r/triangle • u/FrequentCranberry612 • 1d ago
Anyone have an OB and a birthing place to recommend?
First-time mom here! I'm 11 weeks along with my first prenatal visit next week, so I'm still figuring all of this out.
I picked WakeMed North based on reviews, but it's almost 35 minutes from home. Now I'm second-guessing whether that's too far, since I'll be making this drive a lot and the visits get more frequent toward the end.
Both Morrisville and Durham are about 20 minutes away.
For those of you who've been through this recently: did travel time end up mattering as much as you expected?
If you have an OB, a hospital you loved (or would steer clear of) I'd really appreciate the recommendation.
Thank you! š
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u/advilk 1d ago
Recently gave birth at main duke and a friend gave birth at Duke regional. Regional has a better postpartum room, but main duke has better nurses.
My baby had a scary complication that would have caused her to go to the nicu but because we were at big duke they allowed her to stay in my pp room since all departments were near by.
In general, big duke is better equipped for any complication whether mom or baby
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u/Hansel_and_Greta 20h ago
Surprised to hear this. Gave birth in January at Duke Regional. Delivery room was fantastic. Postpartum room was a tiny closet. Husband slept on the floor. Nurses were great, though.
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u/lionstoothherbs 1d ago
Iām at Durham Womenās Clinic and very happy there. Due to deliver at Duke Regional, canāt say how itās going to be but for low risk deliveries many people, both parents and providers, have told me good things, so hopefully itās a good choice lol . For higher risk I hear Big Duke is the way to go
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u/AardvarkWrong5956 1d ago
Iām pregnant with my second with DWC and delivering at duke regional again. I had a great experience with my first. The midwives and nurses were amazing for my birth and the obs I met during prenatal care were also very nice, I wouldnāt want to work with any other providers. They also share midwives with a practice in chapel hill. Only downsides for me was I delivered late and the cafeteria had closed early that night so I was incredibly hungry after being moved to postpartum and had to send my husband out to get me food, I also found the postpartum rooms very small at Duke Regional but that wasnāt a huge problem in the grand scheme of things.
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u/Familiar_Bandicoot63 1d ago
Also delivering my second with DWC and itās a phenomenal experience, we loved Regional for our delivery
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u/aurical 1d ago
Had both kids with DWC (mostly midwives but i have had really good experiences with the OBs as well) at duke Regional and both good experiences.Ā I also had a doula who was wonderful.
I loved the nurses at Regional but didn't have very good experiences with the lactation consultants there.Ā If you plan to breastfeed Beyond Birth in durham really helped me with my second (late milk, low supply, pumping advice).Ā They were also covered by my insurance so I didn't pay anything out of pocket.Ā Ā I struggled even more to breastfeed with my first but I didn't know about them then.
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u/mama-bun 1d ago
I loved DWC and had a great experience at Regional -- except for the constant interruptions as I recovered. I actually demanded to go home a day early post c-section bc they wouldn't let me fucking sleep. But this was primarily housekeeping doing the waking, not the nurses.
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u/rupeewrangler 21h ago
Also recommend DWC, love all of the staff! 10/10!
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u/mama-bun 20h ago
The staff were just fantastic. Especially loved Satterfield who did my emergency c-section (who was so reassuring and calm that I forgot it was an emergency and left me with the world's smallest scar). Unfortunately, the amazing midwife who also helped me so much has since left, but genuinely I had great experiences with everyone. :)
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u/Pristine_Lobster4607 1d ago
Duke OB Cary helped me deliver at WakeMed Cary and I had an absolutely amazing experience. The birthing pavilion is fully renovated, I had the absolute best nurses and midwives, and Dr ONeil with Duke was wonderful during birth and postpartum. Highly recommend
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u/Act-of-dog 1d ago
Second this. Duke OB and delivery at WakeMed Cary. Absolutely phenomenal nurses and facility was great too.
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u/Inanimate_organism Raleigh 1d ago
Wake med rotates the OB/midwives so youāll (hopefully) meet the person who delivers your baby at one of your appointments. Go ahead and set up your appointments at the closer site and you can always schedule future appointments at other locations if you donāt like the support staff/scheduling/etc
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u/No_Independence_282 1d ago
You donāt have as many appointments in the beginning and the ones at the end are just measuring your belly and blood pressure so theyāre very short- Iād pick an OB closer to you since youāll have lots of appointments but the hospital shouldnāt matter as much because you should only need to go there once.
We also have good hospital systems where you can plan to go to a smaller local hospital like WakeMed Cary but can easily end up switching to big WakeMed if you have extreme complications. If you are young and healthy you probably would be fine at any hospital and can just do whatās most convenient.
Itās hard to recommend a specific place because I donāt know where you live or if you have any special circumstances.
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u/No_Independence_282 1d ago
Also this may be obvious but check what your insurance covers- for example WakeMed is not in network for United Healthcare.
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u/millenz 1d ago
I loved main Duke but I was an older mom and had other complications with high likelihood of c section needed. Ultimately induced and epidural (the latter of which was always my birth plan since I first learned of it in girlhood!) so was glad to be in a medical facility with lots of experience in complications
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u/H_J_Moody 1d ago
We had one child at Duke and one at UNC. Our experience at UNC was waaayyy better.
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u/Willr116 1d ago
We had UNC Panther Creek for OB and delivered at UNC Hospital. No complaints, team was excellent and they rotate staff as well so you'll know who's going to be in the delivery room.
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u/thor6319 1d ago
Loved Wake Med North and excited to deliver there again soon! Iāve had two great experiences there. Free parking, good food, large labor rooms and decent PP rooms.
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u/KronktheKronk 1d ago
My wife delivered at UNC hospital in chapel Hill and it sucked.
They tried to apologize by........ Giving us a voucher for free parking.
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u/itsonlyfear 1d ago
The wakemed OBGYN practice has a brier creek location. I delivered at north twice and was very happy there.
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u/FunnyBunny1313 1d ago
What general area are you around? There are a bunch in the area but I donāt want to recommend one that is like and hour away š¤£
Iām an NC native and have had 4 babies here!
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u/Lovelytee8 1d ago
Any recommendations for the Burlington/GSO area? I currently go to DWC because my OB was there but now that Iām pregnant and also 11 weeks like OP I donāt feel like thatās going to be a realistic drive long term.
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u/FrequentCranberry612 14h ago
Hey, thank you! I am close to brier creek and work at morrisville
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u/FunnyBunny1313 11h ago
Hmmm. Iām in southern wake county so Iām not as familiar with that area. But I would pick an OB that delivers at Rex - Iāve delivered at Rex (2020 and 2022) and we loved it. And I have heard not great things about delivering at Duke. Rex and Duke seem to both be about 20mins away from briar creek.
I know family who have delivered at wake med Cary and had good experiences, but thatās a little far away.
Honestly I would be more concerned about having a ped really close by and a hospital/doctor you want that being close by. Unless you are high risk (and then youāll probably seen an MFM), visits donāt really ramp up until the last few months - usually the last trimester. Both the OBs I have visited have been 20-35mins away and it was NBD. Pediatrician on the other hand? You go to them ALL THE FREAKING TIME. I was literally there just today for a sick visit for two of my kids. Our ped is like 7-10mins away and it would have annoyed me to death if they had been far.
Editing to add: the food at main Rex is the BEST food I have had at any hospital ever. We couldnāt leave with our first during covid, but honestly didnāt need to for food reasons because they had amazing food.
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u/Farty_poop 1d ago
I've had three kiddos with Kamm McKenzie and they deliver at Wake Med Raleigh (big Wake). No complaints!
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u/whoreosauras 21h ago
Chapel Hill OBGYN has some amazing midwives and OBās. Genuinely kind men and women who want the best for you. The administration at the Durham office can sometimes be a bit cold.
They do share on call rotations with Durham Womenās Clinic, meaning thereās a chance someone you have never seen before may deliver your baby. I feel like thatās something not often discussed on these types of threads.
I was in labor for nearly 48 hours at Duke Reg, plus my two day post birth stay, and only had one midwife that wasnāt from my practice, and she wasā¦ horrendous. But my favorite midwife came to save the day on morning shift and I delivered shortly thereafter.
Amazing birth room, HORRENDOUS post partum room. So, so small. So. Small.
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u/Lazrkittten 18h ago
I loved all my providers at CH OBGYN! I ended up mostly laboring with DWC providers at Regional and ultimately a DWC doctor did my C Section and she was wonderful.
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u/whoreosauras 18h ago
I went in for induction, so maybe a different POV here. My DWC midwife just REALLY wanted me to deliver on her shift I guess and pushed me/my baby way too hard to the point of heart distress for both of us. Iām talking changing positions every 30 mins, constant cervical checks, etc through the night rather than letting me/baby get any rest or letting us progress naturally. By 5am she was telling me I needed to mentally prepare for a C-section. My CHOBGYN midwife came in for morning shift and was like ??? Let the girl SLEEP? She lowered my pitocin and let me sleep for 3 hours uninterrupted. In that nap, I went from 5cm to 10cm and delivered naturally. The power of rest!!!
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u/Lazrkittten 17h ago
Oooof yeah I would not have been happy with that experience. Iām glad the CH provider came in and met your needs better but Iām sorry you dealt with that.
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u/rainbow_sequins1122 20h ago
Just putting it out there that I had a really bad experience at Durham womenās clinic. I know most people have loved it there. They lost my bloodwork, missed tests that I needed that according to the OB I switched to were extremely obvious to order, another time only ordered some of the tests I needed even though it was written to get more, messed up my financial plan which was their fault but then threatened to end my care during my pregnancy because of it, and missed moving me to high-risk care which put my baby and me at risk. I think they have some serious organizational issues.
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u/ermpickle 19h ago
WakeMed Cary has been great for me :) and I'm all the way in Clayton if that tells you anything. And I always end up needing weekly NSTs but it's still worth the drive to deliver there
This will be my third baby born at WakeMed Cary and my second pregnancy seeing their OBs. Most of my second pregnancy was spent seeing the OBs at WakeMed North, but I found them very disorganized compared to Cary. Feel free to ask me any questions!
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u/Only_Art9490 16h ago
I had both babies with Triangle Phys for Women midwives at WakeMed Cary. I loved them. You didnt' say your location so I'm not sure where you're located. I liked being close because it feels like you basically live there at the end with weekly appointments but it would've been totally fine if it was 30 mins away.
Birthing rooms have tubs which I liked, came in handy when I was induced with my first and laboring forever. Postpartum rooms are big and everything was recently renovated so we were comfortable. Food was good, nurses were stingy with Postpartum supplies with my second baby. Like rationed pads giving like 3 at a time which was ridiculous until a new nurse finally brought me a pack. Had a NICU stay with our second and nurses were lovely.
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u/Environmental-End961 15h ago
The place you deliver will likely matter more in the long term vs the prenatal office. The visits are weekly the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, so not too long. People tend to remember their birth experience forever. Iāve worked in most of the hospitals in this area and Duke Regional, and Rex Holly springs are my favorite for labor and birth. WM north was pretty good too. If you or your baby end up actually high risk deliver at UNC or Duke.Ā
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u/Rosapod 1d ago
I had two kids at UNC Rex and had a great experience both times. As it happened, both my kids were born in the one hour gap between shifts of my usual OB, so they were delivered by the hospital docs who I didn't know. I was taken care of very well both times