First coming into the office it was nice, clean, the desk ladies were nice as well. When they handed me my paperwork to fill out before i went in, they pulled my boyfriend into another room and "talked with him" about my pregnancy (he still has not told me because it traumatized him). Then finally when i was called back, my boyfriend was still in the other room. I told them i wanted him present during the ultrasound as he is the father of the child. they proceeded to tell me they'll grab him as soon as he's done talking to bring him in so i'd "feel more comfortable" (she made that clear). I followed the nice lady through the door, they sat down and talked with me and it was very nice. it helped me push myself to make a decision. what i didn't like about this was when they tried to preform the ultrasound without my boyfriend present. when i asked where he was they then said they couldn't bring him in because "men make jokes" directing her eyes to the vaginal ultrasound stick. To me that was very unprofessional, and when i told them he's my boyfriend, a 23 year old man is not going to make jokes in such a time. Not only did they say no, but when i said i wasn't going through with the ultrasound if he wasn't present, she rolled her eyes at me, walked off without a word and went to get my boyfriend (as she should.) but the attitude was so unnecessary, and made me feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome.. absolutely upset about that. Afterwards when that part of the appointment was done they brought me into another room to discuss my options. as i've already made up my mind they pushed and pushed. Showing me very traumatic videos in detail with horrendous disco music playing in the background as if it were to make someone feel better?
Either way, the ladies were nice, they definitely knew what they were doing mental wise to the young girls like me, and i don't agree with that (mind you, my mother had the same experience for my little brother. she will not be going back there either).
I ended up going to a different place and they did the exact same thing, except their videos were not in picture detail, but animated detailed video that gave me all the information i needed to make a decision instead of scaring me out of something or into something i don't want to do. They didn't question when my boyfriend wanted to come back and see the baby. They didn't even mention "making jokes". All in all, if you had a good experience with First Coast Women's then that's awesome. I never want to discriminate, but i will share my experience in hopes it may help someone like me who doesn't take those experiences lightly.
I will add here in the end that First Coast Women's definitely has some awesome programs to attend if you're in need of help. They have a program with a bunch of other moms willing to throw you a baby shower/gender reveal for free.
They also have a showroom full of donated baby toys, clothes, changing tables, ect. And all of that stuff you can get if you take their class. at the end of the session you get to cash out and choose what you want from the room. And it's all free! I will say that is an awesome program, disregarding the traumatic experience, they definitely have a good thing going with that.
-Thank you read more