Birthing Center Recommendations and OB/GYN

I delivered both of my kids at Menorah and had a wonderful experience both times. My OB is Dr. Sharla Shipman with Johnson County Women's Clinic, and she is great too. Good luck!

I completely agree with Nacona W. Women's Clinic of Johnson County is awesome, all the doctors are great. My first child was born at SMC and it was an AWESOME experience! My second was born at Menorah and it was okay but not near as wonderful as my experience at Shawnee Mission.

SMMC hands down! They are awesome! I couldn't have had a better experience there and thier nurses are awesome. They even have an OB/GYN onsite should you need a Dr in emergency and your Dr hasn't arrived yet. They also have awesome instructors for thier birthing classes, which kept our interest since some of them are lengthy.
I would rec Melanie Martin with JC OB/GYN. She delivers at SMMC and has the best bedside manners. She will take her time with you and not make you feel rushed. Good luck!

I know Olathe Medical Center wasn't one of your choices, but I would highly recommend them, and Dr. Douglas Macfarlane. He was excellent. I had a calcified placenta and became a high risk pregnancy early on. Dr. Macfarlane closely monitored everything. Their rooms are beautiful, and their nurses are wonderful.

I had my son at Menorah and although the nurses were wonderful, I will never go back. They took my son for his hearing screening and basically never brought him back. I figured he just kept waking up so they couldn't get a good test, but after 2 hours, my husband and mother went looking for him and found him in the NICU. Turns out my son was turning blue and they couldn't immdiately figure out why. We had to ask them to tell me what was wrong with him. They did IV's, breathing tubes, called Children's Mercy for transport all before we knew anything was even wrong with him. Obviously, I would not have objected to them treating him, but they really should have kept me more in the loop. That is why I would never go back to Menorah.

I highly recommend having a doula and using a midwife. I used Sarah Wallbaum for my doula (www.mamasara.com), and I could not have had a VBAC with my 9 pound 5 ounce baby without her and my excellent midwife, Kim Anderson. The only drawback was that I had to deliver at Research Medical Center, and I did not like the hospital. I had a great experience at St. Luke's on the plaza with my first son, at least in terms of "customer service", but they did give me an unnecessary csection.

The strongest indicator of whether you will be listened to and supported in an effort to have a natural birth (no induction, no surgery) is to check the VBAC and Csection rates for any OB, midwife, and hospital you use. I also used Hypnobabies and really liked it. Good luck!

Dr. Kristen Wootton is the OB hospitalist at Shawnee Mission. She was my OB/GYN when she was in The Women's Health Associates and she delivered my daughter. I cannot even begin to come up with the words to describe her. She is hands down the best doctor I have ever had, in any situation. I don't know how it works now, with her being the hospitalist, but if you have the chance to have her involved with your pregnancy and delivery, I would jump through hoops to do it. Can you tell I really like her?

L.,

I just gave birth to an 11 week early preemie at OPRMC. I had a wonderful experience in both the delivery and treatment of my son in the NICU. I have heard many people have had problems at OPR, but they were just wonderful to me. I think that was partially due to my awesome doctor and her attention to detail. If you would like her name I am glad to give it to you with her phone number. I would definatly reccommend OPR to anyone. I feel like they have come a long way in a few years.

K.

I had 3 babies at Olathe Medical Center and can't say enough good things about them! The nurses are fabulous!!! The rooms are very nice - after delivering they fold down a queen sized murphy bed for you & your husband. I would very highly recommend OMC. And my doctor is Dr. MacFarlane. I think he's great too.

I LOVED my OB, Dr. Angela Piquard, she is with Women's Care and has offices at SMMC and St. Luke's South. I delivered both of my kids at SMMC and had a great experience both times. I had 2 c-sections, so I spent 4 days there each time. Great nurses and anesthesiologists!
Good luck!

Hi, We just had our first baby at Menorah and I had a WONDERFUL experience! All the way from Check in at 6am ( I had to have a c-section, she never dropped and I never had any contractions, my crevix never softened...) to the very end. I was very nervous about getting an epidural. I had this idea of a natural childbirth, birthing ball, walking the halls and blah blah blah- since that flew out the window I had to get one. The nurses and the anesthesiology guy who administered it was very informative on every step of the way describing what he was doing and what I would be feeling. He was really good! The hospital rooms were nice and the nurses were great. My husband was able to eat meals with me which was nice too! Great hospital and a great experience! My sister had a great experience at Shawnee Mission Med Center, but our doctor didn't go there. Our OBGYN is Coleen Maynard(our of St. Joseph Med Ctr) She was great too, but she is the only female at the office and tends to run behind on appointments, but she's good too.If you don't mid having a male doctor, at her office is a father and son team that is a lot faster with appointments. What ever one you choose I hope it turns out to be awesome and congratulations to you and your husband on your second one! I hope this helps!
Steph

It doesn't matter what hospital you go to insofar as fetal monitoring. If you have pitocin, they will put you on a monitor; that is standard hospital regulation. I highly recommend a doula. It is worth every penny and more to have an educated advocate at your side throughout your labor who can help you make good choices. The regulations hospitals have are based on their desire to avoid liability and make money. Check out www.kcdoulas.org I used Melanie Brindle for my second child (VBAC) and I would have never managed a VBAC without her.

There is also a birthing center in KCK you might want to check out. Keep in mind how much you will actually pay out of pocket with your insurance before you shoot down the idea of paying $2000 straight out to another source.
Also look at www.ican-online.org I know you didn't have a c-section, but there is a lot of unbiased information on this site about all the medical interventions with laboring mothers and their ill effects.

Good luck!
C. B.

L., I have three children one which was born at Menorah and the other two at SMMC. I perfer SMMC over Menorah. Everything seemed to go more smoothly. I had C-sec with all three of mine due to my first being an emergency c-sec. and the nurses at SMMC were a lot better about helping when I needed them and they were all very nice to me, family, and friends. SMMC also has remodeled recently and their delivery rooms are a lot more spacious and the c-sec recovery rooms are a lot bigger than Menorah. I also like that SMMC offers a quite time in the afternoon if you want. That is where you can have time for just you and the baby or mommy, daddy, and baby time. I seemed to have the best experience with SMMC also b/c they have you do a pre-register that makes your arrival 100 times easier.
I have an awesome OB/GYN that I have been going to for 11 years. Her name is Janetta Proverbs and she is located at 75th & I-35. She is very easy to talk to about womwn things and she never tries to rush you out of the office. Her number at her office is ###-###-####. I have recommended her to several friends and they also like her a lot.
I hope this i shelpful and I wish you the best of luck with your new little one!!!
C.

Dr Christine Carriker is awesome. she works at Womens care and Shawnee Mission medical center. They are however adding on to the hospital but Im not sure if it will be completely done by then or not.They should be.

Hi L.,
I go to an OB/GYN at the Overland Park Medical Plaza, just right next to the hospital. I acutally go to a mid-wife. She is wonderful. The first time I ever went to her I freaked out and started bawling (it was my first time ever going to an OB). She explained things to me very well and answered all of my questions. Her name is Bridgette Webb. She is awesome. She also told me that if I go into labor that she can help deliver it, which I thought is pretty cool. Their number is ###-###-####. I haven't had children, but I do plan to. Of course when you talk to her she'll be able to give you more information than I can provide. Hope this helps! Have a blessed day!

A.

I actually had a fantastic experience at Menorah. The nurses were wonderful. I think part of it does have to do with who your OB is though. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to follow through with your birth plan. Our daughter just wasn't handling the contractions well and her heart rate kept dropping. My OB, Dr. Nauser, was great and tried several different things to avoid a C-section since she knew I really didn't want one. But it finally became clear that was the best option for our baby. Even though I was incredibly disappointed and really struggled with recovery, on the plus side, my OB is very down to earth and helped me deal with everything. Good luck!!!

I don't have a recommendation, but IMO, I prefer midwifery care to OB care.

I am also a doula, and I think they make a HUGE difference in birth (there's a lot of research to back this up as well). I am a co-president of Doulas of Greater Kansas City (www.kcdoulas.org), and I encourage you to visit the website and learn more about the doulas in this area. You mentioned expense... in KC, birth doula services range from $300-$600, and I would have paid twice that much for mine (most of my clients say the same thing!).

Congratulations on your new baby, and I wish you great things as you make these choices.

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa
www.first-choice-chiro.com

I had a yucky experience with my second birth, so when it came time for #3 my first and foremost priority was finding a doctor that would actually BE my doctor during the birth. I found Dr. Mark Finkelston, he is a single doctor practice, his wife is the office manager, they are very family oriented and friendly. He was open to my ideas, listened but still was firm on what was in the best interest of my child. I delivered at Menorah, but have at SMMC as well--I liked Menorah better, but for strange reasons--their birthing beds faced away from the door instead of hello-all-for-ya at SMMC. Menorah has a doc, nurse and a labor "tech" in the room, I did not want the labor tech, and Dr. Finkelston was fine with that.

I just educated myself very well, found someone that supported me and looked out for what we both felt was best and went with it. My last two have been wonderful experiences, without a doula. But I have no problem voiceing my opinion, either :D

Good luck!

A.

I don't know about CNMs, but I can't say enough good things about Dr. Randy Sheridan @ Johnson County OBGYN. They're just across I-35 from Shawnee Mission Medical Center and mostly deliver there, but can go to other hospitals as well if necessary. Dr. Sheridan delivers ALL his own patients (barring him being out of town or something), and that was very important to me. He'll tell you what he thinks in a situation, but leaves the decision up to you - totally not a high-pressure guy. My husband REALLY liked him as well.

As far as the hospital, SMMC didn't have "fancy" rooms, but the nurses (and I was there 4 days, so I had lots!) were all wonderful, as were the lactation consultants. SMMC has nice big laboring rooms w/ whirpool tubs & such, but after giving birth, you are moved to another room for the rest of your stay. I had a C-section so didn't get to utilize the birthing rooms, but my regular patient room was nice. The lactation consultants at SMMC were VERY helpful, and they have a "mommy & me" store w/ all sorts of BFing necessities. They also offer a BFing support group (even if you don't deliver there).

I didn't have a doula, and I think if I had labored & had a vaginal birth, it would have been very helpful. The gal who teaches most of SMMC's classes (birthing, newborn, etc.) I believe is a doula, and I recall thinking that it wasn't as expensive as I'd thought it would be. If I'd thought about it earlier in the process, I'd probably have tried to arrange for one.

I chose SMMC over OPR because at the time that I was pregnant with my first it was under construction and there were no waiting rooms. Plus the rooms are much nicer at SMMC. I had a nurse midwife with my first child and it was not any different experience than withan OB. She came in to check on me once, went back to the office and came back when the nurses (who were fantastic) called her and said I was fully dialated. As a matter of fact I became extremely ill one week post delivery with my first (unrelated to the birth or pregnancy) and never went back for a check up after delivery because I was seeing a new Dr (from St Joseph Hospital b/c that is where they rushed me) and a specialist but I never even got a phone call from the group that the midwife worked for. It was completely impersonal. Perhaps a doula is different but given the "impersonal" experienc I had with the mid-wife you might as well have an OB. My second child was c-section so I can't really compare but I have to say that throughout the pregnancy I received more personal care and actual phone calls from the DR at a small practice far more than I did with the midwife from a big group, who never returned my calls.

L., you didn't mention olathe medical center but i highly reccommend them. i had a great experience there - and i had an emergency c-section so things were a bit scary here and there. honestly, i can't really reccommend an OBGYN, mine was only "so-so", not fabulous, and she wasn't even there because it happened so quickly. but i had a great experience with the nurses and staff there. good luck and congrats! :)

I delivered at Olathe Medical Center (and liked it), so I can't respond to your question about hospital. But I loved having a doula. I am firmly convinced that she is the reason I was able to avoid having a C-section, and instead succeeded in having a natural childbirth. Mine cost $400 but in retrospect (since labor was difficult for me and I had issues with my baby's position), I would have paid double that. Or maybe more considering the pain of recovery from a C-section.

I delivered my first at Shawnee Mission and it was FABULOUS! It was a flawless transaction! I would recommend it to anyone and everyone! My second was delivered at Menorah (due to insurance coverage) and it was ok. It wasn't as warm and fuzzy as the first one. The staff wasn't as welcoming - they were very business-like. Which I understand, for them it was just another day at the office - but Shawnee Mission it was an amazing journey and they were thrilled to be apart of it!

My ob - Phaedra Lombard from Women's Clinic of Johnson County - delivers at either location. There are a dozen or so doctors in the practice so you could very well have one of the other docs on call when your time comes but I was lucky to have Phaedra catch both of mine!

Good luck and don't forget to enjoy this!

I had all 3 of my chilren at Menorah. I personally loved it there. I can't compare it to any other hospital for delivery since it is the only one I know. I know that you could call and make an appt to see the place and check it out though. That might help you in your decision making.

Best of luck to you and congratulations on your little one!