Women & Infants Center: Barnes-Jewish OB-GYN Clinic, St. Louis MO

Im having my second baby with them here, and my nurse practitioner has been nothing but helpful through the whole thing.both times I felt very comfortable with their services.

On the surface, this place was alright (usually polite even if a bit rushed and impersonal- I remember meeting ONE person on my team that had good interpersonal skills and actually made me feel safe in her care), but there is an unfortunate lack of understanding of the mental wellness needs of pregnant women and the personalized care that must be part of a woman's birth experience. While they managed to save me during an emergency after birth, I am looking into complaint options because I believe (after 2 years of contemplating and researching possibilities and trying to overcome the trauma of that emergency) that their team actually created (or perhaps exacerbated) the emergency situation by mismanagement of my third stage of labor. After fighting them (by trying to as politely as possible advocate for my needs/wishes) throughout my pregnancy, I finally succumbed to their "policies and procedures" which I knew didn't feel right for me (but do probably work for a majority of people - especially those who decide to get epidurals) after my baby was born and gave up advocating in a moment of exhaustion and relative success (a baby!) only to be whisked away to the emergency room after someone I had never met likely pulled too hard on the umbilical cord while another new person pushed roughly to rush the extraction of the placenta which can take up to 30 minutes to emerge naturally. They stated they usually do it much faster and I clearly remember stating, "what's the rush? " twice, receiving no answer. When I brought up my concerns after the event (at a virtual appt postpartum check-in call), I was not heard at all but sidestepped with vague statements. With a new baby, who had unexpected needs, I let the problem lie, expressing my trauma in my journaling, but now I feel removed enough that I need to advocate for anyone like me who may be put in danger by the hospital's one size fits all policies. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. And if possible, find yourself a place that can and does adjust care based on individualized knowledge about the patient (and takes the time to get to know relevant patient information). The WashU group BJC is not that place. They are streamlined to avoid lawsuits but this puts some individuals at risk. There are many more aspects to my story, but I'll leave you with this thought: BJC did their job in keeping me alive, but that should be the bare minimum. I'm sure (based on maternal mortality rates in the US) that there are others who were not at fortunate as I was.

Im currently 38 weeks pregnant
Never had a pelvic exam done by my doctor
So I had to go to the er I became sick. Took a covid test and it came back positive. The next day the doctors office called me and told me my doctor wanted me to come in. I get there and they tell me they can't see me because I tested positive. Now im sure that was in my chart before my doctor made the appointment. I will not deliver at Barnes Jewish

Just had a doctors appointment there last week and the staff was amazing. They were knowledgeable and super polite! I downloaded the MyChart app so my paperwork was taken care of before hand and they were running on schedule! Great doctor and financial counselor! Huge Thank You!

I always have good doctors. And they nurses are nice and will help you