I don't recommend this Ob-gyn and am having a hard time understanding the rave reviews. I don't feel that he is emotionally attuned and he doesn't share information about physical changes during pregnancy and labor that would best help a woman prepare. In summary, he seems to know little about women's bodies and how to optimize women's physical health during and after pregnancy--one of those typical OBs that dismisses things as "a side effect of pregnancy that happens to everyone". I'm happy to provide more information via individual message about my experience, but I really am shocked at all of the positive reviews.
I selected him for my first baby because of his great reviews. At first he seemed nice and easygoing, which I appreciated, but as the pregnancy progressed I didn't feel cared for well. He seemed to be hurried on the later stages and didn't feel the need to fully talk through concerns I had. For example, I said my blood pressure is naturally low and I am worried how my body will do with the epidural, and he said don't worry about it we have meds to raise your bp. Well lo and behold after I got the epidural my BP was like 80/40 and the meds barely helped raise it, leading to a few stalled hours of labor trying to get it figured out (it never really got figured out, I just felt awful). Maybe if he had trusted my concern we could have figured out a backup plan together.
I felt neglected and dismissed after a traumatic delivery that left me with severe tearing and incontinence. I was also extremely disappointed by the lack of information communicated to me about the changes that would happen to my body in pregnancy and labor- and if I had had that information, perhaps I would have sought more preventative treatment and/or selected an alternate form of delivery. For example, I learned after the birth that I had a mild to moderate type of prolapse before I gave birth, which he never noticed or commented on--and as a result, my difficult labor severely exacerbated this. I believe it is negligent of OB-GYNs to not at least be able to identify prolapse, which would give expecting moms vital information. He never mentioned pelvic floor therapy to me to prepare for birth, and he never referred me to PT after my birth--I had to ask for it! He seemed confused that I was experiencing incontinence after birth and had no explanation for it, despite the fact that many women I know with severe tearing had some type of fecal incontinence for some time post birth. And I was "cleared" for all activity at 6 weeks post birth becusse "my stitches were fully healed", but when I tried finger penetration at 8 weeks, I had some bleeding and a lot of pain. After reaching out to some friends with severe tearing, their doctors recommended waiting till at least 12 weeks before attempting anything because deep tears take much longer than 6 weeks to heal, even if the stitches "look" healed on the outside. Very frustrating. I could give more examples than this.
*update- apparently I have a sore on my vaginal wall that hasn't fully healed, which he totally missed! Unbelievable.
So now I'm a 27 year old first time mom trying to take care of a baby while leaking poop and dealing with moderate prolapse--and Although a lot of labor is out of everyone's control, I believe some of the issues I'm struggling with could have really been prevented with better care from him. All in all, I definitely wouldn't recommend him for a first time mom, and certainly not for a mom who wants to optimize her body for a vaginal birth. Seek out another doctor who knows more about how your body will change and can give you tips on how to prepare, and will really listen to your concerns when you bring them up instead of minimize. read more