Physicians For Women

Every time that I go there for my regular check-ups I feel like the staff and my doctor really care about what they doing.
My doctor informed me about the different birth control options. They are good reminding you of appointments and answering your questions even through the phone. I definitely recommend this place. Good friendly staff.

I was seen throughout my pregnancy by the 3 midwives in this practice. The plan was for me to have a waterbirth. Unfortunately, because of medical reasons, though I was able to labor in water, I wasn't eligible for the waterbirth. The midwives were great - at each of my appointments they spent time educating me and guiding me through the next steps in the process. I will definitely return to this practice for my women's heathcare needs. I recommend them wholeheartedly.

Great, no complaints

I saw a provider at this office three times during my pregnancy. During the first visit I made it clear that I would not allow use of the Doppler on my baby, but I would be happy to bring my personal fetoscope during appointments so we could document the baby’s heart rate on my chart. The first two visits I saw April Witzel, and she agreed to the plan to use my fetoscope. The third visit I saw Holly Cross.

During the first visit I had my urine tested with a strip, a blood pressure reading, weight, and blood drawn for basic prenatal blood screening. After waiting for over an hour, I saw April Witzel for about five minutes. She gave me a packet of information which contained a planner marketed toward mothers and distributed by a formula company – a clear violation of the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

The second visit I had my urine tested with a urine strip, a blood pressure reading, weight, and then waited over two hours to see April Witzel for no more than five minutes. I reported that all was fine, no issues that I knew of.

The third visit I had my urine tested with a urine strip, a blood pressure reading, weight, and waited about 45 minutes to see the other midwife in the practice, Holly Cross. I saw Holly for about 5 minutes. I reported that I had felt movement of the baby and that I had heard the baby's heart beat with my fetoscope. She verified with me that I did not want Doppler used on my baby. I told her that I had listened to my baby with my fetoscope about an hour before arriving for my appointment, and I told her the heart rate I had heard. She also raised concerns about my weight gain of about 15 pounds at that point, and advised me that she believed that too much weight gain in pregnancy was associated with gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, too large of baby, and shoulder dystocia. I told her that I gained 50 lbs during my previous pregnancy and gave birth to a 7-lb baby with no issues during the pregnancy or the birth. She documented the discussion in my chart, and the visit ended.

Two weeks after my third appointment, April Witzel called me at my home to inform me that I was being dismissed from the practice. I asked why I was being dismissed, and she said that it was because I was planning a homebirth. I told her that I wasn’t sure that homebirth was what I wanted, and that I might indeed give birth at the hospital. She told me that she and Holly weren’t really doing anything for me during visits. I asked what she felt should be done that wasn’t being done. April said that not allowing them to listen with a Doppler meant that they didn’t have any verifiable information on the heart rate of the baby. I reminded her that I didn’t object to anyone hearing the baby’s heartbeat, and that my objection was to the ultrasound waves coming from the machine and hitting my tissues and my baby's tissues. I told her that she could use a fetoscope to listen during prenatals and during the birth. She ignored this point and asked if I would allow her to use a Doppler during the birth at the hospital. I said that I would have to see how I felt at that time in order to make that decision. April said that she couldn’t “allow” me to not let her get at least a 20-minute electronic fetal monitor strip when I arrived at the hospital and then periodically listen during the birth. I asked her if the hospital required that she use ultrasound, and April said yes. I asked if the hospital allowed patients to refuse any medical treatment that they didn’t want, and she said yes. She said that it wouldn’t be a good idea for her license to and quot;allowand quot; me not to have any ultrasound. I asked her where the requirements of her license intersected with my rights as a patient. I asked if she could document that I refused ultrasound use and if that would serve to protect her from liability or licensure issues. She said yes, to a point. I asked her to clarify. She ignored this request and asked what my issues were with ultrasound use. I told her that ultrasound, Doppler, and electronic fetal monitoring have never been proven to be safe for use on an unborn baby and that they have never been shown to improve outcomes. I also told her that ultrasound has been correlated with IUGR and to heating of the tissues where it is being used, and my objections to ultrasound use were medical objections. She sounded skeptical and asked me what research I had read on that. I offered to bring in my sources to the office for her to review. She ignored this offer and began to tell me how she “allowed” women to do lots of things in labor, like moving around, eating, drinking, wearing their own clothes, and she asked why should she “allow” me to not have an ultrasound strip. I told her because it was my birth, my baby, and my body, and I take responsibility for my care and live with the consequences of my decisions. Ultimately I was dismissed from the practice.

Informed consent is the right of every patient for all medical procedures performed on them. Informed consent is useless if informed refusal is not also an option that can be exercised without fear of reprisal or dismissal from the practice. The midwives at Physicians for Women do not allow a woman to make informed consent/informed refusal. They are unaware of research regarding the procedures they require, and they are unreceptive to a patient bringing the research to their attention.