Medical Malpractice - Military hospitals vs regular hospitals?????

Military hospitals vs regular hospitals?????

Military hospitals vs regular hospitals????? After a long morning of fighting with my insurance company.... I have to make a decision for my prenatal care and delivery. Here are some details about me..... Im a high risk pregnancy case, 6 weeks along, I have 1 child which was born in a regular hospital. I have never delt with military doctors or care. I would appreciate any advice on military care and drs ( particularly Portsmouth Naval Hospital in VA) but any military hospital advice would help. Personal experiances would also help. I am also curious to know with military doctors does 1 doctor follow you through out your pregnancy or multiple doctors? Do they also have mid wifes? (I have also posted this under womens health because Im not quite sure where I should have posted this) Sorry! I appreciate all your help and stories. Please keep them coming!

Public Comments

I personally would go off base! I have heard too many horror stories. I am a navy wife, and very glad there is not a hospital at Tinker AFB. I would definitely go off base...just my personal opinion. I have seen some doctors on base at Lackland, and all the doctors seem to not know what they are talking about!
I say NO to military hospitals. NO NO NO NO NO! Do I make myself clear? LOL! Especially Portsmouth. I had my son there and I asked for a cesarean and they would not give me one. He tore me from front to back and damaged my bladder coming out and I had to have two surgeries after I delivered him to fix it. Now I have to have a cesarean because I had a vaginal sling done and if I have a baby naturally it could tear and cause excess bleeding. Not a good thing. They also wrote on my medical records that I never asked for a cesarean...when I did. I have 3-4 witnesses. Also Portsmouth after my son was born would not diagnose him with a potential fatal illness he had which if not treated, the baby can die. He had Pyloric Stenosis which is where the valve in the bottom of the stomach closes and the baby projectile vomits their food. I took him to a Children's hospital where they admitted him right away and diagnosed him. He had the surgery the next day. I don't trust military hospitals...I hope you have the baby in a civilian hospital. If your in VA - Virginia Beach General is a good hospital...there is also one in Chesapeake that is good. God Bless.
I went to military hospitals the whole time I was growing up. My dad was a lifer in the Air Force. If I had a choice, I would go civilian hospital. You really don't get the same Dr through your pregnancy & may have never even met the one who does your delivery. Pretty much pot luck. They have no midwives that I have ever heard of. My personel opinion, you know what they call the Dr who graduates at the bottom of his class? . . . . Dr, usually a military one. Not all of them are bad, but I wouldn't do "pot luck" with my baby.
I had my daughter at Charleston Regional Navel hospital. It was a cattle call and I roomed with 5 other women after a 26 hour labor where not once did a doctor address me directly. I never felt like such a piece of meat in my life. I have no idea as to who finally delivered me. I saw the staff doctor before being released, but what I do know is that for 2 hours, my pictosin was shut off so that the doctor could go downstairs for dinner.I went thru 3 different sets of doctors as their shifts changed. I was so grateful just to get out of there and go home with my baby. It was 2 years later when I looked at my medical record of the birth and found out that I had 2 shoulder distocia, and 3rd and 4th degree lacerations even with an episitomy. It was documented as a difficult labor, and should have been a C section. I am not saying this will happen to you, it was several years ago that this happened to me, but I am just telling my story. Go in and ask questions, lots of them, before committing to the military. If it was me, I'd use my Tricare and go civilian.
well my husband is navy and I'm 39 weeks preg. my 1st child was with a public hospital and now this one is going to be thru a military hospital..my advice to you,,weigh every option before making your decision and make sure that it's best for you and what you want,because once you make it they won't let you change it...no one told me that i had the option of a public doctor/hospital or a military one,i just assumed i had to do the military one.. in the entire 8 months that i have been seen,i have not seen the same doctor more then once. everytime i see someone different,sometimes a midwife,sometimes a doctor,just depends on who is there when i go in,and every time i get told something very different.example,,last wed. i went in and had my membranes stripped and was told i would not make it to the end of the weekend,,started having contractions later that night,went to the hospital and the doctor there said nope that i was not no where near ready and that it could be another week or 2..also, i live 45 min from our nearest military hospital,(hubby at Mayport,hospital at NAS Jax)..so when we asked on Wed. if i could go to the public hospital to be checked instead of driving all that way every time i think i am in labor they said no,,that it had to be an emergency,meaning my baby better be crowning or within an hour of being born or the insurance,( lovely tri-care prime) would not pay one dime on it,,and the cost would be up near $4000.00 to give birth there at the public hospital..which was very distressing considering that no one can tell me the same thing about how far along i am,,or what i can expect...my personal advice to you,,if you can go to a public hospital/doctor and get the insurance to cover it,,do that...then you have many more choices at your disposal...i mean after all,,this is your body,your baby,and your pregnancy,,the military gets to tell you where you can live,and how you can live,and pretty much everything else about your life,,don't let them take the rights that you have about how you wish to bring your child in to the world too..if someone had told me i had a choice there is no way they would be delivering my baby....good luck to you....
OFF BASE. Military Docs care less than the civi's do and they don't listen to you!!! I lived in Yorktown VA and had to go to langley...it SUCKED.
I had my daughter in a military hospital. I had a good experiance I have 3 other children that were born in regular hospitals. They are very helpful and caring. I had one doctor for my whole pregnancy and she was great.
Personally i would go off base....I have heard to many horror stories of on base hospitals and have been thru to many myself...I am now pregnant with my first and would NEVER even have to think if i would go off base...I was pregnant and I have crohns diesease and i went to visit my hubby in hawaii...well when we found out while i was there that i was pregnant we went to the hospital just to get me seen and see what meds i could still take ect....they wouldnt help me there they told me i had to go see my reg doc..well i was stationed in Japan....so that was not able to happen...Well the next day i started having bad cramping and spotted and went to the ER...they made me wait forever and then this doctor i had was so mean and rude...She told me i was way to young to be pregnant, i was 22 and married, anyway...she shoved that lil instrument thing up me with no gel on it...pushed and hurt me so bad and then was like"yeah you are pry havin a miscarriage" and sent me home on bedrest....I had an appt set up for 3 days later with another doc there and turns out i had a miscarriage...anyway this was just one experience with military hospitals....My suggestion...go to a hospital outside of base and do ur research... Good luck!
I am not sure why all the these answers are negative. But I had my baby in a military hospital. I loved my DR and the nurse that gave me my epidural was great! I had a great experience...You have to keep in mind that some DR and nurses are rude...don't have good attitudes..etc. But as for doing there job..They do it. There is thousand of woman giving birth every month. They do this over, over and over. again same with civilian hospitals...So good luck!
Hello! Well I am 41 weeks pregnant and have been at Blanchfield hospital in Fort campbell, K.Y. (military) and I have had nothing but bad experiences so far. I haven't seen a real doctor yet and it's been a different mid wife every time. Your treated like a number rather then a person. When I tried discussing my birth plan with the last mid wife she said there was no point in me talking to her about it cause she wouldn't be there for my delivery anyway. I sit in the waiting room for at least 30 min after my appointment time every time and every one who works there is just rude. If I could see a civilian doctor I would but given my coverage I'm not allowed. I'm not trying to scare you but all my experience have been negative. I have alot of friends who have had these type of issues with this particular hospital so I can't say it's all military but I would stick with civilian care. Anyway I hope this helps a little rather then sounding like a venting session. Good luck with everything!!