This was my daughter's first baby and my experience as the grandfather was amazing. My daughter was good with having my wife and I in the LDR with her and her husband. We arrived at 10pm with contractions 4 minutes apart. We're admitted into an exam room by midnight. We were informed that it was a busy night and getting into an LDR room may be some time. My daughter was scheduled for an epidural ASAP. Fortunately an LDR opened up around 2am. They were able to do the epidural and my daughter was able to rest with little progression through the rest of the early morning. Communication to us was excellent through staff change. Everyone introduced themselves and their roll in the process. After her morning exam my wife and I left to go about 15 min away to take a shower. And my son in law went downstairs to get some food. And of course everything started to progress quickly when everyone had left my daughter to rest. We got the call to get back to the hospital immediately and my son in laws phone did not have service. A student OB said she remembered what my son in law looked like and ran downstairs to get him. We arrived back to a room full of people (including my son in law) as they were preparing my daughter to start pushing. 15 minutes later our healthy granddaughter was born. My wife and I were just in awe of the amazing work the entire staff, students and support staff did at VCU. Want to give a special notice to the ladies and gentlemen that were cleaning and preparing all the rooms for changeovers. They were going all night long to get rooms prepared for the comfort of the incoming moms to be.
Fortunately everything went textbook for my daughter and granddaughter. Our experience was top notch.
My wife and I came in for a scheduled C-section Wednesday 8/7/24, it was set for 12:30pm requiring an 8 hour fast prior. We arrived to the hospital at 9:30am as required yet our operation time was delayed until 3:30pm due to “other emergencies taking priority”, my wife was made to extend her fast. After the operation, we returned to the delivery room at 5pm yet weren’t transferred to our post delivery room until 10pm that night. Tonight at midnight, our 3rd night in recovery, the night-shift nurse assigned walked passed me to communicate to my wife that they needed half of the room for another patient; this was a message about evicting me without addressing me directly. During our tour of the facility, us along with every attendee had the same question concerning why there was a spare bed in the recovery rooms. We were all assured that the bed was only there because in times of emergency this particular hospital is used as an overflow location for the city and that the spare bed would even be a great place for spouses to stay in a comment of reassurance. Regardless of whether spouses would be able to use the bed or not, everyone’s concern was the same regarding the promise of not having to share a room. The additional bed not being a sign of a demand to share a room with a stranger in such an intimate time was the pressing concern for all in attendance and we were all assured that just as our delivery room was private, so too would be our recovery room. Tonight, when I was so nonchalantly evicted, the care for where I was expected to go and the disregard for the distance to my home or the cost of accommodations came in tandem with the suggestion that they were not asking me to leave and I was welcome to stay and sleep in a chair. When I asked what that meant for the person’s spouse whom they would be bringing in, they said that they could also utilize a chair. So now we have arrived at fresh breastfeeding mothers being expected to share their room with the spouses of strange women, in such a manner of disregard. Obviously dissatisfied with this and seeing that there would be no remedy but complaint, I asked for their statement to be communicated in writing for the purpose of my records and complaint. What ensued only reinforced the bait and switch culture and character of the current supervisory and operations staff. I communicated to the nurse that if she was unsure how to handle my request to bring her supervisor. The senior nurse that came refused to associate herself with the demand she was making. Despite admitting that this was a common reoccurrence of “misunderstanding” between the policy and the tour and that she has been having to explain this to many others upon the unexpected rearrangement of their conditions, the letter produced for me came out as attached. This letter is written by the nightshift nurse assigned to my wife for the first time tonight, it was written at the direction of the senior nurse who acknowledged the false pretenses on which many parties had come for delivery only to have their expectations derailed. Despite all they said to minimize the issue and attempt to express empathy for the purpose of massaging the situation, the letter was produced as is attached. Despite me communicating directly to the senior nurse, who came in a supervisory capacity to clarify terms, that this letter should simply include their statement and the sign off of whoever is in charge with their staff position and their direct phone number the letter was instead produced as follows. Not only did the Senior Nurse portray herself as unfamiliar with any official letterhead in the building, she refused to take accountability for her statements and acknowledgment of the issue by having the junior nurse write the letter attached with the peculiar wording seen. Reading this letter you can see the reluctance to satisfy standard business practices with regard to official notice of change to terms and conditions. We were inconvenienced and disregarded. We were robbed of our chance to make an informed accommodation choice.
I will say the nurses and doctors are amazing, kind, and very informative which is why I’m giving at least two stars. Unfortunately the postpartum rooms are not thoroughly cleaned the last persons razor that was here was still in the shower, the floors were dirty, and the bed next to mine was clearly never changed. Also the people who take food orders are rude and not ONCE did they add everything we asked for to the order. The lady who answers to phone constantly sighed when we’d ask for something. The portions are ridiculously small, and half our order was always missing. Medically my biggest concern was that some of the postpartum nurses I had would forget to bring me painkillers on time which just sucks.
Almost a year later and I’m just now able to talk about this experience without crying.
May 15th 2023, I went in to have a scheduled c section with my twins. The pregnancy started out as triplets and at 15 weeks I lost my daughter due to holoprosencephaly. I had very specific wishes, that I wanted my twins (one placenta) and my triplet Ella’s placenta cremated with her body. When everyone was born, They asked if I wanted them to try and separate her from her placenta so I could say goodbye. I was warned that she had been gone for a while and with the pressure of the twins the whole pregnancy it probably wasn’t a good idea so I said no and my doctor took pictures of her for me so when I was alone and if I wanted to see her in the future I could (my high risk doctor at VCU was amazing and I’m forever grateful for her). After the surgery we were wheeled back to the recovery room where I was bonding with the twins for the first time while in a complete state of shock. 10 minutes after being back in the room and mentally trying to process that I had just given birth to two healthy babies, mourning saying goodbye to my daughter that I lost 21 weeks prior and had to carry the remainder of the pregnancy, a nurse walks in with a biohazard bin and sits it on the counter with my daughters remains and the placentas. When I say that was the most traumatic experience I ever had, seeing a biohazard bin with my daughter in it sitting on the counter like her life never mattered was deviating. The only thing I could get myself to say in the complete shock of things is “is that my daughter in that container you just placed on the counter”?
My twins turn one on the 15th and that image of the day they were born is forever engraved in my brain. No mom, no matter the gestation of loss, on the hardest day of her life should have to go through that. Everyone saw how emotional I was prior, I made sure everyone I was working with was aware of my wishes and how hard that all was for me and they still brought her in, and stuck her in a big biohazard bin in my recovery room.
Not a single nurse came to apologize after that from labor and delivery, not a little shadow box to celebrate her life like they do other babies, nothing. If I could go back and change my hospital experience I would, because I will always see my daughter on the day I had to say my last goodbye before I received her remains, crammed in a damn bio bin.
I don't really know where to start or if I'll be able to fit everything I want to say into this review. I went to VCU L&D about 5 times before actually giving birth for numerous anxiety induced reasons, and each time I visited I was shown nothing but kindness and understanding from EVERY medical professional I encountered (special shout out to Sam who I just happened to see during most of my visits). My actual delivery wasn't what I had hoped for, but my care team was the best I could have asked for. A special thanks to CRNA Mary Ford- I'll never forget you and couldn't have done my unplanned c section without you- you are truly an incredible person and deserve the world for how comfortable I felt in your care during the scariest moments of my life.
I will choose VCU for our second child, whenever that is, without hesitation. Thank you all for being apart of our lifelong story.
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Michael Walsh
2 months agoThis was my daughter's first baby and my experience as the grandfather was amazing. My daughter was good with having my wife and I in the LDR with her and her husband. We arrived at 10pm with contractions 4 minutes apart. We're admitted into an exam room by midnight. We were informed that it was a busy night and getting into an LDR room may be some time. My daughter was scheduled for an epidural ASAP. Fortunately an LDR opened up around 2am. They were able to do the epidural and my daughter was able to rest with little progression through the rest of the early morning. Communication to us was excellent through staff change. Everyone introduced themselves and their roll in the process. After her morning exam my wife and I left to go about 15 min away to take a shower. And my son in law went downstairs to get some food. And of course everything started to progress quickly when everyone had left my daughter to rest. We got the call to get back to the hospital immediately and my son in laws phone did not have service. A student OB said she remembered what my son in law looked like and ran downstairs to get him. We arrived back to a room full of people (including my son in law) as they were preparing my daughter to start pushing. 15 minutes later our healthy granddaughter was born. My wife and I were just in awe of the amazing work the entire staff, students and support staff did at VCU. Want to give a special notice to the ladies and gentlemen that were cleaning and preparing all the rooms for changeovers. They were going all night long to get rooms prepared for the comfort of the incoming moms to be. Fortunately everything went textbook for my daughter and granddaughter. Our experience was top notch.
Dallas Coles
2 weeks agoMy wife and I came in for a scheduled C-section Wednesday 8/7/24, it was set for 12:30pm requiring an 8 hour fast prior. We arrived to the hospital at 9:30am as required yet our operation time was delayed until 3:30pm due to “other emergencies taking priority”, my wife was made to extend her fast. After the operation, we returned to the delivery room at 5pm yet weren’t transferred to our post delivery room until 10pm that night. Tonight at midnight, our 3rd night in recovery, the night-shift nurse assigned walked passed me to communicate to my wife that they needed half of the room for another patient; this was a message about evicting me without addressing me directly. During our tour of the facility, us along with every attendee had the same question concerning why there was a spare bed in the recovery rooms. We were all assured that the bed was only there because in times of emergency this particular hospital is used as an overflow location for the city and that the spare bed would even be a great place for spouses to stay in a comment of reassurance. Regardless of whether spouses would be able to use the bed or not, everyone’s concern was the same regarding the promise of not having to share a room. The additional bed not being a sign of a demand to share a room with a stranger in such an intimate time was the pressing concern for all in attendance and we were all assured that just as our delivery room was private, so too would be our recovery room. Tonight, when I was so nonchalantly evicted, the care for where I was expected to go and the disregard for the distance to my home or the cost of accommodations came in tandem with the suggestion that they were not asking me to leave and I was welcome to stay and sleep in a chair. When I asked what that meant for the person’s spouse whom they would be bringing in, they said that they could also utilize a chair. So now we have arrived at fresh breastfeeding mothers being expected to share their room with the spouses of strange women, in such a manner of disregard. Obviously dissatisfied with this and seeing that there would be no remedy but complaint, I asked for their statement to be communicated in writing for the purpose of my records and complaint. What ensued only reinforced the bait and switch culture and character of the current supervisory and operations staff. I communicated to the nurse that if she was unsure how to handle my request to bring her supervisor. The senior nurse that came refused to associate herself with the demand she was making. Despite admitting that this was a common reoccurrence of “misunderstanding” between the policy and the tour and that she has been having to explain this to many others upon the unexpected rearrangement of their conditions, the letter produced for me came out as attached. This letter is written by the nightshift nurse assigned to my wife for the first time tonight, it was written at the direction of the senior nurse who acknowledged the false pretenses on which many parties had come for delivery only to have their expectations derailed. Despite all they said to minimize the issue and attempt to express empathy for the purpose of massaging the situation, the letter was produced as is attached. Despite me communicating directly to the senior nurse, who came in a supervisory capacity to clarify terms, that this letter should simply include their statement and the sign off of whoever is in charge with their staff position and their direct phone number the letter was instead produced as follows. Not only did the Senior Nurse portray herself as unfamiliar with any official letterhead in the building, she refused to take accountability for her statements and acknowledgment of the issue by having the junior nurse write the letter attached with the peculiar wording seen. Reading this letter you can see the reluctance to satisfy standard business practices with regard to official notice of change to terms and conditions. We were inconvenienced and disregarded. We were robbed of our chance to make an informed accommodation choice.
Cierra Napier
3 months agoI will say the nurses and doctors are amazing, kind, and very informative which is why I’m giving at least two stars. Unfortunately the postpartum rooms are not thoroughly cleaned the last persons razor that was here was still in the shower, the floors were dirty, and the bed next to mine was clearly never changed. Also the people who take food orders are rude and not ONCE did they add everything we asked for to the order. The lady who answers to phone constantly sighed when we’d ask for something. The portions are ridiculously small, and half our order was always missing. Medically my biggest concern was that some of the postpartum nurses I had would forget to bring me painkillers on time which just sucks.
Alyssa Crewe
4 months agoAlmost a year later and I’m just now able to talk about this experience without crying. May 15th 2023, I went in to have a scheduled c section with my twins. The pregnancy started out as triplets and at 15 weeks I lost my daughter due to holoprosencephaly. I had very specific wishes, that I wanted my twins (one placenta) and my triplet Ella’s placenta cremated with her body. When everyone was born, They asked if I wanted them to try and separate her from her placenta so I could say goodbye. I was warned that she had been gone for a while and with the pressure of the twins the whole pregnancy it probably wasn’t a good idea so I said no and my doctor took pictures of her for me so when I was alone and if I wanted to see her in the future I could (my high risk doctor at VCU was amazing and I’m forever grateful for her). After the surgery we were wheeled back to the recovery room where I was bonding with the twins for the first time while in a complete state of shock. 10 minutes after being back in the room and mentally trying to process that I had just given birth to two healthy babies, mourning saying goodbye to my daughter that I lost 21 weeks prior and had to carry the remainder of the pregnancy, a nurse walks in with a biohazard bin and sits it on the counter with my daughters remains and the placentas. When I say that was the most traumatic experience I ever had, seeing a biohazard bin with my daughter in it sitting on the counter like her life never mattered was deviating. The only thing I could get myself to say in the complete shock of things is “is that my daughter in that container you just placed on the counter”? My twins turn one on the 15th and that image of the day they were born is forever engraved in my brain. No mom, no matter the gestation of loss, on the hardest day of her life should have to go through that. Everyone saw how emotional I was prior, I made sure everyone I was working with was aware of my wishes and how hard that all was for me and they still brought her in, and stuck her in a big biohazard bin in my recovery room. Not a single nurse came to apologize after that from labor and delivery, not a little shadow box to celebrate her life like they do other babies, nothing. If I could go back and change my hospital experience I would, because I will always see my daughter on the day I had to say my last goodbye before I received her remains, crammed in a damn bio bin.
Wesley Rupar
6 months agoI don't really know where to start or if I'll be able to fit everything I want to say into this review. I went to VCU L&D about 5 times before actually giving birth for numerous anxiety induced reasons, and each time I visited I was shown nothing but kindness and understanding from EVERY medical professional I encountered (special shout out to Sam who I just happened to see during most of my visits). My actual delivery wasn't what I had hoped for, but my care team was the best I could have asked for. A special thanks to CRNA Mary Ford- I'll never forget you and couldn't have done my unplanned c section without you- you are truly an incredible person and deserve the world for how comfortable I felt in your care during the scariest moments of my life. I will choose VCU for our second child, whenever that is, without hesitation. Thank you all for being apart of our lifelong story.