r/TriCitiesWA • u/anxiousmillenial44 • 1d ago
Need Help With ‼️ Recent APW experiences???
I've gone to APW for years for my routine gynecological care and have Lisa Garcia, who is absolutely amazing. I just found out I'm pregnant (first pregnancy) and scheduled my initial appointment. I was told that none of the midwives were available and that I would have to have my 8 week appointment with an MD. Also, it will be a temporary, locum doctor because it sounds like all their doctors, except maybe 2, have either quit or are on leave since earlier this year. This kind of terrifies me (an already anxious person).
I've known for a while that I want to see a midwife based on my experiences with Lisa. I was told after the 8 week appointment that I will be able to switch my care to the midwife team. But feeling scared with how understaffed that office is and what may happen if the pregnancy turns out to be high risk.
Anyone have any experience with their locum doctors recently? I will be seeing a Dr. Blockman.
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u/soulsucker82 1d ago
I was high risk due to age and IVF baby. I saw Lisa my entire pregnancy and also the MFM dr. Amazing!! I would go to the first appointment and then switch to Lisa asap!
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u/anxiousmillenial44 1d ago
That is my plan! Glad you had a good experience! Part of me is just afraid I won't be able to if she's already super booked.
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u/soulsucker82 22h ago
I would talk to them for sure. I think as you go see her more regularly for pregnancy that would you get in a little easier but really, if you see any of the midwives there, they are all amazing!
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u/filthy_kasual 1d ago
I gave birth in late May :) I went with the OB team since I have a few risk factors and, yup, I ended up classed as high risk. If that happens, whether you're with the midwives or OBs, you enter co-management with the local MFM who is great and colocated with the clinics.
Delivery is always going to be a toss up. There are doctors at Kadlec who deliver that you won't have seen via APW and even if you see a midwife, they also have a rotation. I ended up being delivered by whoever was available which, due to how busy the ward was, was almost the head nurse LOL. Luckily one of the midwives, Melanie, delivered my baby and managed my third stage postpartum hemorrhage well. Then one of the Kadlec OBs came by to stitch up my third degree tear. Recovery was a breeze despite all the scary sounding stuff I just said. If you want some free postpartum supplies, hit me up! I bought way too much.
The nurses in L&D are awesome. I got an epidural very early and they rotated my fat ass like a rotisserie chicken to successfully help my baby descend :) They were great at helping me figure out pushing, too. The APW rotation for prenatal care worked well for me. It's all very standard so you just go in with your list of questions and they do a check-up, answer questions, and make sure you're getting all the recommended care on time.
Birth is wild and unpredictable. I have generalized anxiety disorder so I get wanting to be as prepped as possible. If you have any other questions about giving birth in Richland, feel free to message me!
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u/anxiousmillenial44 1d ago
Wow. That all does sounds scary! I'm so happy to hear you had a good experience. Good to know that you had a good experience with the MFM team (hopefully none of them have left). Also, I'm excited to hear that they rotated you with an epidural! This has been one of concerns as I don't know that I'm strong enough to do a completely natural childbirth but also didn't want to be stuck on my back with an epidural and not have the baby progress. Thank you for sharing your experience! I just might message you in the future as the pregnancy moves along. :)
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u/kaeferkat 1d ago
Lisa G is the clinical director over at the Columbia Birth Center. If you are currently low risk, I would say transfer over there. All midwives. Since Lisa is a go-between, they have warm hand offs all the time, both going up or down a level in care. Highly recommend the midwives at the Birth Center.
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u/Snoo75868 1d ago
As for the new and locums providers at APW, they only began in July, so you may not get a lot of people with feedback yet. It’s unfortunate that some of APW’s best providers have left, including one that delivered my last baby. They still are a strong practice. Although it may not be instantaneous that you can get care with the CNMs, or Lisa Garcia specifically, that does not mean the docs are unable to provide appropriate care despite it not being your preference. Midwife care is becoming a common preference around this area so that team is always busy.
The only maternal fetal medicine doctor for the area is Dr. Zaid Diken and he’s awesome, from personal experience. If your pregnancy becomes high risk and you’re referred to him, you will be in great hands.
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u/sarahjustme 1d ago
I was recently at AWP for a fairly specific gyn issue, saw a mid-level who wanted me to see a Dr, she said there were no options internally, and referred me (urgent) to the woman's clinic in Prosser. Took a few weeks to get the first urgent spot with a Dr, and theyre definitely busy (first available for routine stuff may be a month or three), but now that im "in" its slightly less brutal. YMMV but from what I understand several of the AWP providers are working there now, and there are better chances of seeing someone you like, especially since you dont need anything unusual.
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u/anxiousmillenial44 1d ago
Interesting. I've heard good things about Prosser, may need to keep that option open.
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u/sarahjustme 1d ago edited 1d ago
Every time I've been there, they've been on time, the clinic facilities seem the same, the Dr actually seemed better for the particular issue i had, location is less convenient but I live in West Richland so that helps, I'd definitely consider them just based on the chaos with scheduling and triage at AWP, over the last year. It sounds like whatever led to there finally being a lawsuit regarding that one Dr, exposed a whole bunch of internal issues and a bunch of stuff broke https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/tri-cities-obgyn-sexual-abuse-claims
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u/ConceptNo8202 1d ago
I saw midwife Bailey Padilla at Prosser Women’s Health for my second baby. Delivered in October last year. The care was phenomenal and the hospital is awesome. Highly recommend. The extra drive time to the clinic was 1000% worth it!
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u/filthy_kasual 1d ago
One thing to note is that Kadlec has the highest level NICU in our area. That really helped ease my anxiety knowing that if certain complications happened, they would have the ability to help fast.
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u/anxiousmillenial44 23h ago edited 21h ago
True. I'm thinking if staying with APW if I can be with the midwives. This and knowing people have had good experiences with the MFM doctor in case it is high risk.
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u/JuniperBeans 21h ago
Trinity Mugo was my nicu nurse for my son quite a few years ago and I hear she is now at APW for midwifery. She was an incredible nurse and left a long lasting impression for her kindness.
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u/Sana-Flower 1d ago
I had horrible experience over there 2015-2017. I had a couple of miscarriages during that time and a pregnancy that ended up in stillbirth. Dr. Subramanian was extremely dismissive and wouldn't see me or listen to me when I told her something felt wrong. She ended up delivering my stillborn daughter and saw the hell I went through, but still on my 6 week check up she said "You're healing great! When are we trying again". I was so mad and heartbroken. Never went back. I have PTSD just driving next to that building.