Hanna Hemstreet

Review of Alaska Women's Health

I have thought a lot about how I want to write thi...

I have thought a lot about how I want to write this review. I was a patient here for the first 27 weeks of my very first pregnancy. Let me be clear, this is not a bad practice. There s nothing terribly wrong I m sure a lot of people have great experiences. However, its not outstanding either, in my experience. So, I guess I m writing this for the women who wants to be involved in their health care just as much as the doctor is and wants to learn and be educated and taken seriously and listened to. If that s you, this is not a great match for you. I often felt rushed through my appointments. I was never asked or gave consent to them checking the baby s heart beat at every appointment it was just done automatically. It was just automatically assumed I would be getting the flu vaccine and if I didn t they made it seem like I m a terrible mother. And to be clear, it s not that I wasn t going to get the vaccine in the first place they just kinda made it seem like I didn t have a choice and I was going to be severely judged if I even asked to know the risks and be fully informed! Because knowing all the information is the only way you can give informed consent. And LADIES this is NOT quality health care! It is so important for your provider to educate you on EVERY procedure they are doing. You are your number one advocate. You need to feel comfortable asking questions and you need to have a high standard for your health care providers especially when it comes to prenatal care. They should be taking the time to talk with you and explain things to you. 10 minutes with a doctor once a month is NOT enough time to be fully educated and fully involved in your health care. This practice did not value that and often times I felt like my questions were a nuisance and that they didn t have time for me. There was also a lot of miscommunication and weirdness when I tried to learn more about the things I was going through in pregnancy. On top of that, if you re using tricare they are NOT in network. They will say they are but they are NOT.

I heard there is one Dr, Dr. Berry who is amazing but I never had her and there and I had a good experience with the NP for one of my appointments but there were two or three doctors I saw that did not seem to care about me at all. How awful my delivery would have been with a dr who just saw me as another patient and another delivery to get done. That is not the kind of situation I wanted to be in. My husband and I made the choice to switch to Midwifery and women s health care because you can still be seen by a midwife and have a hospital birth (something I wasn t aware of going into pregnancy) and WOW what a huge difference. I m telling you, find a provider who will take the time with you, teach you and make you feel comfortable, safe and heard. It s a night and day difference. I have learned more in my two appointments with this midwifery clinic than I learned in my full 27 weeks at Alaska women s health. If you re anything like me, in that you want to be involved in your health care and know everything that is going on this is not the practice for that. But again, I am very involved with my health care and I care a lot so it might be just me. If you re the same way just avoid the hassle!