Bad bedside manner & not much care.
If you're all aglow with the news of being pregnant, for the love of all that's good and holy, seek care elsewhere than East Cascade Women's Group. I have had better experience getting a root canal than my experience with all three pregnancies that I had in the care of this group.
First pregnancy, I saw the Dr. Wheir rarely during the entire pregnancy. My only memory of her was during the initial visit and a brief phone call after my abrupt delivery. So she never really even delivered my baby. Still I have never met a less suitable person caring for pregnant women. Very cold, not personable, kinda standoffish. A fish in the freezer has more warmth than she does. She didn't seem like she is suited at all personality wise to her profession.
Second pregnancy, I had her again. I ended up with a miscarriage during the first trimester. I had to have an emergency D&C. I met her afterwards. And there she was, the same cold demeanor. I don't think she could even muster a sincere expression of empathy throughout the visit. The words were there but the delivery was colder than the sterile room where I had the procedure done. That time she promised
Third pregnancy, didn't see her at all. Her name was written on all the orders though and prescriptions. Apparently, she was my doctor even though she had seen neither head nor hair of mine throughout the whole experience. Every order, every concern, you had to be on top of things with the office otherwise, you would be left by the wayside because of how "busy" they are.
My overall complaint would have to be the way things are done at the office. High risk pregnancies apparently mean nil with them because even when they know you are that, the care is the same as with normal pregnancies. I had to plead about getting progesterone. My last ultrasound results were bad apparently but they still made me wait until the end of the day to get back to me, even though I did the ultrasound at opening of the facility where I had it done.
The woman I talked to gave me the bad news my baby did not grow in the two weeks since my last ultrasound. She told me no heartbeat and no growth mean my baby is not viable. In the next breath, she told me she could schedule me for an appointment with their office to take care of getting it "flushed out." Or if I wanted, I could opt to just take medication since I was early enough that I might not need to do the office procedure at all.
What sort of office does not train their staff to have better bedside manners than that? It's supposed to be an office where women who presumably go there are assumed to actually want their babies. I might not be far along as others are but I am emotionally and psychologically attached to the life growing inside me. You do not tell someone hormonal to schedule a visit to flush the baby out in the next breath after you've told her bad news about her pregnancy.
I also really just felt like a ball that got passed along to whoever was available at the moment. I was never exclusively in someone's care. I honestly think it is because they go with patients that are sure things, who will go through the delivery, where the big bucks are. They do not want to deal with the straggly ones who have issues during the first trimester and might have miscarriages. If you do not fit that demographic, the care and the bedside manner are deplorable.
They're not outright rude to you. Sure there is no eye rolling or stuff like that. But you can tell when someone really genuinely cares for your condition and the issues you're having. They sort of have a detached care.
The nurse practitioner who did the first ultrasound for me hurried throughout the whole process and seemed antsy about leaving the room as soon as possible. The whole procedure lasted ten minutes maybe. Fifteen is being very generous. And that's with me offering information and asking questions. I even had to tell her my pregnancy history and that I was high risk because she went in there with no clue who I was, what my history was, and that I was high risk.
The quality nurse manager actually told me they usually won't let you see a doctor until you're 10-12 weeks along because they do not know if your pregnancy is going to take. When I complained to the woman who called me to tell me results of my HCG blood draw about not even seeing a doctor at all yet and issues with regards to hearing back from people, she apologized that I felt that way. Simply put, a non-apology. She obviously believed there was nothing wrong with how the office had handled things throughout the whole pregnancy.
Simply put, there is better care out there. Do not settle for feeling the way I did throughout three pregnancies. I was pretty much alone with no one to make assurances or set expectations on every step of the process. You deserve better. And you will get it somewhere else. read more
