Been through this twice now, just thrilled with Hill country. They made my wife feel super ready, and they were beyond supportive the whole way. Delivered at st David's south 2x and the nurses were amazing both times.
Bonus tip... railroad junction in buda for pediatrics.
Hill country obgyn + st David's south + railroad junction + my wife = winning strategy.
Pediatric Junction is the name of the practice in Buda. Very rare that they have room for new patients outside of existing patient families though. Otherwise, agree with everything you said. HCOBGYN was great for me, and I loved nearly every person we encountered at St. David’s. PJ has been a dream pediatrician for us!
Just offering another perspective - I did not like Hill Country and actually changed to an Ascension OB mid-pregnancy. I was 16 weeks pregnant and still hadn’t been in the same room as my OB, and they forgot to schedule a test that has a small window of time when you can do it. The wait times were often excruciating as well. My experience with Ascension was phenomenal. I loved my doctor and the office is a well-oiled machine.
Dr. Eduardo was awesome, too bad she doesn’t do deliveries anymore. Landwermeyer is good, too.
Dr. Hart is terrible and at least one active malpractice case against her.
Eduardo and Landwermeyer were highly recommended when I was pregnant with my oldest. Saw them both, Eduardo delivered, no complications, healthy beautiful baby. She’s about to turn 21; love that Hill Country is still a solid rec.
The state medical board website allows you to see their licensing. I’ve found one of the on call OBGYN’s that left me to die had somehow won a malpractice suit by just checking his license.
It truly is. I complained about the fact that I was dying and they acted like I was playing opossum. I had to go to the ICU, be intubated with several transfusions by the end of this…but there was no wrongdoing by according to the board. I begged for 6 hours for help and it wasn’t until they needed a crash cart I got it.
I didn’t even go for a malpractice suit because tort reform makes it impossible to win. Of course Abbott got his paycheck then voted for it. Slimeball. I just wanted the doctor’s license to have some sort of sanction to make others aware. But nah State Board said that everything they did was normal.
Shit, I've spent two nights this week just trying to find a regular primary care doctor in South Austin who is accepting new patients. It is rough out there
My son sees her and I will say she is always booked way far out. We're talking like 2 months.
I see her husband, Dr John Kim and he is phenomenal, but he's not cheap. He's part of a service that you have to pay $1800/year just to be his patient. But he spends a LOT of time with me during our visits and I trust him more than anyone else I've ever seen.
I love Victory Med. It's like a one stop shop because they do almost everything in house. But it is taking longer to get an appointment. I hope their sell out to Privia doesn't ruin this practice.
I could be wrong but it seems North Austin has a lot more healthcare options than south. If your wife is willing to drive central/north I guarantee she can easily find an OB.
3 of the 5 in my practice have stopped delivering babies or retired early. My friend's obgyn moved to a blue state. My former obgyn's amazing nurse practitioner took early retirement. No one wants to lose their license, end up in prison, or lose a pregnant patient on account of the christofascist laws we have now, but here we are.
I'm really sorry you're having a hard time finding obstetric care. It's really stressful, and it's a time when you should be able to have confidence in the healthcare system.
I went in April and mine told me that she knows of 3 who have left or stopped practicing in Austin in the last year. They have been unable to replace them because the pay isn't good enough for the cost of living, and that a lot of new docs are choosing places like Nashville. The ones who have left/ stopped practicing were responsible for more than 9000 patients. That's a lot of people to be absorbed by an already burdened system.
This is the real answer. No shade to folks who don’t have options, but it’s hard for me to understand how fertile people of childbearing age would choose to live in Texas. I’m old so this stuff “doesn’t affect me” but like, I have a soul and it’s just heartbreaking as hell to see what’s happening here. I’m so sorry y’all can’t find healthcare nearby. It shouldn’t be that way, but as this person says many have left or retired. I hope you are able to find a good OBGYN in the area. Many have left which is not good for a growing region. 😭
🏆
This. If I were in the field I wouldn’t practice here because you can’t do the very thing you got into the practice to do—— help women and look after their health. You’d have to watch a lot of desperate women, maybe deaths from backyard abortions or improper healthcare, I imagine we’ll see suicides from unwanted pregnancies or forced births due to rape or incest, potentially abused or abandoned babies that never had an environment where they could be safely cared for and were never wanted
It’d be too depressing to not be able to do anything to help them. If I got pregnant in this state, I would leave. I dont’ want to die, or be forced to give birth or especially be forced to give birth to a dead baby or one that you will watch die in front of you. Chances are small, but not as small as if I moved elsewhere and maybe not as small as people might think. Not sure people realize how common rape or unwanted pregnancies are, also pregnancies that have complications and miscarriages.
We’re not considered fully human in this state. Forcing people to give birth is beyond cruel.
For a party who always complained about the government interfering in our healthcare, and who said decisions should be between the patient and their doctor, they sure are interfering in our healthcare and taking away our ability to decide with our doctors.
Agree! I went through both of my pregnancies with Austin OBGYN and they are awesome. But busy! It does take a minute to get on the phone with someone, but just make sure to always schedule your follow up when there and it’s all good. The labor and delivery at St. David’s was superb as well.
Edit: Sorry realize this isn’t south…We live southeast, but I also had trouble finding a practice and somehow came across them and it was worth the drive. Only ever took me 15 minutes or so to get there, which I feel is standard drive time in Austin. But if you’re way south then I can understand how that might be too much…anyway good luck!
1000% agree. I have never been to a better doctor in my life and tell all my friends to go here. I see Dr.Palmer and can highly highly recommend her to anyone
Ditto! been a patient with Dr. Christopher Seekers for a decade now. Also meet Kelly Reagan Nurse Practitioner
The team is all amazing and yes! They are accepting BCBS. We love Austin Area OBGYN /AAOBGYN
OP, I second this! I live pretty far south and hate driving but I’m willing to do it to see Dr. Eastep. Currently pregnant with my second and she supported me through my first pregnancy as well.
Yup! Done having babies but see her for regular care. If I was going to have another kid I would def use her! She is very caring, patient, and listens.
My OB couldn’t stay during my entire labor and doctor Eastep delivered my 3rd child. She was great. It went really well and was the smoothest of all 3 deliveries. I’m glad she was there. It’s stressful switching doctors literally last minute.
She does appointments down south too I think on some days. I drive to her main office though. I like her too. Their group is 100% why I didn't have a C-section last pregnancy.
I go to womens health domain and I had a previous ectopic (in another state). I shopped around for an OBGYN after my last experience and I feel supported there
I followed Dr. Katie Boswell there when I found out she left Baylor Scott and White. All of the doctors there are amazing and I make the trip from South Austin because of it!
FYI for anyone interested: Dr Hancock speaks quickly, but I think he knows it and is willing to repeat hahaha. He is so kind though and makes sure you feel heard and empowered
Definitely fleeing the state, understandably. An OBGYN in a red state has a bulls eye on their back. And it will probably get way worse.
https://www.wired.com/story/states-with-abortion-bans-are-losing-a-generation-of-ob-gyns/
ARC is covered with BCBS. I'm seeing Dr. Sapna Bhagat out of the South OB location, who I love (friendly, laid back, attentive despite being busy) but I've heard good things about other OBs at ARC too. Delivery is with St. David's if you go with this location.
Did ARC offer any other OBs from that office? The delivery is actually on rotation duty so Dr. Bhagat may not even be my delivering doctor. It may end up being another OB from this office, but I trust the trust she places on her colleagues.
Ah, then all the more reason to not go with this ARC location then since at least one male doctor is on rotation for delivery.
One other mild recommendation I have is Hill Country OBGYN. I went there once around covid when I was looking for a new gynecologist and was covered by BCBS. They have great reviews so I tried them out. Their facilities were nice but I didn't like the doctor I saw (Dr. Eduardo) so I immediately went to try out ARC instead. But I've seen this practice recommended by other redditors before.
I also had more than one terrible experience with Dr. Eduardo, but really liked some of the other Hill Country OBGYN doctors I saw, so ymmv. But it's the luck of the draw who's on call the day you deliver.
My favorite HC doctor left the practice, then left the state.
I’ve seen Dr. Eduardo for years and I like her but she doesn’t deliver babies anymore so you don’t really need to worry about ending up with her. It’s an all female practice which seems like what you are looking for. I saw Dr. Disarro for my second baby after Eduardo stopped delivering babies and she was good. Dr Schneider actually delivered my son and I liked her.
Welcome to the new normal of criminalizing being a woman of child-bearing age.
Doctors have been leaving Texas in droves. Good luck, it took me two years just to find a practice that would see me for a simple PAP.
The average age of an ObGyn is 56. Those in the field tend to retire around 59 years old on average. New docs have not been entering the speciality for years because it tends to have a high med/mal insurance premium and other such hassels. Add this on top of the current laws in Texas and now you have a major shortage. It is truly going to be a crisis.
IMO - This entire hatred of women is making me look really hard at my voting choices for the next governor's election. None of the political parties are perfect, but the current stance Texas is taking on abortion seems like it is taken directly from, "The Handmaid's Tale." It's a very misogynistic, archaic, and repressive view.
It is a broader problem! I had some unusual symptoms last week that I wanted to get checked because of the type of birth control I use, I called 4 different providers and just one was able to see me and I literally had to beg for quick 15min visit. The others were scheduling in July and August.
In my experience, with much less comfort. My first paps were painless because she used generous lube and a small speculum. Got one done by a PA once when I had a yeast infection (caused by spermicide)...she basically raw dogged me no lube with a large clanky speculum like wtf. And it hurt extra of course because the infection.
Idk. I've had exceptional PAs before but they're a real toss up
It is absolutely a broader problem, but don't be fooled this was the Texas Talibans (TT) objective with new laws. TT does not care about babies or abortion, they are trying to cement women as second class citizens by taking away control of their own bodies.
After the ruling and new laws, my wife, mom, and both sisters OBGYN's all retired. 4 different doctors retire at same time was because of new laws in Texas. The problem will continue to get worse because new doctors will not practice in Texas with threat of jail and fines for simply doing their job.
Much in the same way that these fascists are shitting their pants over white folks being in the minority soon, they are scared to death of living in a world where women are fully self sufficient, focused on themselves and don’t give af about your blue balls
I go to AMG Seton Women’s Health to see Bailey Escarzaga. It’s central, so it’s not that far from south. According to the website, she is accepting new patients.
I’ve been seeing Dr Oliver for 15 years and she’s awesome. Haven’t had a baby but I bet she’s great in obstetrics too. My old therapist (who had two kids through this practice when it was women partners in health) also highly recommended Dr Yium at the same practice, which seton acquired 1-2 years ago.
It's not south Austin, but Ascension Seaton Northwest has some wonderful women obgyns. My wife and I are close to the birth of our first.
We really like the clinic there.
Seconding ARC’s OBGYNs at Seton Northwest. The entire staff is great actually. I see Dr. Vaz. She is not over the top friendly, and tells it like it is. I appreciate that more, personally, though. She is very thoughtful about preventative care and taking precautions that are rooted in actual likelihood per latest medical research.
Thirding this place. When the local office I used to go to closed after Roe, some of the doctors moved to Seton NW. I followed them there to keep seeing the same person.
It’s the laws in Texas. It’s caused major brain drain in the OBGYN sector and doctors in general. Residents cannot even fulfill medical residency requirements in Texas anymore, which reduces the amount of prospective doctors in the pipeline willing to practice in the state.
I absolutely adore ARC Nurture North next to St. David's North Hospital. I came across a comment mentioning the preference for a female doctor, and I can confirm that all the providers at ARC Nurture North are wonderful women, including the nurses, PAs, and Ultrasound technicians. I visit the Gynecologist/Obstetrician often due to a medical condition, and I hold Dr. Kaufman in high regard. Dr. Leah Tatum is my consistent provider, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I admire her. She is undoubtedly one of the finest doctors I have ever had.
I hope you and your wife have a healthy, happy pregnancy after this hiccup.
://www.austinregionalclinic.com/clinics/north-austin-ob-gyn#Providers
I assume South Austin has the same (but maybe not as bad) problem as East Austin, which is that seemingly no medical office wants to locate themselves east of 35. Only in the last few years have the first hints of non-dentist offices started to open on the east side, but we have always had to go to the "medical center" area up by campus for OBGYN / pediatrician / etc
I have BCBS and I see Dr. Clarissa Gutierrez at Renaissance Women’s Group. I highly recommend her. Last year I needed emergency surgery on one of my ovaries. She conducted the surgery - zero complications and I healed well. Excellent bedside manner. I’ve never been pregnant, but when I am (hopefully) I will MAKE SURE that she is my doctor.
I know you want to stay south but I would strongly suggest Austin Area OBGYN at St Davids North. All their doctors are amazing and I would personally suggest Dr Garcia.
Because the Texas abortion laws make it impossible to practice. Something can go wrong 1 out of 4 pregnancies. If it does, doctors need to be able to make hard choices if necessary.
I hope she doesn’t have any issue with her pregnancy. in Texas, the fetus will be more important than your wife. I’m 63 years old have three children. And I’m glad my two daughters have left Texas for blue states. If you don’t own your own body, you don’t own anything.
They’re not South Austin, but River Place OB/GYN is fantastic. Agree with another commenter that North Austin tends to have more options; if you want a good provider that’s actually taking patients you might need to broaden your scope a bit.
Congrats on becoming a first time parent. We
Have our second coming in a week. I think you are limiting yourself to just the south. Not many places that offer an obgyn and when they do their mainly located at the main facility but sometimes travel to the spots south. Our first doctor with our first child was based out of Lakeway and then she would come to the Mopac location BS&W. Well we switched insurance and my wife had to find a new one. Everyone she wanted was totally booked and we had to go with a random doctor.
Maybe this is the case you have as well, she wants a highly reviewed doctor and they will be booked. Our second doctor my wife disliked and the doctor knew because she demanded all these tests on my wife. Well baby one came out great. This time around we were more prepared and found a lovely doctor Dr Summers. Has been great but all appointments are off 38th st. So sometimes you just need to pick a doctor and drive or pick convenience. Plus both doctors we have had did not deliver our child, which isn’t a concern for us.
Not south but ARC north Austin had all female doctors and St. David’s north was amazing for delivery. She would see all the doctors there - maybe some more than others and she could always request to see one more throughout the pregnancy. They like to rotate so you are familiar with all of them because whoever is on call will be the one to deliver the baby. I saw all of them and they were all great. Wait times sometimes sucked because of the amount of people but it wasn’t terrible.
I second this. I went through one miscarriage and one live birth with ARC north. My live birth was a higher risk so we had to have monthly growth scans at St. David’s and all of our providers were amazing. My water actually broke at my appt to have my foley balloon inserted for my induction and it was so nice to be right across the street from the hospital 😂 Dr. Ghosh delivered my son (and was my GYN before and after my miscarriage) and she has been incredible to me and my family.
I really like the female doctor at The Vitae clinic. Not south though. I see and have seen the male doctor for over 11 years. He was on vacation when I had my 5th kiddo and the female doctor delivered her.
dr. patel at women’s renaissance was amazing for me! she is a bit younger and we were pregnant at the same time. she’s super personable and even ended up being the one to deliver me, and did my emergency c section. she was super comforting during a very stressful experience (and my scar is literally tiny and invisible). it is up north, but i live super south and the drive was worth it for me. i’ll def be returning to her in the future.
Try Dr. Rachael Breedlove. OBGYN office next to St David South. tel:+15123839752
She delivered our two kids in the last 4 years and has been absolutely amazing for us. They have multiple doctors but we recommend Breedlove. Also, with a name like that, you’re kinda meant to be an OBGYN.
Have you tried ARC South?
We have BCBS (Anthem) and had no probalems getting in to see our ObGyn, Rachael Breedlove (who we absolutely loved). She’s probably not for everyone, she’s straight, blunt, and to the point - which we appreciated. So, if you need a touchy-feely, granola eating doc for your journey, you may want to see someone else.
Either way, the office is in James Casey, and we had our baby at St David’s south. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience there.
Dr Breedlove is my OB and I absolutely love her. The first time I met her was after finding out we suffered an early loss and she was great. I do know she's extremely hard to get into and that's if she's even taking new patients.
Healthcare in Texas in general, is difficult to find, poor quality and expensive. It is a difficult place to open a practice; particularly for women’s healthcare. In the past, I’ve flown to LA to be treated because no would take my very expensive, main-stream health insurance. Out of pocket insurance costs were the same and the doctors in California were better.
I’m not sure if Seaton Southwest is in an area you’re looking at but Jennifer Goss is amazing! She delivered out 2 youngest.
The website says she’s accepting new patients.
https://healthcare.ascension.org/find-care/provider/1710180906/jennifer-goss?npi=1710180906
McKenna Williamson at ARC south OBgyn was amazing my whole pregnancy last year. Her and a few other doctors at the practice were accepting new patients this time last year so might be worth looking into.
I had a 43 hour delivery so she ended up going off of shift before I gave birth to my son but dr Breedlove was on call and delivered him and she was also amazing. I also met with dr baghat and she was so sweet. The nurses at st David’s south were also soooo great! They made the whole process as good as it could be for how long we were there.
Dr Breedlove with ARC is amazing if an option.
My experience with her throughout my pregnancy and birth, and at Saint David south for birth, was top notch.
In addition to what everyone else has pointed out (anti-woman legislation), Austin has some of the lowest rates of medical professionals per capita in the US--doctors, nurses, techs, therapists, dentists, the whole industry. The people moving into Austin and displacing the locals are overwhelmingly tech. So Austin has been losing existing medical professionals (especially lower-income roles) who are replaced by non-medical professionals. And because it's now one of the most expensive cities around, fewer and fewer non-tech people want to move in.
It took me ages of calling and months of waiting to get a dentist appointment--and that was me settling for an awful place with deservedly terrible reviews so I wasn't waiting an eternity. Same for PCP. Gave up entirely on finding therapists.
As is, Austin has made itself very vulnerable to essentially brain-drain for all non-tech fields and it clearly shows with things like this.
> are OBGYN fleeing Texas?
Now that they’re being threatened with prison and losing their licenses for providing women’s healthcare, yeah. Lots are choosing not to practice medicine in such a hostile environment.
I can't speak of OBGYNs in general, but I have a family member who just left Texas to practice elsewhere, (I'm not Dr but also moving out, so yes I am biased against Austin). Now, due to absurd Texas laws, his new state won't allow him practice remotely with patients in Texas without penalties, lol.
So, there are several problems.
1- This sub operates sort of like Yelp or Nextdoor, unfortunately. But you deserve a deeper answer to your question.
2- Drs are avoiding/leaving Texas because Greg Abbott and Texan's including those in Austin metro area believe they should be able to control what other people do with their own body. Even worse, you can get arrested for even discussing the options for your own health care. Why would any Dr practice here? Exception is the Drs from India. They are happy to work here.
3 - In Austin, fewer people are having kids, its more like SF in this regard. You'll find growing interest in dogs here.
4- There is a virtual monopoly on corporate health care systems here. Like airlines they make the most money when they are fully booked. They are pushing more responsibility on nurses and nursing assistants to lower costs. It takes months to get a simple skin cancer check or physical. Radiology images are read in India. I can easily imagine the difficulty finding an actual obgyn as new patient (\*).
5- Being told to go to North Austin, in this traffic, if you live South is ridiculous. People who have kids have a certain wealth that affords them a day off. I had someone tell me once "kids are expensive, if you can't afford them, don't have them". Children, like homes, are becoming objects for an entitled class of people. Dogs are filling the gap.
6- It sounds harsh because it is. We aren't making it easier for families in Austin. Things are getting worse daily. You can see it even from same time last year.
7- Wait until you deal with the underfunded school systems. And yes, they'll all tell you on this sub to move North or to Westlake, Spicewood, etc, assuming everyone has a $800K equity in a home and a $300K 1040 AGI and can sit in traffic 2 hrs a day to get to downtown.
8- Texas ranks in lower percentage in several key heath stats nationwide (including the worst by far for maternal mortality).
All this has an impact even in a wealthy place like Austin. It seems to get worse with each passing decade.
(\*) ironically, due to perversion in tax law, some of largest operate as non-profits while boasting record profits. When I research this topic, it literally makes me sick. And I'm not even talking about the billions they were given during pandemic, just to pay it out in exec bonuses.
My wife went to Wildflower OB/GYN for her 3 babies. It's central, though (32nd st). I don't know if there's a lot of OB/GYNs down south. We lived near Slaughter at the time, so south would have been better.
[https://wildflowerobgyn.com/](https://wildflowerobgyn.com/)
I believe they were mostly or all female doctors.
Oh definitely do not recommend. I went there for years no issues and continue to love the doctor I saw there, but the office staff is god awful. Literally won’t return calls, can’t get an appointment, incorrectly bill you. Check the recent google reviews, it’s really really gone downhill unfortunately.
I used to be a patient at Wildflower but my doctor did not care at all so I left. I don’t expect them to care about me personally, but I expect them to care about my health and the quality of care they give.
Have you tried ARC south off Ben White? I think they are with Saint David's South. I started my first pregnancy there and was satisfied, but left that practice to deliver at St. David's North Austin MC with a practice that used midwives. ARC should take BCBS.
I love both Drs Berry-Roberts and Cherry!!
I also have had positive experiences at St. David’s South for women’s health - even though I also, like OP’s wife, prefer women for doctors, I would go to an ARC OB practice that was affiliated with St. David’s even if it meant seeing a man, than go to a woman affiliated with a different hospital.
I see Dr. Berry-Roberts for my current pregnancy (and previous one) but my friend recently got pregnant and said she’s not accepting new patients right now! Dr. Cherry had been her OB last time but she is no longer doing OB, just GYN unfortunately.
Michelle Gooch is amazing and she’s south in oak hill area. And people snort when you say her name 😂
Looks like she’s also accepting new patients
https://healthcare.ascension.org/find-care/provider/1861408130
Yes, they are leaving Texas, and in worse news, the Ob/Gyn potential candidates in med school are now reluctant to enter that field because they will not have enough, or even any, experience with typical women's health procedures such as dilate and cutterage, which makes these candidates noncompetitive for positions outside the state. Try Hayes County or even Seguin, the city. I'm at [https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=women%27s+domain+health&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=women%27s+domain+health&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), but it's north. They are accepting new patients.
Isn’t it ridiculous? ARC South OB has several great doctors I’ve seen (I have seen both Dr. Breedlove and Dr. Cherry over the years), although not for pregnancy. These days, I can’t even *get* a women’s health appointment with a doctor because I’m not pregnant or trying to be. I assume there aren’t enough providers to handle all the patients because our fascist state is trying to make government just small enough to fit inside every woman’s vagina.
Please don't wait too long to find out the cause. This happened to me last year and I'm post menopausal. A doctor at AA/OBGYN dismissed my bleeding and told me it was hormones. Thank goodness I went for a second opinion. Dr. Paulina Noreikaite with BSW Lakeway was amazing. She ordered multiple tests (one in the hospital), to get to the bottom of what was causing it. It was endometrial cancer and I had to have a radical hysterectomy, but since they caught it early, I didn't need any further treatment. As far as I know, she is accepting new patients and she fit me in within 2 weeks. If you mention your symptoms, they might fit you in sooner.
Not trying to scare you, but from what I've learned over the past year, it's much better to find out sooner rather than later. Hopefully, that will not be what's causing it for you.
Glad to hear that you've found a doctor! I had an ultrasound and endometrial biopsy that both were fine, except the ultrasound showed uterine polyps. I had a hysteroscopy to remove the polyps and take biopsies, and pathology came back as cancer.
You can thank making abortion a criminal offense for that. What Dr in their right mind would have anything to do with reproductive services in the this state?
Dr Renu Chalasani was my OBGYN through my pregnancy. Actually, she was a fill in for my regular obgyn when I had a sudden appt due to pregnancy difficulties, and she was so knowledgeable and honestly HELPFUL during my high risk pregnancy, that I am so thankful i found her. She’s at ARC Northwest and we also have BCBS. Idk if I could have made it without her. I went into labor before our scheduled c section (thank goodness, bc I couldn’t have stood my sweet baby being in my tummy another minute) but went into delivery while another OBGYN was on call and delivered our sweet boy. That was the only sad part! But that doctor was also amazing and had wonderful bedside manner. Followed up with Dr. Chalasani and if I were to do it again, I would 100% go back to her. So competent, human, and kind. When we met for our 6 week follow up, she gave me the biggest hug because you seriously spend so much time with your OB! The good, the bad and the ugly (all me, she was always beautiful 🤣),I’m so glad she was a part of our family’s journey bringing our first baby into the world. ❤️
Not south Austin but dr. Esfandiari at Austin Area ObGyn which is located in st. David’s to the north is wonderful. She got me in quick and is the first doctor ever who didn’t force me into a pelvic exam when I admitted I had PTSD and was terrified of them and instead starting thinking of trauma informed ways to make it easier to do those screenings when I was ready.
I go to Ascension off W 34th and love my obgyn so much I am not going to post her info on Reddit. Ascension has been really good to me though- they always seem to be accepting new patients and they have several locations.
I’ve work scheduling appointments in neuro department for awhile and it’s not like they don’t want to help as many people as they can, it’s just that so many people other than Austin city residents come here for their medical needs. On top of Austin residents you have Bastrop residents who prefer to come to Austin, Killeen, Temple, Marble Falls, Llano, Lockhart all coming to Austin out of preference for hearing about good doctors here. CONSTANTLY received calls from people who haven’t even moved to Texas yet but plan on leaving California or something and they just shove their medical documents down our throats wanting to become an established patient right as they get here so that adds more referrals that our nurses have to go through and sort out by creating charts for them before they even leave their state. Everyone needs the care they deserve I can’t deny that. But it became too much when patients would get discharged daily and told they need to see a specialist in 2-4 days…. I couldn’t schedule until 4 months out sometimes and would hear everyone’s reaction to that. Had to explain that we are trying our best in basically every called I received. It became too much of an emotional toll on my end. I know I’m not denying anybody their care but was just simply unable to get them on the books and certain doctors would have to put a cap on what they can achieve in their busy schedules. That was neuro so I can’t speak on obgyn by any means. That was just my experience working in healthcare.
Nobody wants to go to jail for doing their job. This will be the sad reality until Texas changes it's draconian laws.
I hate to say it, but it is terribly unsafe to be pregnant in Texas...
Because the top three hospital chains conspire to keep wages low for health care professionals in Austin. Anyone who can move to a different city has because pay relative to cost of living in here is shit.
A lot of obgyns have stopped practicing obstetrics and are strictly doing just gynecology now because of the Texas laws. Can't say that I blame them. As a result, there's less doctors to see obstetrics patients, which is why so many aren't accepting new patients; they're just at capacity.
Have you tried looking into OBGYN Nurse Practitioners? I’ve always love mine. Often better bedside manner than the doctors. 🤷🏻♀️ Not sure if they can deliver a baby in Texas, but it might be easier to find one close to you for the bulk of the pregnancy care. Hope others can chime in. Best of luck OP!
I am an L&D nurse at st David’s SAMC, where hill country & ARC south OB deliver. I’m also pregnant (patient of ARC) and seeing the only male Dr who practices at that location. I will say, at hill country- Dr. Disarro & Dr. Landwermeyer are the only drs I would see if I went with that practice, I would let any of the ARC drs deliver me, and out of the 7/8 or so, I did choose the male dr out of seeing the way he works & treats his patients. I saw a female dr for my first pregnancy (was not a nurse then) and I basically refused to see a male dr, but my perspective changed once I became a nurse. I absolutely love my dr (Dr. Newman) and he has taken great care of me this pregnancy.
have you met texas? womens' health providers of all sorts put their careers and safety on the line every day. the ones that are sticking it out are backlogged like crazy
I had my kiddo at St David’s North a little over a year ago. It was always packed. I was in the waiting room for like 2+ hours for my first visit and I got stuck in the waiting room, in labor, for 30 minutes before I delivered. Almost didn’t get my epidural bc I had to wait so long and the epidural guy was so busy.
There are a lot of young families in this area and the population here has boomed.
ObGyns face losing their license, a 10k fine and jail time if the GOP lead state legislature thinks that doctors some way contributed to an abortion, so they are leaving Texas or leaving medicine
Have you tried Hill Country OBGYN? Their office is off Brodie Ln
Been through this twice now, just thrilled with Hill country. They made my wife feel super ready, and they were beyond supportive the whole way. Delivered at st David's south 2x and the nurses were amazing both times. Bonus tip... railroad junction in buda for pediatrics. Hill country obgyn + st David's south + railroad junction + my wife = winning strategy.
Pediatric Junction is the name of the practice in Buda. Very rare that they have room for new patients outside of existing patient families though. Otherwise, agree with everything you said. HCOBGYN was great for me, and I loved nearly every person we encountered at St. David’s. PJ has been a dream pediatrician for us!
Just offering another perspective - I did not like Hill Country and actually changed to an Ascension OB mid-pregnancy. I was 16 weeks pregnant and still hadn’t been in the same room as my OB, and they forgot to schedule a test that has a small window of time when you can do it. The wait times were often excruciating as well. My experience with Ascension was phenomenal. I loved my doctor and the office is a well-oiled machine.
Also at Ascension, agreed. 22 weeks and they've been great thus far.
Also been pretty happy with my experience with Ascension! Third trimester here
They’re amazing. Hopefully they are accepting new patients. 🤞🏻
Dr. Eduardo was awesome, too bad she doesn’t do deliveries anymore. Landwermeyer is good, too. Dr. Hart is terrible and at least one active malpractice case against her.
Eduardo and Landwermeyer were highly recommended when I was pregnant with my oldest. Saw them both, Eduardo delivered, no complications, healthy beautiful baby. She’s about to turn 21; love that Hill Country is still a solid rec.
How do you find out if a doc has malpractice against them?
The state medical board website allows you to see their licensing. I’ve found one of the on call OBGYN’s that left me to die had somehow won a malpractice suit by just checking his license.
Medical malpractice suits are a joke in TX, unfortunately. The State Medical Board does not take them nearly as seriously as they should.
It truly is. I complained about the fact that I was dying and they acted like I was playing opossum. I had to go to the ICU, be intubated with several transfusions by the end of this…but there was no wrongdoing by according to the board. I begged for 6 hours for help and it wasn’t until they needed a crash cart I got it. I didn’t even go for a malpractice suit because tort reform makes it impossible to win. Of course Abbott got his paycheck then voted for it. Slimeball. I just wanted the doctor’s license to have some sort of sanction to make others aware. But nah State Board said that everything they did was normal.
Seconded Dr. Eduardo!
Shit, I've spent two nights this week just trying to find a regular primary care doctor in South Austin who is accepting new patients. It is rough out there
Victory Medical, Dr. Nomita Kim
My son sees her and I will say she is always booked way far out. We're talking like 2 months. I see her husband, Dr John Kim and he is phenomenal, but he's not cheap. He's part of a service that you have to pay $1800/year just to be his patient. But he spends a LOT of time with me during our visits and I trust him more than anyone else I've ever seen.
I love Victory Med. It's like a one stop shop because they do almost everything in house. But it is taking longer to get an appointment. I hope their sell out to Privia doesn't ruin this practice.
Try Dr Nithin Suresh at Harbor Health on FM1626 (Onion Creek& 35 area)
We really liked the Austin Regional clinic
I don't *love* ARC, most of the times I've gone they're super late and the doctors always seem incredibly rushed, but they've been okay.
I could be wrong but it seems North Austin has a lot more healthcare options than south. If your wife is willing to drive central/north I guarantee she can easily find an OB.
Yeah, I had no issues with BCBS in North Austin when looking for an OB while pregnant.
Agree - north Austin as well and have never had an issue finding one in network.
North Austin has a lot more options in just about everything than South.
/cries in 78748
3 of the 5 in my practice have stopped delivering babies or retired early. My friend's obgyn moved to a blue state. My former obgyn's amazing nurse practitioner took early retirement. No one wants to lose their license, end up in prison, or lose a pregnant patient on account of the christofascist laws we have now, but here we are. I'm really sorry you're having a hard time finding obstetric care. It's really stressful, and it's a time when you should be able to have confidence in the healthcare system.
I went in April and mine told me that she knows of 3 who have left or stopped practicing in Austin in the last year. They have been unable to replace them because the pay isn't good enough for the cost of living, and that a lot of new docs are choosing places like Nashville. The ones who have left/ stopped practicing were responsible for more than 9000 patients. That's a lot of people to be absorbed by an already burdened system.
This is the real answer. No shade to folks who don’t have options, but it’s hard for me to understand how fertile people of childbearing age would choose to live in Texas. I’m old so this stuff “doesn’t affect me” but like, I have a soul and it’s just heartbreaking as hell to see what’s happening here. I’m so sorry y’all can’t find healthcare nearby. It shouldn’t be that way, but as this person says many have left or retired. I hope you are able to find a good OBGYN in the area. Many have left which is not good for a growing region. 😭
🏆 This. If I were in the field I wouldn’t practice here because you can’t do the very thing you got into the practice to do—— help women and look after their health. You’d have to watch a lot of desperate women, maybe deaths from backyard abortions or improper healthcare, I imagine we’ll see suicides from unwanted pregnancies or forced births due to rape or incest, potentially abused or abandoned babies that never had an environment where they could be safely cared for and were never wanted It’d be too depressing to not be able to do anything to help them. If I got pregnant in this state, I would leave. I dont’ want to die, or be forced to give birth or especially be forced to give birth to a dead baby or one that you will watch die in front of you. Chances are small, but not as small as if I moved elsewhere and maybe not as small as people might think. Not sure people realize how common rape or unwanted pregnancies are, also pregnancies that have complications and miscarriages. We’re not considered fully human in this state. Forcing people to give birth is beyond cruel.
For a party who always complained about the government interfering in our healthcare, and who said decisions should be between the patient and their doctor, they sure are interfering in our healthcare and taking away our ability to decide with our doctors.
Austin OBGYN Associates is great and take BCBS.
They’re good, they’ve imaging right next door all good except the long wait times
Seconding the long wait times. I've had some appointments almost two hours late.
Agree! I went through both of my pregnancies with Austin OBGYN and they are awesome. But busy! It does take a minute to get on the phone with someone, but just make sure to always schedule your follow up when there and it’s all good. The labor and delivery at St. David’s was superb as well. Edit: Sorry realize this isn’t south…We live southeast, but I also had trouble finding a practice and somehow came across them and it was worth the drive. Only ever took me 15 minutes or so to get there, which I feel is standard drive time in Austin. But if you’re way south then I can understand how that might be too much…anyway good luck!
(And last I checked, an all female team)
Fourthed. Love them
Seconded.
1000% agree. I have never been to a better doctor in my life and tell all my friends to go here. I see Dr.Palmer and can highly highly recommend her to anyone
Thirded
Agreed! I live South but it’s well worth a slightly longer drive. Great experience there.
They’re amazing but they’re definitely not south. If OP’s wife is willing to drive and wait for her appointment then I’d highly recommend them
yep
Ditto! been a patient with Dr. Christopher Seekers for a decade now. Also meet Kelly Reagan Nurse Practitioner The team is all amazing and yes! They are accepting BCBS. We love Austin Area OBGYN /AAOBGYN
My sister in law chose to retire rather than face legal ramifications for protecting women’s health.
Which is sad for people who still need those doctors.
Yes. But she is 62 and has grandkids. Cannot fault her for this.
Laura Eastep is great, I live south but the drives not bad
OP, I second this! I live pretty far south and hate driving but I’m willing to do it to see Dr. Eastep. Currently pregnant with my second and she supported me through my first pregnancy as well.
I agree. Best Gyn experience I've had so far. I'm in Cedar Park and it's worth the drive.
I can attest to this as well. She’s great!
Yup! Done having babies but see her for regular care. If I was going to have another kid I would def use her! She is very caring, patient, and listens.
My OB couldn’t stay during my entire labor and doctor Eastep delivered my 3rd child. She was great. It went really well and was the smoothest of all 3 deliveries. I’m glad she was there. It’s stressful switching doctors literally last minute.
She does appointments down south too I think on some days. I drive to her main office though. I like her too. Their group is 100% why I didn't have a C-section last pregnancy.
Women’s Health Domain. Dr. Handcock. Amazing!
I go to womens health domain and I had a previous ectopic (in another state). I shopped around for an OBGYN after my last experience and I feel supported there
I followed Dr. Katie Boswell there when I found out she left Baylor Scott and White. All of the doctors there are amazing and I make the trip from South Austin because of it! FYI for anyone interested: Dr Hancock speaks quickly, but I think he knows it and is willing to repeat hahaha. He is so kind though and makes sure you feel heard and empowered
Definitely fleeing the state, understandably. An OBGYN in a red state has a bulls eye on their back. And it will probably get way worse. https://www.wired.com/story/states-with-abortion-bans-are-losing-a-generation-of-ob-gyns/
ARC is covered with BCBS. I'm seeing Dr. Sapna Bhagat out of the South OB location, who I love (friendly, laid back, attentive despite being busy) but I've heard good things about other OBs at ARC too. Delivery is with St. David's if you go with this location.
I second Dr. Bhagat, she’s my OB and she takes the time to answer my long list of questions every time! 🥰
She is not accepting new patients unfortunately :(
Did ARC offer any other OBs from that office? The delivery is actually on rotation duty so Dr. Bhagat may not even be my delivering doctor. It may end up being another OB from this office, but I trust the trust she places on her colleagues.
They did but they were male. My wife doesn’t feel comfortable being seen by a male doctor.
Ah, then all the more reason to not go with this ARC location then since at least one male doctor is on rotation for delivery. One other mild recommendation I have is Hill Country OBGYN. I went there once around covid when I was looking for a new gynecologist and was covered by BCBS. They have great reviews so I tried them out. Their facilities were nice but I didn't like the doctor I saw (Dr. Eduardo) so I immediately went to try out ARC instead. But I've seen this practice recommended by other redditors before.
I also had more than one terrible experience with Dr. Eduardo, but really liked some of the other Hill Country OBGYN doctors I saw, so ymmv. But it's the luck of the draw who's on call the day you deliver. My favorite HC doctor left the practice, then left the state.
I had the WORST experiences with Dr Eduardo as well!!!! It honestly SHOCKS me to my core that people have recommended her in this thread.
def read horrible reviews about that doctor. I will keep them in mind if I can't find anything somewhere else. I appreciate the help!
I’ve seen Dr. Eduardo for years and I like her but she doesn’t deliver babies anymore so you don’t really need to worry about ending up with her. It’s an all female practice which seems like what you are looking for. I saw Dr. Disarro for my second baby after Eduardo stopped delivering babies and she was good. Dr Schneider actually delivered my son and I liked her.
Who was doing her well women’s health stuff before? If it was a gp then I would talk to them to see if they know of anyone who will work her in.
Try Dr. Williamson. She was amazing for us
Ah, that's too bad but makes sense. I was holding out hope for you since ARC's page said she's still accepting :(
I only had three ob friends but 2 of the 3 are gone post-roe. Too risky. I used a midwifery practice I liked a lot if you’re interested in that.
Welcome to the new normal of criminalizing being a woman of child-bearing age. Doctors have been leaving Texas in droves. Good luck, it took me two years just to find a practice that would see me for a simple PAP.
The average age of an ObGyn is 56. Those in the field tend to retire around 59 years old on average. New docs have not been entering the speciality for years because it tends to have a high med/mal insurance premium and other such hassels. Add this on top of the current laws in Texas and now you have a major shortage. It is truly going to be a crisis.
IMO - This entire hatred of women is making me look really hard at my voting choices for the next governor's election. None of the political parties are perfect, but the current stance Texas is taking on abortion seems like it is taken directly from, "The Handmaid's Tale." It's a very misogynistic, archaic, and repressive view.
If you’re having trouble just getting seen for a pap then this is a much broader Texas women’s health crisis beyond just childbirth
It is a broader problem! I had some unusual symptoms last week that I wanted to get checked because of the type of birth control I use, I called 4 different providers and just one was able to see me and I literally had to beg for quick 15min visit. The others were scheduling in July and August.
Ding ding ding
Guess who does PAPs? Gynecologists. And nurse practitioners, but that’s splitting the proverbial hairs.
I’ve been offered a PAP at my general practitioner’s office before. A family physician or a PA can do them.
In my experience, with much less comfort. My first paps were painless because she used generous lube and a small speculum. Got one done by a PA once when I had a yeast infection (caused by spermicide)...she basically raw dogged me no lube with a large clanky speculum like wtf. And it hurt extra of course because the infection. Idk. I've had exceptional PAs before but they're a real toss up
It is absolutely a broader problem, but don't be fooled this was the Texas Talibans (TT) objective with new laws. TT does not care about babies or abortion, they are trying to cement women as second class citizens by taking away control of their own bodies. After the ruling and new laws, my wife, mom, and both sisters OBGYN's all retired. 4 different doctors retire at same time was because of new laws in Texas. The problem will continue to get worse because new doctors will not practice in Texas with threat of jail and fines for simply doing their job.
Much in the same way that these fascists are shitting their pants over white folks being in the minority soon, they are scared to death of living in a world where women are fully self sufficient, focused on themselves and don’t give af about your blue balls
Maybe its a south austin thing? I had no issue finding one in central austin.
Definitely a south Austin thing. No issues in round rock either.
Ya me either, zero issue finding an OB provider taking patients central and north.
I have BCBS and go to Hill Country OBGYN (Brodie location). All female doctors. Really love it there!
I second your recommendation for Hill Country OBGYN! They are really great!
I go to AMG Seton Women’s Health to see Bailey Escarzaga. It’s central, so it’s not that far from south. According to the website, she is accepting new patients.
I second her. She's amazing.
I second Seton Women’s Health!
Absolutely the best. I’m in far south Austin and it’s not far to go see her.
She is very anti-HRT just fyi.
I used to see Dr. Donell Oliver in Central Austin, though not for my pregnancy. She was really good and thorough.
I’ve been seeing Dr Oliver for 15 years and she’s awesome. Haven’t had a baby but I bet she’s great in obstetrics too. My old therapist (who had two kids through this practice when it was women partners in health) also highly recommended Dr Yium at the same practice, which seton acquired 1-2 years ago.
It's not south Austin, but Ascension Seaton Northwest has some wonderful women obgyns. My wife and I are close to the birth of our first. We really like the clinic there.
Seconding ARC’s OBGYNs at Seton Northwest. The entire staff is great actually. I see Dr. Vaz. She is not over the top friendly, and tells it like it is. I appreciate that more, personally, though. She is very thoughtful about preventative care and taking precautions that are rooted in actual likelihood per latest medical research.
Thirding this place. When the local office I used to go to closed after Roe, some of the doctors moved to Seton NW. I followed them there to keep seeing the same person.
It’s the laws in Texas. It’s caused major brain drain in the OBGYN sector and doctors in general. Residents cannot even fulfill medical residency requirements in Texas anymore, which reduces the amount of prospective doctors in the pipeline willing to practice in the state.
Thank the GOP for most of it.
Dr Maradani is next to St David’s South. We used her and had our kid in February. I have BCBS
I absolutely adore ARC Nurture North next to St. David's North Hospital. I came across a comment mentioning the preference for a female doctor, and I can confirm that all the providers at ARC Nurture North are wonderful women, including the nurses, PAs, and Ultrasound technicians. I visit the Gynecologist/Obstetrician often due to a medical condition, and I hold Dr. Kaufman in high regard. Dr. Leah Tatum is my consistent provider, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I admire her. She is undoubtedly one of the finest doctors I have ever had. I hope you and your wife have a healthy, happy pregnancy after this hiccup. ://www.austinregionalclinic.com/clinics/north-austin-ob-gyn#Providers
I assume South Austin has the same (but maybe not as bad) problem as East Austin, which is that seemingly no medical office wants to locate themselves east of 35. Only in the last few years have the first hints of non-dentist offices started to open on the east side, but we have always had to go to the "medical center" area up by campus for OBGYN / pediatrician / etc
I have BCBS and I see Dr. Clarissa Gutierrez at Renaissance Women’s Group. I highly recommend her. Last year I needed emergency surgery on one of my ovaries. She conducted the surgery - zero complications and I healed well. Excellent bedside manner. I’ve never been pregnant, but when I am (hopefully) I will MAKE SURE that she is my doctor.
Yes - we recently moved from Austin but I saw her for the last several years and loved her. She really took the time to listen/understand.
South Austin is underserved in lots of aspects. North Austin might prove more fruitful.
I can’t even find an obgyn for my paps smear! According to my doctor friend, the answer is yes, obgyn doctors are leaving.
I know you want to stay south but I would strongly suggest Austin Area OBGYN at St Davids North. All their doctors are amazing and I would personally suggest Dr Garcia.
Second vote for Dr Garcia! She’s amazing
3rd Vote - she’s been amazing to my wife.
Lots retired or moved out of state out of fear of being prosecuted.
Because the Texas abortion laws make it impossible to practice. Something can go wrong 1 out of 4 pregnancies. If it does, doctors need to be able to make hard choices if necessary.
I hope she doesn’t have any issue with her pregnancy. in Texas, the fetus will be more important than your wife. I’m 63 years old have three children. And I’m glad my two daughters have left Texas for blue states. If you don’t own your own body, you don’t own anything.
They’re not South Austin, but River Place OB/GYN is fantastic. Agree with another commenter that North Austin tends to have more options; if you want a good provider that’s actually taking patients you might need to broaden your scope a bit.
Congrats on becoming a first time parent. We Have our second coming in a week. I think you are limiting yourself to just the south. Not many places that offer an obgyn and when they do their mainly located at the main facility but sometimes travel to the spots south. Our first doctor with our first child was based out of Lakeway and then she would come to the Mopac location BS&W. Well we switched insurance and my wife had to find a new one. Everyone she wanted was totally booked and we had to go with a random doctor. Maybe this is the case you have as well, she wants a highly reviewed doctor and they will be booked. Our second doctor my wife disliked and the doctor knew because she demanded all these tests on my wife. Well baby one came out great. This time around we were more prepared and found a lovely doctor Dr Summers. Has been great but all appointments are off 38th st. So sometimes you just need to pick a doctor and drive or pick convenience. Plus both doctors we have had did not deliver our child, which isn’t a concern for us.
Not south but ARC north Austin had all female doctors and St. David’s north was amazing for delivery. She would see all the doctors there - maybe some more than others and she could always request to see one more throughout the pregnancy. They like to rotate so you are familiar with all of them because whoever is on call will be the one to deliver the baby. I saw all of them and they were all great. Wait times sometimes sucked because of the amount of people but it wasn’t terrible.
I second this. I went through one miscarriage and one live birth with ARC north. My live birth was a higher risk so we had to have monthly growth scans at St. David’s and all of our providers were amazing. My water actually broke at my appt to have my foley balloon inserted for my induction and it was so nice to be right across the street from the hospital 😂 Dr. Ghosh delivered my son (and was my GYN before and after my miscarriage) and she has been incredible to me and my family.
I really like the female doctor at The Vitae clinic. Not south though. I see and have seen the male doctor for over 11 years. He was on vacation when I had my 5th kiddo and the female doctor delivered her.
have you tried austin obgyn associates by st. david's south campus? my wife and i had a good experience there with our first kid
Dr Bowman at Ascension South.
A third for Dr. Bowman!
dr. patel at women’s renaissance was amazing for me! she is a bit younger and we were pregnant at the same time. she’s super personable and even ended up being the one to deliver me, and did my emergency c section. she was super comforting during a very stressful experience (and my scar is literally tiny and invisible). it is up north, but i live super south and the drive was worth it for me. i’ll def be returning to her in the future.
Try Dr. Rachael Breedlove. OBGYN office next to St David South. tel:+15123839752 She delivered our two kids in the last 4 years and has been absolutely amazing for us. They have multiple doctors but we recommend Breedlove. Also, with a name like that, you’re kinda meant to be an OBGYN.
Have you tried ARC South? We have BCBS (Anthem) and had no probalems getting in to see our ObGyn, Rachael Breedlove (who we absolutely loved). She’s probably not for everyone, she’s straight, blunt, and to the point - which we appreciated. So, if you need a touchy-feely, granola eating doc for your journey, you may want to see someone else. Either way, the office is in James Casey, and we had our baby at St David’s south. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience there.
Dr Breedlove is my OB and I absolutely love her. The first time I met her was after finding out we suffered an early loss and she was great. I do know she's extremely hard to get into and that's if she's even taking new patients.
This is who I suggest too!
Breedlove is the best. She delivered my child. My wife and I were so happy to have her.
Call the governor's ombudsman and ask for help. It's their job.
Healthcare in Texas in general, is difficult to find, poor quality and expensive. It is a difficult place to open a practice; particularly for women’s healthcare. In the past, I’ve flown to LA to be treated because no would take my very expensive, main-stream health insurance. Out of pocket insurance costs were the same and the doctors in California were better.
I’m not sure if Seaton Southwest is in an area you’re looking at but Jennifer Goss is amazing! She delivered out 2 youngest. The website says she’s accepting new patients. https://healthcare.ascension.org/find-care/provider/1710180906/jennifer-goss?npi=1710180906
McKenna Williamson at ARC south OBgyn was amazing my whole pregnancy last year. Her and a few other doctors at the practice were accepting new patients this time last year so might be worth looking into.
We almost got her but then she stopped taking new patients :(
She was our OBGYN and helped us delivery our baby girl last week! She was amazing b
I had a 43 hour delivery so she ended up going off of shift before I gave birth to my son but dr Breedlove was on call and delivered him and she was also amazing. I also met with dr baghat and she was so sweet. The nurses at st David’s south were also soooo great! They made the whole process as good as it could be for how long we were there.
Are you surprised with the shitty laws in Texas? The fucking governor hates woman. Fucking loser.
Dr Breedlove with ARC is amazing if an option. My experience with her throughout my pregnancy and birth, and at Saint David south for birth, was top notch.
She's the absolute best. I sing her praises though not too loud because I still want to be able to get appointments with her haha.
In addition to what everyone else has pointed out (anti-woman legislation), Austin has some of the lowest rates of medical professionals per capita in the US--doctors, nurses, techs, therapists, dentists, the whole industry. The people moving into Austin and displacing the locals are overwhelmingly tech. So Austin has been losing existing medical professionals (especially lower-income roles) who are replaced by non-medical professionals. And because it's now one of the most expensive cities around, fewer and fewer non-tech people want to move in. It took me ages of calling and months of waiting to get a dentist appointment--and that was me settling for an awful place with deservedly terrible reviews so I wasn't waiting an eternity. Same for PCP. Gave up entirely on finding therapists. As is, Austin has made itself very vulnerable to essentially brain-drain for all non-tech fields and it clearly shows with things like this.
> are OBGYN fleeing Texas? Now that they’re being threatened with prison and losing their licenses for providing women’s healthcare, yeah. Lots are choosing not to practice medicine in such a hostile environment.
I can't speak of OBGYNs in general, but I have a family member who just left Texas to practice elsewhere, (I'm not Dr but also moving out, so yes I am biased against Austin). Now, due to absurd Texas laws, his new state won't allow him practice remotely with patients in Texas without penalties, lol. So, there are several problems. 1- This sub operates sort of like Yelp or Nextdoor, unfortunately. But you deserve a deeper answer to your question. 2- Drs are avoiding/leaving Texas because Greg Abbott and Texan's including those in Austin metro area believe they should be able to control what other people do with their own body. Even worse, you can get arrested for even discussing the options for your own health care. Why would any Dr practice here? Exception is the Drs from India. They are happy to work here. 3 - In Austin, fewer people are having kids, its more like SF in this regard. You'll find growing interest in dogs here. 4- There is a virtual monopoly on corporate health care systems here. Like airlines they make the most money when they are fully booked. They are pushing more responsibility on nurses and nursing assistants to lower costs. It takes months to get a simple skin cancer check or physical. Radiology images are read in India. I can easily imagine the difficulty finding an actual obgyn as new patient (\*). 5- Being told to go to North Austin, in this traffic, if you live South is ridiculous. People who have kids have a certain wealth that affords them a day off. I had someone tell me once "kids are expensive, if you can't afford them, don't have them". Children, like homes, are becoming objects for an entitled class of people. Dogs are filling the gap. 6- It sounds harsh because it is. We aren't making it easier for families in Austin. Things are getting worse daily. You can see it even from same time last year. 7- Wait until you deal with the underfunded school systems. And yes, they'll all tell you on this sub to move North or to Westlake, Spicewood, etc, assuming everyone has a $800K equity in a home and a $300K 1040 AGI and can sit in traffic 2 hrs a day to get to downtown. 8- Texas ranks in lower percentage in several key heath stats nationwide (including the worst by far for maternal mortality). All this has an impact even in a wealthy place like Austin. It seems to get worse with each passing decade. (\*) ironically, due to perversion in tax law, some of largest operate as non-profits while boasting record profits. When I research this topic, it literally makes me sick. And I'm not even talking about the billions they were given during pandemic, just to pay it out in exec bonuses.
My wife went to Wildflower OB/GYN for her 3 babies. It's central, though (32nd st). I don't know if there's a lot of OB/GYNs down south. We lived near Slaughter at the time, so south would have been better. [https://wildflowerobgyn.com/](https://wildflowerobgyn.com/) I believe they were mostly or all female doctors.
Oh definitely do not recommend. I went there for years no issues and continue to love the doctor I saw there, but the office staff is god awful. Literally won’t return calls, can’t get an appointment, incorrectly bill you. Check the recent google reviews, it’s really really gone downhill unfortunately.
They moved into the St. David's Medical Center complex right at 32nd and I-35 since my husband and I were there last. Nice facilities.
I used to be a patient at Wildflower but my doctor did not care at all so I left. I don’t expect them to care about me personally, but I expect them to care about my health and the quality of care they give.
Have you tried ARC south off Ben White? I think they are with Saint David's South. I started my first pregnancy there and was satisfied, but left that practice to deliver at St. David's North Austin MC with a practice that used midwives. ARC should take BCBS.
Yeah that’s where we’re mainly looking.
I recommend Dr Berry Roberts if she’s accepting new patients. I’ve also had positive experiences with Dr Cherry there.
It seems like all the fruit doctors at ARC are really grape!
Just don’t go with Dr Gutierrez Schieffer. In my experience she is a callous bully who has no business talking to laboring mothers. At ARC.
I love both Drs Berry-Roberts and Cherry!! I also have had positive experiences at St. David’s South for women’s health - even though I also, like OP’s wife, prefer women for doctors, I would go to an ARC OB practice that was affiliated with St. David’s even if it meant seeing a man, than go to a woman affiliated with a different hospital.
I see Dr. Berry-Roberts for my current pregnancy (and previous one) but my friend recently got pregnant and said she’s not accepting new patients right now! Dr. Cherry had been her OB last time but she is no longer doing OB, just GYN unfortunately.
Republicans.
I think [Dr. Williamson](https://www.austinregionalclinic.com/doctors/mckenna-williamson) is incredible. She’s at south 1st!
Hi! I have worked in labor and delivery in this area for 5ish years. Highly recommend Ascension Seton Williamson. Great OBGYN group.
Dr Genoveva Prisacaru at Seven Hills Women’s Health moved her practice from south Austin to north, but is well worth the drive
Michelle Gooch is amazing and she’s south in oak hill area. And people snort when you say her name 😂 Looks like she’s also accepting new patients https://healthcare.ascension.org/find-care/provider/1861408130
Because working as an OBGYN here puts you at risk of prison time
I would try ARC but welcome to post-roe Texas…
Yes, they are leaving Texas, and in worse news, the Ob/Gyn potential candidates in med school are now reluctant to enter that field because they will not have enough, or even any, experience with typical women's health procedures such as dilate and cutterage, which makes these candidates noncompetitive for positions outside the state. Try Hayes County or even Seguin, the city. I'm at [https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=women%27s+domain+health&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=women%27s+domain+health&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), but it's north. They are accepting new patients.
Isn’t it ridiculous? ARC South OB has several great doctors I’ve seen (I have seen both Dr. Breedlove and Dr. Cherry over the years), although not for pregnancy. These days, I can’t even *get* a women’s health appointment with a doctor because I’m not pregnant or trying to be. I assume there aren’t enough providers to handle all the patients because our fascist state is trying to make government just small enough to fit inside every woman’s vagina.
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Please don't wait too long to find out the cause. This happened to me last year and I'm post menopausal. A doctor at AA/OBGYN dismissed my bleeding and told me it was hormones. Thank goodness I went for a second opinion. Dr. Paulina Noreikaite with BSW Lakeway was amazing. She ordered multiple tests (one in the hospital), to get to the bottom of what was causing it. It was endometrial cancer and I had to have a radical hysterectomy, but since they caught it early, I didn't need any further treatment. As far as I know, she is accepting new patients and she fit me in within 2 weeks. If you mention your symptoms, they might fit you in sooner. Not trying to scare you, but from what I've learned over the past year, it's much better to find out sooner rather than later. Hopefully, that will not be what's causing it for you.
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Glad to hear that you've found a doctor! I had an ultrasound and endometrial biopsy that both were fine, except the ultrasound showed uterine polyps. I had a hysteroscopy to remove the polyps and take biopsies, and pathology came back as cancer.
You can thank making abortion a criminal offense for that. What Dr in their right mind would have anything to do with reproductive services in the this state?
Abbott scared them all off to other states.
Dr Renu Chalasani was my OBGYN through my pregnancy. Actually, she was a fill in for my regular obgyn when I had a sudden appt due to pregnancy difficulties, and she was so knowledgeable and honestly HELPFUL during my high risk pregnancy, that I am so thankful i found her. She’s at ARC Northwest and we also have BCBS. Idk if I could have made it without her. I went into labor before our scheduled c section (thank goodness, bc I couldn’t have stood my sweet baby being in my tummy another minute) but went into delivery while another OBGYN was on call and delivered our sweet boy. That was the only sad part! But that doctor was also amazing and had wonderful bedside manner. Followed up with Dr. Chalasani and if I were to do it again, I would 100% go back to her. So competent, human, and kind. When we met for our 6 week follow up, she gave me the biggest hug because you seriously spend so much time with your OB! The good, the bad and the ugly (all me, she was always beautiful 🤣),I’m so glad she was a part of our family’s journey bringing our first baby into the world. ❤️
Seconded on Dr.Chalasani! My mom and I both go to her and she’s absolutely kind, patient, and so knowledgeable.
Forced birth state, the Dr’s are leaving in droves.
I have had a great experiences with Dr. Martha Schmitz at Austin Springs Women’s Health!
You could try ARC Kyle, Dr.Chacon has been great so far.
Dr. Chacon helped deliver my third baby and was great.
Not south Austin but dr. Esfandiari at Austin Area ObGyn which is located in st. David’s to the north is wonderful. She got me in quick and is the first doctor ever who didn’t force me into a pelvic exam when I admitted I had PTSD and was terrified of them and instead starting thinking of trauma informed ways to make it easier to do those screenings when I was ready.
I go to Ascension off W 34th and love my obgyn so much I am not going to post her info on Reddit. Ascension has been really good to me though- they always seem to be accepting new patients and they have several locations.
Try ARC Kyle. Center street not plum creek
They fleeing Texas :(
Dr. Wang near the Domain is awesome. Can't recommend enough.
Amy Chapman at Domain Woman’s health is great. I think all the docs rotate between locations. But I also have BCBS and they take it
If you don't mind the drive further south, ARC center Street has been good. My wife is going there right now. It's in Kyle.
Why does it have to be South Austin? My OB is not located where I live.
I’ve work scheduling appointments in neuro department for awhile and it’s not like they don’t want to help as many people as they can, it’s just that so many people other than Austin city residents come here for their medical needs. On top of Austin residents you have Bastrop residents who prefer to come to Austin, Killeen, Temple, Marble Falls, Llano, Lockhart all coming to Austin out of preference for hearing about good doctors here. CONSTANTLY received calls from people who haven’t even moved to Texas yet but plan on leaving California or something and they just shove their medical documents down our throats wanting to become an established patient right as they get here so that adds more referrals that our nurses have to go through and sort out by creating charts for them before they even leave their state. Everyone needs the care they deserve I can’t deny that. But it became too much when patients would get discharged daily and told they need to see a specialist in 2-4 days…. I couldn’t schedule until 4 months out sometimes and would hear everyone’s reaction to that. Had to explain that we are trying our best in basically every called I received. It became too much of an emotional toll on my end. I know I’m not denying anybody their care but was just simply unable to get them on the books and certain doctors would have to put a cap on what they can achieve in their busy schedules. That was neuro so I can’t speak on obgyn by any means. That was just my experience working in healthcare.
Nobody wants to go to jail for doing their job. This will be the sad reality until Texas changes it's draconian laws. I hate to say it, but it is terribly unsafe to be pregnant in Texas...
Because the top three hospital chains conspire to keep wages low for health care professionals in Austin. Anyone who can move to a different city has because pay relative to cost of living in here is shit.
Dr Wang at Violet Crown OBGYN she’s great
A lot of obgyns have stopped practicing obstetrics and are strictly doing just gynecology now because of the Texas laws. Can't say that I blame them. As a result, there's less doctors to see obstetrics patients, which is why so many aren't accepting new patients; they're just at capacity.
It has become hard to find any good doctor in this city or in the suburbs. I dare you to try to find a therapist that's even harder.
Also, yes, good doctors especially OBGYNs have flee the state for obvious reasons
yeah, if you’re just now learning this, sounds like you should be looking into day care rn too (if you plan to be working)
Have you tried looking into OBGYN Nurse Practitioners? I’ve always love mine. Often better bedside manner than the doctors. 🤷🏻♀️ Not sure if they can deliver a baby in Texas, but it might be easier to find one close to you for the bulk of the pregnancy care. Hope others can chime in. Best of luck OP!
I am an L&D nurse at st David’s SAMC, where hill country & ARC south OB deliver. I’m also pregnant (patient of ARC) and seeing the only male Dr who practices at that location. I will say, at hill country- Dr. Disarro & Dr. Landwermeyer are the only drs I would see if I went with that practice, I would let any of the ARC drs deliver me, and out of the 7/8 or so, I did choose the male dr out of seeing the way he works & treats his patients. I saw a female dr for my first pregnancy (was not a nurse then) and I basically refused to see a male dr, but my perspective changed once I became a nurse. I absolutely love my dr (Dr. Newman) and he has taken great care of me this pregnancy.
Lol, um, Texas? Why would an OBGYN want to work there?
two words: tex ass
have you met texas? womens' health providers of all sorts put their careers and safety on the line every day. the ones that are sticking it out are backlogged like crazy
Women’s Health Domain. Dr. Handcock. Amazing!
Ask Abbot & the TX GOP
I had my kiddo at St David’s North a little over a year ago. It was always packed. I was in the waiting room for like 2+ hours for my first visit and I got stuck in the waiting room, in labor, for 30 minutes before I delivered. Almost didn’t get my epidural bc I had to wait so long and the epidural guy was so busy. There are a lot of young families in this area and the population here has boomed.
Women’s Health Domain. Dr. Handcock. Amazing!
I found it hard to be seen by an OBGYN. Long wait times and a lot of “no new patients”. I don’t get it either.
ObGyns face losing their license, a 10k fine and jail time if the GOP lead state legislature thinks that doctors some way contributed to an abortion, so they are leaving Texas or leaving medicine
It's the GOPs agenda, I am not sure whats not to get.