I went to Comprehensive Women's OB/Gyn because I read a few reviews on-line which were all very happy, and they were right down the street from my apartment. I heard from several other doctors that the office had high reviews from all of their patients. I usually saw Dr. Castillo, and only saw Dr. Walters for the 2 emergency appointments I had, and then for my delivery. I should have known that I would have major problems before my delivery, but I was naive and wanted to like it.
My first issue was the waiting room, I was regularly not seen until 30 minutes to an hour after my appointment. Then Dr. Castillo was rushed & only appeared to halfway listen to me (I would tell her about an episode I had, that I had had several times before over the years, and she told me that it was the way the baby was sitting on my artery, affecting my blood flow, so I was restricted from driving for the last 2 months of my pregnancy. The baby was affecting my blood flow for years before he was conceived? That's just one example. Then there were times were I couldn't get in touch with anyone for concerns of bleeding. And whoever said there isn't an automated system must have called a different office than I did, I hated calling in.
Then there was the day of my delivery. I was 39w2d and went into labor at my appointment. My appointment time was 1:00, and I was contracting at the end of it. By 3 I was calling in & telling them I was in labor. Because I was 6 cm at my appt, I was sent straight in to the hospital. When I arrived, I told them that I believed my water had broken & I was having steady contractions. I also reminded them that I was 6 cm at my appointment a few hours earlier. I was put into a room relatively quickly, and Dr. Walters was on call that day so she came in to check on me. I reminded her that I wanted an all natural delivery and being that this was my 3rd healthy pregnancy, there was no reason not to have one. She practically laughed at me. She never checked my dilation or to see if my water broke, but every time she walked into the room, she asked if I was ready for my epidural. At some point, I found out that Pitocin had been added to my IV. I had only been in the hospital for maybe 2 hours and hadn't even been checked for dilation yet, even though I was already at 6 cm. Why did I have it? I was never told, though I asked. She continued to tell me that my contractions were going to be SO much worse when she broke my water. After I had been listening to that for an hour or 2, I finally broke down and got the epidural, scared of how bad they were going to be after my water broke. Then she finally checked me. I was 7, almost 8 cm, and my water had already broken, on it's own. Before I even walked in! My son was born within an hour of receiving the epidural. Had I known that I was already in the worst of the delivery, like I asked several times, then I could have had a fully intervention free delivery, like I wanted and deserved. Instead, I received TWO interventions I didn't want and was strong armed into.
After that experience, I didn't want to return. However, I found out that I was pregnant about a year and a half later and hadn't found a new OB yet, so I returned for a short time. I had bleeding for almost a full week in my first trimester, and called several times to see a doctor. I was put off by the staff a number of times, and was only told on Wednesday that neither doctor was available at either location and that if I had bleeding, I should just go to the ER. Having miscarried before, I knew an ER would do me no good. Besides, why should I go there when I had a DOCTOR and could pay less then 10% of the cost of an ER visit? That is simply no way to run an office when you are dealing with pregnancies. There were other ridiculous occurrences, and things that simply made no sense to me, and other times when I felt slighted or ignored, but I don't need to go into all of that. I have since switched to a midwife and could not be more pleased. I literally cry still when I talk about my son's delivery, it was completely against my wishes and only convenient for the doctor. They in no way cared about me or my wishes, and wanted to rush a delivery that was already going quickly. I will never return and will never recommend them to a single person. read more