When I became a gestational surrogate my contract required that I deliver at a hospital with a level III NICU and that I have a physician that could handle high risk pregnancies, just in case.
After a lot of online searching I decided to go with Austin Area OBGYN. The reviews were not horrible and they fit the criteria set forth in my contract.
When I called to make my first appointment I told the receptionist that I would take the first appointment available as long as it was with a "high risk" doctor. She set me up with Dr. Cowan.
The first visit went really well. Dr. Cowan and his nurses welcomed me and the circumstances surrounding my pregnancy with open arms. They almost seemed excited to have us there.
Over the next few months little things started to bother me. Dr Cowan has a great beside manner, he was just a tad touchy-feely. The more I saw him the more "fake" it all became. I also spent a lot more time with his nurses than I did with him. They were all great (with the exception of one) so I didn't mind, but I could imagine that it would be different for a first time mom. He would always come in for the last couple of minutes and chit chat about nothing really... and leave.
It was during one of our visits where the intended mom came with me that red flags started going up. She brought up concerns about the induction we had discussed with him. Dr Cowan was determined to deliver by the 38th week and the mom wanted to wait until the 39th week. He argued with her about his reasons but finally agreed to do what she wanted.
It was a few weeks later during my 29 week visit that I noticed he had an induction date scheduled for February 28th. Not only was that the one day the mom asked him not to schedule the induction, but it was also at 38 weeks, not 39. I chose not to say anything to him and told the intended mom instead. We agreed to just keep going and see what happened.
The final straw came during our 32 week appointment. I had a scan of the girls (twins) that morning that brought up concerns about the weight difference between the two. When I got into the room to see Dr. Cowan I brought it up. He had no clue what the numbers looked like during the last scan, or the one that took place that morning. I had to give him the documents to review. He said there was a 24% difference and that it wasn't a concern.
The next thing I asked him was about attempting a vaginal delivery with the weight difference and Baby B being breech.
Let me give you a little back ground before I continue. I'm not a first time mom. I have successfully delivered 5 babies, all vaginally and all without a drop of pain medication. I know my body. I'm a pro! This was my 6th pregnancy.
As soon as I brought up the vaginal delivery Dr Cowan started shaking his head and responded that I needed to find another doctor, that he wasn't the right one for me.
I was shocked and asked him why. He started telling me that he wouldn't dare risk giving Baby B Cerebral Palsy and that I may not care because they aren't mine, but he wouldn't do that to their mom. I just sat there listening to him. I told him I knew that no one would delivery a breech baby if it was bigger than the first baby delivered and explained that wasn't what I was asking. I told him that I had hoped he would try a version to turn Baby B after Baby A was born. I gave him the spill about how my uterus could stretch, I delivered a lot of babies, blah blah blah. I felt like I was begging him to agree to try. He kept saying he couldn't offer a guarantee and that he felt like that is what I wanted from him. I told him all I wanted was for him to try and if it didn't work we could go straight to an emergency c-section. He started to come around, said that my experience made him feel better. He even told me stories of successful versions that he had done recently. I asked him if it didn't work and we ended up with a c-section what that would mean. He said if they had time they would do a spinal block, if not... they would put me to sleep. THEN I asked him about the scheduled induction that has been on my chart from the very beginning. February 28th. A Tuesday. I asked him if he did all of his inductions on Tuesday. He said NO, I only do SURGERIES on Tuesday. I looked at him in disbelief. All this time he had us scheduled for a c-section despite anything we said. In addition to that, the last time the intended mom was there she asked him to push the induction to closer to 39 weeks and after arguing, he agreed. He never changed the date.
He handed the nurse my chart and left the room without saying another word to me and I never went back.
It was after this happened and I started doing some more digging on Dr Cowan that I came across post after post from women saying they had a c-section performed by him. If you want to make decisions surrounding your delivery, stay away from Dr Cowan. read more