I am fairly new to Baltimore and, being pregnant with my first child, I was unsure where to go for care. Once I found Mercy hospital and was sure that I wanted to go there for my delivery, I thought of going to Kathy's practice but was deterred by one particularly bad online review. Instead I found an ob/gyn group. They were fine but I always had a long wait to see them and they were rather brief once I finally got to talk to a doctor. When I said that I wanted a natural birth without drugs or interventions, they said that they would ""just sit on their hands"", if that was what I wanted.
Although I was not acutely unhappy with that practice, I also did not feel completely supported in my desires for a natural birth. At my birthing class I heard nothing but good things about Kathy and her practice, so I made the switch a little after 30 weeks. I never had to wait more than 10 minutes or so to see one of the midwives, and they seemed genuinely interested in speaking with me about my pregnancy. I learned a lot about the various procedures that were being done during the pregnancy that the ob group had never shared with me.
I went into labor early in the morning and Kathy met me at Mercy at 7 am. The midwives knew that I didn't want a hep-lock or any medication at all, and Kathy never brought it up. I am so grateful to her for her constant calm presence and encouragement during the delivery. She was patient and reassuring and actively helped me get through the most difficult parts of the labor. After our daughter was born, my partner and I were able to relax with her while Kathy dealt with the placenta and stitches. Although she told me everything that she was doing, I was not bothered by any of it.
I am now healing rapidly, and thinking back about my pregnancy, labor and delivery, am so pleased that everything worked out the way that it did. Most of all, I am glad that I switched to Kathy and her midwives, and only wish that I had not been spooked by that review and gone to her office sooner.
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