1St Time Expecting Mom in Need of New OB or Nurse Midwife

I see Dr. Winfred Parnell at Medical City. His phone # is ###-###-####. He delivered all 3 of my children. Just about every woman I know (friends and family) sees him or someone in his office. AWESOME doctor and the whole staff is wonderful.

I second the recommendation of Northlake OB/GYN. My doctor is Dr. Jean McClintock and she is wonderful. I have delivered two children in the last two years and both have been considered high risk pregnancies. She and the rest of the staff there are wonderful!

Birth and Women's Center in Dallas is REALLY AWESOME!! They have very experienced midwives who work closely with an OB group and if there are any problems you are about a block away from Baylor Dallas.
I had prenatal care at the Birthing Center and planned to deliver there. But in my last semester my baby was breech and then transverse and we couldn't get her to turn. So, I ended up having a C-section at Baylor. But I want you to know Cherie was with me every step of the way. Even when the OB took over and tried to "turn" the baby Cherie rubbed my feet and stayed by my side. I would def. go with a midwife my second time around.
Good Luck,
M.

we had our 1st son 10 months ago at The Birth and Women's Center in Dallas. Let me tell you it is AWESOME!!!!!! Cherie is a CNM and she (in my opinion) knows more than the doctors do. We are having our next son there in 2 months. It is the most romantic, beautiful, and relaxed atmosphere ever! If you chose to have your baby there you will not be sorry. Baylor is 1 block away if any complications should arise. They come and get you in 3 minutes, or you can just go there. You can take a tour of the facility every Friday at noon. It is wonderful. I have an Ob/gyn at Northlake ob/gyns at Medical City Plano. My ob/gyn is J. Campbell I really like her. I chose the Birth and Women's Center to have my baby and she was cool with that. If I didn't want to go the natural route, I would chose her to deliver my baby. Hope this helps. Go to the Birth and Women's Center website and check it out.

Check into Swiss Ave Birth Center, it is amazing and very beautiful and is right by Baylor in downtown. I think you will find that although downtown Baylor is not pretty it is the most holistic hospital when it comes to having babies. The doctors at Women to Womens deliver there and they are also amazing if you want to be in a hospital environment.

Might I also suggest you start reading some books such as Birthing from Within, Active Labor, Beautiful bountiful blissful and Bradley Child Birth.

If you are looking for a childbirth class Linda Worzer's class is amazing. www.naturalbeginningsonline.com

Good luck and sorry for giving you more information than you asked for!

I am a Labor and Delivery nurse, so I know the area well. Baylor Plano does not have a labor and delivery. I would recommend Presbyterian Hospital of Plano or Medical Center of Plano. Dr. Keith Reisler delivered my children and he is an awesome doctor and an awesome person. Phone number is ###-###-####. Many nurses and doctors see him. He really works with each patient and individualizes there care. He has a low c-section rate and he really tries to avoid episiotomies. I had a 9 lb baby and no tearing or stitches. He delivers almost all of his patients himself. He really cares and spends lots of time with his patients and is always available. He has a great office staff with full time sonography and 3-D sonography. Everyone in the office is really friendly. He is the only doctor I would ever see. I know he will also meet patients at no charge. Good Luck!

I highly recommend Northlake OB/Gyn at Medical City or Plano Presbyterian. They are wonderful and have all the equipment you could ever need in their offices. They have on-site Sonogram techs, a lab, etc. The doctors are wonderful, I can't say enough about them. They know what they are doing, they explain everything and you feel like they are a friend taking you through the whole process. I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Bruce Roberts, but they are all wonderful doctors. They also have a lot of female doctors if you feel more comfortable with a female. My delivery at Medical City was very relaxed and comfortable. I almost felt like i was on vacation. I had an epidural (which meant I could enjoy the delivery -instead of suffering through it). Thanks to my doctor's patience and instruction - I didn't need an epesiotomy (sp.??) and I was walking around the next morning. Their main number is ###-###-####. They open at 9:00 a.m.

There are several options which you might like in addition to the ones which have been previously suggested.

There are other birth centers in the general vicinity which would be closer than the BWC. Here are the three which would be closest to Richardson, all of which have CNM's and backup arrangements with a doctor/hospital should something risk you out of birth center care either prenatally or during your birth.
http://www.fcmcdallas.com
http://www.allenbirthingcenter.com
http://www.dallasmidwife.com

If you prefer to stay with a hospital, there is a CNM working under OB's at Presbyterian Allen and Medical Center of McKinney, and there is an OB named Dr. Charles Downey who practices out of Richardson Regional with whom it is possible to get a reasonably non-interventive hospital birth.

Neither of these hospital environments is at all a "more natural environment"- there are not any hospitals in this area which have a natural environment or even an encouragement of natural birth environment... ALL the hospitals in the area have epidural, induction, and cesarean rates off the charts compared to what the World Health Organization recommends. But for the Richardson area, considering the care providers I have worked with, those two would be likely to work with you, if you wanted to work towards an unmedicated birth. (YOU will still be the one working for the unmed birth- if you don't advocate and strive for it, they won't hand it to you on a platter or work for you to get it- but if you work for it, those two care providers will not work against you for it.)

If you are willing to drive to Baylor Dallas, Susan Akins and Lindsay Kragle are also a very good choice for trying to get an unmedicated birth in the hospital- probably the best hospital/care provider choice in the area for unmedicated birth.

It is MUCH easier to get a natural unmedicated birth in a birth center, because that is what they do there- it's their specialty, it's all they do all day long, they are invested in your having an unmedicated birth, because if you require medication, that means they need to transfer your care and not be the place you give birth. Obviously they want to be where you give birth, so they work hard with you to help you get an unmedicated birth. (It wouldn't do them any favors for you to have a bad outcome, so of course, if you become high risk they are still going to transfer you!!) But otherwise, they are working hard WITH you for you to achieve the goal of a natural birth.

At the hospital, when you get medications, it increases your bill and makes you easier for them to manage, so it is not in their best self-interest to help you achieve an unmedicated birth. They may try to set their own self-interest aside and let you go unmedicated- not be induced, not have your labor sped up by Pitocin, not have an epidural, not go for a cesarean- but those things are easier for the hospital staff, and more convenient for them, so finding a care provider who is willing to be self-sacrificing of their own best interest in order for you to get an unmedicated birth in the hospital, is a bit of an uphill climb. It is possible! But not as simple as when you are going to a birth center and what you want matches up with what they want.

You do indeed need a childbirth class focused on going natural, no matter if you decide to give birth in the hospital or a birth center. Linda Worzer's classes (previously mentioned) are great! I myself took them when I was an expectant mom, in fact.

I also teach a boot camp style CBE class all in one weekend, with an emphasis on achieving a natural birth if you decide to do that, no matter where you choose to do so. My classes tend to be a mixture of hospital birth mamas, birth center birth mamas and/or homebirth mamas.

Good luck!
D.
http://www.cherishbirth.com

I delivered my second child with a Nurse Midwife who practiced out of an OB/GYN office. This was in a another state though. Out of all three of my deliveries, that was by far the best experience. I'd like having having fast access to an OB if I needed it and I really did want to be in a hospital environment just in case something went wrong.

The only hospital I know of in Dallas that has a OB/GYN practice who uses midwifes for low risk pregnancies is out of Baylor Dallas..I am sure it is mentioned below. Texas is a little behind when it comes to integrating these two fields. I am from CT and it is very, very common for women to use midwifes from an OB/GYN practice.

Good luck!

Dr. Aimee Napier. She is at Medical City. She delivered my son and I have several friends who go to her and love her! She was great. We also really liked Medical City.

Let me know if you have any questions....

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My dr. is in Medical City. His name is Dr. Jordan. His number is ###-###-####. The staff is really nice. And I have been going to him for at least 7 years. They have their own sonogram equipment in the office. And when I was preganant they always let me come in when I felt there was a problem. I have refered many woman to him & they all love him & his staff. He is very easy to talk to.
Good luck on your search.

A., Baylor Plano does GYN services but unfortunately, not OB. It's an adult services hospital. I would have delivered there too if they did OB, I like that hospital a lot.

I had a pretty complicated pregnancy and went with an OB all the way through it-I delivered at Baylor Dallas. But if you are low risk, check out the Birth and Women's Center of Dallas. They have CNM's and are also affiliated with OB's and Baylor Hospital in case anything goes down. The URL is http://www.birthcenter.net/. I was looking at that place until I was declared high risk and had to go medical. Good luck!

A.,
I delivered both my sons at Baylor Dallas. Wonderful place. It is not that far from Richardson, as I live in Dallas on the border of Richardson. Dr. Elizabeth Stevenson is my OB. She is WONDERFUL! I have got several of my friends moved over to her. I love her, could gush on and on. There offices are off of 75, very accessible. You might want to give her a try.

Baylor OB/Gyn Associates
###-###-####
9101 N. Central Expressway
Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75231

Hi A.,
Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Baylor Dallas is the only hospital in the direct area that has a midwife on staff. Medical Center of Lewisville also has a CNM with privileges. The only other one I know of is Harris Methodist in Ft. Worth. Medical City Dallas does not grant midwives privileges at the hospital. Your only option there will be an OB. It's where I delivered my daughter. For my current pregnancy, however, I have decided to try to homebirth.

Out-of-hospital births are just as safe as in-hospital births for low-risk patients. The midwife is there with you the whole time and monitors you for anything that might go wrong. Emergency transports are rare because problems are generally caught before they become an emergency. I'm happy to recommend my midwife to you if you're interested. Her name is Cori Lively and she has Barefoot Midwifery (www.barefootmidwifery.com is her website).

Best wishes and happy birthing!

-L.
p.s. I second the recommendation for Linda Worzer's birthing classes. We used her and were very happy.

I would also check out Birth and Women's Center they offer tours and I was alos concerned about complications( I had my first there in December) They are 3 mintues from Big Baylor and before your due date you pre-register there that if you go...you can roll right in. You have a class at the center on a Saturday and they explain the protocal for reasons to go to the hospital. The midwives and Birth Assistants are very experinced in what they do and I loved giving Birth there and would do it again in a heart beat. I hope this helped and Congrats!!

Dr. A. Sigman. She is at Medical City. I love her! She is always great with me...takes her time, answers any questions I have for her...especially the stupid questions I had when I was pregnant. Her whole staff is great as well as the other doctors in the practice. I had a great experience delvering my son at Medical City as well. Dr. Sigman's number is ###-###-####.

Dr. Mark Godat at Medical City. He delivered my son this past January, and I loved him. A friend of mine goes to him as well and feels the same way. He if very personable and let's you know exactly what is going on. I also loved the staff of nurses at Medical City. I had a high risk preganacy, so I was in the hospital a couple times, and every time I felt as if I was very well taken care of.

Dr. Mark Godat
Medical City, Suite C-218

~A.
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