and I had to be put on multiple stool softeners. When I contacted Dr. BJW office, my complaints were dismissed. I was told that this is "normal" and that it was just pain I had to live with. In addition, I could not resume intercourse with my spouse until over 8 months post-partum because of the pain related to my tear. Whether I was stitched correctly or not, I don't know, but one thing I do know is that she was not educated enough to recommend physical therapy to me. I had to seek it out on my own and almost force her to write me a medical recommendation. The worst part was that I had shooting pains down my legs and I could barely be on my feet or even lift my daughter without pelvic floor pain. Eventually I saw a GI doctor for my bowel issues and nearly passed out on the table upon examination. She said I had a severe fissure and should have come to her office weeks ago. I did not go to her until 4 1/2 months post-partum because Dr. BJW and her office said I just needed to eat more fiber and drink water. I was on an all smoothie diet for months! While trying to nurse a new born! It was hell. My daughter was not getting enough nutrients and waking up and nursing constantly because I needed to be on a high fiber diet and was also trying out elimination diets (no dairy, no gluten etc.) to figure out what my daughter's nursing issues were. On top of this, the depression that came with the limited physical mobility was extreme. At 4 months post-partum I could not walk more than half a mile. I was a runner and did yoga for all 9 months of my pregnancy. I had an almost flawless pregnancy, yet the recovery could not have been any more opposite. So I write this to warn you - be your own advocate if you wish to see Dr. Beth Julian-Wang. She will not listen to you. She will not hear your concerns. Only when I came to appointments with my husband, with a list dating every phone call, every visit, every response her office gave me did she take me seriously. And this was at 7 months post-partum!!! And it was also the turning point to when I got/demanded a general referral for PT in which I chose my own Physical Therapist - there was no way I was going to follow Dr. BJW advice after the mess of a recovery I went through. I went from being a strong, healthy 25 year-old pregnant woman to a feeble, incapacitated person. I think this episode was entirely preventable had Dr. BJW listened to me, given me the range of possibilities of what my symptoms could be pointing to, and encouraged me to see a specialist earlier. Had I met with the GI doctor or my PT much earlier, I imagine this whole situation could have been different. And it seems strange to me, what does Dr. BJW have to lose by having me see a specialist early on, even if it's really nothing? The worst case scenario is what happened to me, is that my symptoms were real and that they were pointing to a serious problem. For these reasons, I will never view the birthing process the same nor my respect for doctor's diagnosis. If you do go to Dr. BJW I just recommend that you do not take everything at face value, compare what you are hearing to your own independent research and if you have any doubt, as early as possible, get a second opinion!
And if you would like to know about my delivery experience, the nurse practitioner took a "lunch break" because she did not think my contractions were real or progressing - even though I told her my mom and sister have fast labors. During the 1 hour she was gone I progressed from 5 to 10cm and therefore did not have time to get the epidural! Little did I know this was only the beginning of the disappointment I would experience. read more