Hey ladies I just found out I am about 6 weeks pregnant and in reading reviews I have read a lot of bad things about going through Madigan. My husband and I are brand new to all this army stuff so I thought I would ask yall's opinions on Madigan. I heard you get passed around and that you have to share a recovery room? What are my options if I want a civilian delivery a referral or switch to standard? ANY info at all would be very helpful! Thank you so much in advance! 

GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!!! RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

US Family Health Plan is free btw.

If you are income eligible you can also get medicaid, then just do Tricare standard and have medicaid pay the copay. You can go wherever you want and have whatever delivery you so choose.

If you choose Madigan then be prepared to deal with group appointments, never seeing the same doctor twice, and being treated like cattle.

I had my baby not at Madigan and it was not any harder to get my son enrolled in DEERS; in fact they automatically enrolled him in the dental plan, even though I didn't request it. 

Thank you so much for giving me that info !! All I have heard is bad things! Anyone have any referrals on any good obgyn's in this area? :) 

I've heard only good things about Franciscan Medical Group, but I'm not sure how close those providers are to you.



^ She is in Tacoma, but I'm not sure if she is only a doc for high risk or what.. 

If you choose Madigan then be prepared to deal with group appointments, never seeing the same doctor twice, and being treated like cattle.

Never in my life had a group appointment. Also seen the same doctor every single time except once. It's all up to you and if you make your appointments in a timely manner. I made mine as soon as I left my first appointment and told them I wanted to see the same doctor each time. He didn't deliver me but I knew he wouldn't in advance. You share a room unless you have a c-section. That's if there's a lot of people there. I didn't have to share a room. But the husband is not allowed to stay overnight unless you do have a c-section. 

The group appointments are brand new. They do it now because of the budget issues. 

Ah...I'm sure there's a way around it if you ask but who knows. I had my baby last summer. I had Dr. Chinn for my ob and Dr. Kulangara delivered. Last I knew Dr. Chinn is the Chief of OB, not sure if he's still here or not. The 2 that I mentioned are the only 2 in the hospital that would even consider doing my actual delivery because I requested a vbac after 2 c-sections which put me at a high risk for uterine rupture, and then an even more high risk due to them having to induce me for extremely high blood pressure. If you go there, I recommend them if you can. They are both awesome.

If you go off post I do NOT recommend Dr. Phoebe Ho....She doesn't even read your chart before walking in the room. Walked in once asking me how my pregnancy is going and started talking about it should be a healthy baby, blah, blah, blah since I didn't name any issues.....I was there to schedule a D&C because the baby stopped growing inside me but did not miscarry on its own....this was all written on my chart. 

Group appointments?!?! That is crazy! Seems like a violation of hippa laws imo. 

I'm 22 weeks and going through Madigan. I don't have group appointments, that's an option available but I chose to just do regular appointments. I did choose to do midwife care because there are 7 midwives so I'll be able to hopefully meet them all and be comfortable with them all at time of delivery. I also feel they'll be more understanding of delayed cord clamping and no induction. I don't have any complaints so far, I've liked every one of the midwives I've seen, they seem to be knowledgeable and helpful. This is my first so I guess we'll see how the rest of my time and delivery goes. 

I didn't deliver at Madigan, kids and I moved near family for DH deployment, but we returned to JBLM, to say bye to DH, it was 12 days after having babe, I was hemmoraghing Madigan saved my life. They were very quick and calm in taking care of me and performing 2 surgeries which the end result was 12 pints of blood, 4 pints of platelets and a hysterectomy. I had Dr. Ludwig and Dr. Le they were both great and due to the circumstances I was in ICU the transfer to South Ward in my own room. My nurses were great, they did everything as far as setting up follow ups with my Dr. here in Idaho, they had a social worker make sure I got my walker covered by TriCare and due to loss of fluids and blood my milk supply was non existent and they qualified me for a breast pump. The dr allowed my children to see me while in ICU knowing it would help recovery. They let baby stay with me even though he wasn't ever a patient, but again because while he was close my vitals were better. They also helped in organizing my return to idaho since I wasn't able to drive back and my DH was deploying the day after I was discharged. I recommend Madigan if you might be high risk, but the recommendation is based purely on my experience only. 

Maybe I'm the outcast but I had a good experience. I never had a group doctors appointment. My only complaint was sharing a room after I had my baby. The girl was very loud and her baby would not stop crying. On top of that it was very very warm. Thankfully I only had to stay 24 hours. Keep in mine my daughter turns 2 this week. 

I'm right there with Kristie. I saw the same Dr every appointment but one. I had an awesome delivery and afterwards I had a room to myself. The only time someone else was in there was when I was leaving in an hour and they brought them in so they could be alone. You have to keep in mind that if tons of people have a baby the same day and they only have so many rooms you might just have to share. It's no biggy. Loved my delivery Dr and my after care nurses were super sweet. 

I'm glad for those that have had a good experience. I know someone personally who didn't know her appt was a group appt till she got there and they were asking her all sorts of info that violated hipaa. Every time that I've been to Madigan for anything I witness people breaking privacy laws left and right. Then when there is something ridiculous going on they blame it on hipaa. I started off going to the midwives in Madigan before my son was diagnosed with SB at the ADC clinic and they actually told me to take dandelion root to boost my iron. This is a big nono as that herb stimulates the uterus and can lead to premature labor.

Also, before I switched hospitals I got food poisoning. It was campylobacter. I went to labor and delivery because I was too far along for the ER and they said it was probably a stomach bug and so I asked to give a stool sample and they said ok, then I did and they made me throw it away, then later I asked AGAIN if I could get tested for food poisoning and they said ok give us another stool sample and I couldn't because I was dehydrated, shaking and out of poo. They made me dig my stool sample out of the trash can and walk it down to the lab myself. Turns out I was right and if I had left it untreated I could have had a miscarriage. 

I never once saw the same doctor, even upon request. The dr who delivers your baby is who ever is on rotation so it's the luck of the straw. I had never met the dr who delivered my son. While delivering it was an awful horrible experience. My son was a huge 10 pound baby who was stuck in my pelvis but they refused to give me a csection. The after care was even worse. I ended up with a spinal headache because the Anesthesiologist messed up my first epidural the first time and had to have it done twice. No one believed me that my head hurt. They kept telling me I was just tired. 5 days later someone took me seriously and I was given a blood patch. There were a million different little things that made the whole experience pretty bad. I refused to ever have another baby there. The up side was the first nurse I had wrote that the bed next to me was waiting for another mama so my husband could be there and we wouldn't have to share. I just had a baby 7 months ago and went civilian. Had a much much better experience. I picked my dr and she was there 100% of the way. :) 

I've had four kids, two at Madigan. Both were horrible experiences. I know other people who loved giving birth there, but for me they struck out twice. Big time. I've written about my lovely experience walking up and down between L&D and patient admin while leaking fluid everywhere here on LYS before. The first time I delivered on Christmas Day so I didn't share a recovery room because there were only like four other people there. The second time I did share a room, with a woman whose baby screamed all night, she left blood all over the bathroom we had to share, and her husband screamed and cursed on his cell phone most of the time he was there with her, and then he had the nerve to tell a nurse my kids were being too loud and the nurse forced them and my husband to leave.

As far as who you get for delivery, keep in mind that no matter where you go you could have a doctor you don't know doing your delivery if it winds up being an emergency or your doctor just can't be there for some reason. But I wouldn't have another baby at Madigan if someone paid me a million dollars to do it. 

I know other people who loved giving birth there, but for me they struck out twice.

I want to correct myself...they didn't strike out twice, it was actually three times. I miscarried between #2 and #3 and although I didn't know exactly what was wrong, I knew something was wrong. The first OB visit was with a nurse who just sat there and basically verified every piece of medical history I provided on the intake forms. When I asked if I would be having an exam she said no, that doesn't happen until a later appointment so I told her I thought something was wrong and she said well we can't just do an exam based on your instincts, we're too busy. A week later I went to the ER because I was bleeding and they did an US. Hours later the doctor came in and just said point blank, the baby is dead didn't anyone tell you this before now? I said no, he handed a script for Vicodin and sent me on my way. Way to go Madigan. 

I had two of me three children there. I had amazing experiences with both. I was treated wonderfully. They followed my birth plans to a T. 

Oh details that just about made me cry. I am so sorry!!! 

Madigan is crap compared to civilian care. I also got pushed into group care, never seeing the same doctor more than once. And I had to answer the exact same questions every single time, and the doctors do not look at charts before they walk into the room, so they don't know you or anything about you every single time. I hear the people that go to the family clinic have a much better experience.
Oh, and they refused to give me an epidural until it was too late. Like I was 20 minutes from crowning, and it didn't work, so I just got the deal with that extra pain of the epidural. Best experience ever. (not) When I asked for one they told me they won't do it until I can't handle the pain anymore (what??) 

I knew my doctor ahead of time. He wasn't the one who was just on rotation. They called him in. But that could be bc of how mine was going to be. 

I know that many people have many opions. I have a VERY negative opinion when it comes to the Family clinic at Madigan, but I have NOT ONE negative thing to say at all about my OB Team or my experience with my delivery at Madigan. They saved my life and the life of my son. Without them, and the knowledge of the team that I had(I was high risk and had a 4 member team and did not have to see anyone once the entire pregnancy and delivery)we would not have made it 24 hours. My son came early. I would have bleed to death as well. They acted fast, they did what they had to do, and they did it well.

I transfered myself and my kids to McChord Family Clinic due to the staff being completely rude and disorganized on the Gold Team Family Clinics at Madigan, but other than that. I praise them for their care and for their skilled surgeons. I have severe medical issues, and have had over 9 surgeries. 7 of those at Madigan. I walked away very healthy, very minimal scars, and am now as healthy as I can be under the circumstances. 

I wanted to add my care that they provided for myself and my son were exceptional. i felt like I was the only patient they had! My after care and the fact that the doctor that delivered my son called me at home to check on me was a very nice added bonus to all of the care. 

I had both of my kids at Madigan with no real issues. I'm in family practice so I opted to stay with them through the pregnancy instead of switching to OB. My first pregnancy I had only 1 doctor, my second pregnancy I only had 2 doctors. My overall experience was great. It depends on how many people have delivered in that time frame wether or not you share recovery. I did with both of mine but not for the full 2 days after birth I did have some alone time, but I also gave birth during peak times when a lot of other people did. Don't believe all the horror stories, it seems the bad ones usually get more attention than the good ones, plus there are issues at every hospital. Good luck and congratulations. 

There are some good ones, but why risk it? 

You will have bad reviews everywhere you go. And majority of the time people don't go out of their way to leave a good or decent review but they will jump on it to leave a negative one.

Samba-I forgot about that. Mine called me as well a couple days later to make sure everything was going ok. Even remembered me 2 weeks late when I had to go back bc I had a very RARE case of afterbirth preclampsia. My high blood pressure and preclampsia symtptoms all develoved in the last 2 weeks and continued to only get worse instead of better after birth. The doctor literally told me I was a puzzle to him lol. 

I wish I could remember the name of my doctor. I had a female doctor who was nearly an expert with endometreosis and had a lot of knowledge with uterine cancer. She was a total blessing and I feel like total crap that I don't remember her name. She looked like a model, had brown hair, and was maybe 5'-4" to 5'-6" at the most. This was back in 2008. She also did my emergency hysterectomy 4 mths after my son was born.

I also had Dr. Estrada who was AWESOME! Dr. Estrada was present during my emergency c-section, but the other doctor delivered. I required 2 doctors and 4 nurses for my delivery of my son. They were the sweetest, most caring doctors I have ever had. And besides they obvious knock dead gorgeous looks, they were highly skilled doctors and surgeons!!! That was a plus for sure. 

Hey I'm glad for the rave, but I highly doubt docs and nurses are guaranteed to still be there after 5 years. 

You'd be surprised. Not all are military and move around. I actually just found out from a friend that the 2 I had are there 

I would have definitely preferred my old doctor and hospital bbut then again I had 1 doctor before moving here for 3 kids. The hospital also had a birthing suite. The size of the room that you delved in here and you states in it the whole time unless they ran out of rooms, which never happened with me. They also had a Jacuzzi tub and tons of great stuff. 

i have a sick child today and so far madigan has refused my daughter care.