Reviews & Ratings for Kathleen Slone & Assoc

01/05/12

I seriously doubt I will go back

by ummnadir at Citysearch

I had my baby with Kathleen slone in October 2011 and I seriously doubt I will return if/when I have baby #2. Kathleen, herself is a wonderful midwife but unfoutnately you do not visit with Kathleen often nor do I think she delivery babies often. I called about 10 times during my entire pregnancy into their voicemail and never did I call when Kathleen was on shift-meaning she was the one on call to deliever babies. As a another poster stated, I also did not receive great post natal care. Also, besides Kathleen, all the midwives are young and honestly, I only think they became midwives to get paid more not because they care about mothers' or women's health.

I will say that my delivery went well, I wanted a water birth but due my own complications being at first time mother that after pushing for over an hour, I decide to give the water birth a quit.

Also , the midwife who attended my birth did a decent job even though me and her did not get along and she knew I did not like her.

furthermore, I know when I was searching for midwife group, people commeted that Slone's office is dirty...well its not dirty but it is small. HOwever, this should not be that important because you never have to wait unless you get there really earlier and you won't be delivering there so oh well if its small.

In the end, I really hope that by time I get pregnant again, there is some better midwives groups around or my friend has already told me about her experience at University of Maryland so I will probably check them out.

01/04/12

Different strokes for different folks!

by tcavell at Citysearch

Think of Kathy as the Doctor from the show HOUSE. She is not the sweetest person on earth but she is a genius at what she does. I felt safe the whole time with her. I did not want invasive test or medication during delivery and Kathy honored this completely, never once questioning my choice. I really wanted a water birth, she went to bat with the hospital to make sure I had one even though they said I may not be able to. She was extremely competent. I would go back to her!

12/22/11

Not impressed.

by hucksmommy at Citysearch

I would not recommend this group to anyone. I was dissappointed in the care pre and post baby. Also, during delivery, the midwife acted like an MD the whole time. She did not listen to me at all. There is a young, very inexperienced midwife in this group who actually told me and my husband that she didn't trust her own judgment concerning episiotomies and other things. Scary. If I wanted to be seen by an OB, I would have seen an OB. Midwives are supposed to be different.

08/09/11

WONDERFUL experience

by carlywitmer at Citysearch

I am fairly new to Baltimore and, being pregnant with my first child, I was unsure where to go for care. Once I found Mercy hospital and was sure that I wanted to go there for my delivery, I thought of going to Kathy's practice but was deterred by one particularly bad online review. Instead I found an ob/gyn group. They were fine but I always had a long wait to see them and they were rather brief once I finally got to talk to a doctor. When I said that I wanted a natural birth without drugs or interventions, they said that they would "just sit on their hands", if that was what I wanted.

Although I was not acutely unhappy with that practice, I also did not feel completely supported in my desires for a natural birth. At my birthing class I heard nothing but good things about Kathy and her practice, so I made the switch a little after 30 weeks. I never had to wait more than 10 minutes or so to see one of the midwives, and they seemed genuinely interested in speaking with me about my pregnancy. I learned a lot about the various procedures that were being done during the pregnancy that the ob group had never shared with me.

I went into labor early in the morning and Kathy met me at Mercy at 7 am. The midwives knew that I didn't want a hep-lock or any medication at all, and Kathy never brought it up. I am so grateful to her for her constant calm presence and encouragement during the delivery. She was patient and reassuring and actively helped me get through the most difficult parts of the labor. After our daughter was born, my partner and I were able to relax with her while Kathy dealt with the placenta and stitches. Although she told me everything that she was doing, I was not bothered by any of it.

I am now healing rapidly, and thinking back about my pregnancy, labor and delivery, am so pleased that everything worked out the way that it did. Most of all, I am glad that I switched to Kathy and her midwives, and only wish that I had not been spooked by that review and gone to her office sooner.

10/26/10

think before you go with this group

by rnmom at Citysearch

Think long and hard before going with this midwifery group. I used Special Beginnings Birth Center with my first preganancy and the care was amazing - I was recommended to Kathy and expected the same level of care I was deeply disappointed.

As an RN there were many red flags from the beginning, but I assumed (wrongly) that they were there because I was a nurse and this was my second pregnancy. I had negative experiences throughout my time and changed providers at 35 weeks pregnant.

look at all your options before committing to anyone.

10/19/10

Amazing Midwife

by MonaBaltimore at Citysearch

I was terrified of falling into a system that was likely to lead to a C Section and horrified by the priorities at hopkins. This lead me to an obgyn i was thrilled with, Michelle Morganti at Union, a Dr. willing to give me a natural water birth. But in my 3rd trimester Union gave 30 days notice it was closing down its birthing wing days before I was due and that everyone was to be reassigned elsewhere. Unfortunately my Dr. had no priviledges anywhere but Union and I had to switch again.

Dr. Morganti recommended Kathy Slone. Kathy and Julie were very attentive and kind, while Kathy was clear and firm, a characteristic I learned is extremely important during labor. I was so pleased with my experience that Kathy also delivered my daughter 2 years later. By then she had two partners. I learned how Kathy had been fighting for midwifery in Maryland for decades and that the prevailing laws and medical establishments made it so difficult for midwives to work legitimately that she was the only solo midwifery practice in Maryland (many others worked within Dr's practice or on a casual basis), but Kathy fought the system to exist. This made her extremely popular to almost a cult status among expectant mothers wanting less medical intervention. While the partners were deeply attentive not only to my 24/7 well being (in the 3rd trimester) but to me personally. I felt special.

In the end I had two successful water births by Kathy and was grateful that she visibly navigated the system, and when she introduced herself to the nursing staff she'd never worked with she said politely but firmly said "we do things a little different, I think you're going to like it." Afterward I found I had an amazed audience also deeply impressed with my water birth. Afterward my second water birth, and I was no longer an expectant priority, it was even more clear how overworked they were and I learned that the partners left.

01/24/10

Terrifying Experience

by tangoprject at Citysearch

I was a patient of this practice in the summer of 2008. Two of the midwives who were part of the practice left right after I started as a patient. I was left with a midwife just out of school and Kathy. I considered switching to a different practice, but they were so kind during the office. And I wanted a natural birth without intervention. I lost 15 lbs the first trimester due to undiagnosed hyperemissi gravidum. I know now (second pregnancy) that I should have at least been put on an IV due to dehydration, at most been given medication. Nothing was done for me. I was told that it was normal and not to worry. I confessed to being unsure about this and the young midwife brought Kathy in and she said, "Women get pregnant all the time and throw up. It's fine." This was my only meeting with Kathy before the birth. The pregnancy progressed normally. Now, I must say, the office has very old furniture and appears unkempt. I thought of it as old worldly at the time. In my ninth month, I was examined on a sofa in a waiting room. It was dirty and smelly. I was too late to switch doctors. My water broke a few days later. I went to the hospital, labored in the bath, and told the young midwife I was ready to push. She checked me and said, 'No, you can't push. Don't push!" and left the room. I did not know what to do. I was alone in a tub of water, my baby was coming and my midwife had left, there was no nurse. Just me and my equally inexperienced and confused husband. When she came back she brought Kathy with her. I hadn't seen her since that time in the office, she said nothing to me or my husband, jammed her hand inside and did something that really hurt. They did not tell me what it was just that I could push now (Later, a nurse told me that my cervix had a lip). After awhile, I decided I couldn't push in the tub well and wanted to try the bed. My husband got me out of the tub to the bed (no one else was around to help) and as I stopped to have a contraction, I saw Kathy asleep in the chair in the room. The young midwife was nowhere to be seen. I got on the bed and pushed and pushed. The young midwife appeared, yelled at me to stop talking in between contractions and then said, 'Oh no, Kathy, I don't know what to do!" This was a very scary moment for me and my husband. Kathy woke up, came over and twisted something on my baby. He popped out. Later, I discovered he had been the wrong way around, wrong direction, with a caul (many doctors have said they are shocked the baby came out at all). I fainted, then the placenta wouldn't come and they pulled it out. I woke up and my baby was gone, and Kathy was teaching the young midwife how to do stitches. "No, don't do it like that, it'll never work." etc. All I wanted was my baby. They told me to stop crying and Kathy said, "All new mothers are just the same." with a roll of the eyes. I laid there in agony (no anesthetic was used) for 2 hours without my son getting butchered. I had 77 stitches, which I only found out about by stealing my chart. I had no after care from Kathy or the other midwife. (I must say, the nurses at Mercy are wonderful in the mother/child wing.) I have horrible scars and stretching where my stitches were. It changed the shape of my vagina and sex was painful for a year or more. I wanted a natural birth with a kind and compassionate midwife who would assist me in bringing my child into the world. Instead, I basically gave birth alone in a hospital without any kind of interest from my caretakers.

• Cons: Unprofessional, Degrading, Uninterested in Care During Birth

01/21/10

Incredibly personal care

by qwyneth at Citysearch

I went to hopkins for the first part of my care and had a horrible experience. None of the doctors read my chart before seeing me and they rarely asked me questions about my life, health, or history. I finally vowed never to return when a nurse started yelling at me and caused me to have a panic attack in front of my older son for putting too much weight on and endangering my baby--long story short, it turned out I hadn't put on more than the normal amount of weight, they had been negligent in recording my weight and used faulty scales when they had.

I switched to Kathy's midwives and it was worlds apart from the care at Hopkins. The midwives were incredibly attentive to my individual needs and concerns. I started having some signs of preeclampsia towards the end of the pregnancy, and they were incredibly alert and responsive to the potential issue, putting me on preventative bedrest and having me come in for more frequent check-ups. When I gave birth (Mercy was fabulous) Bayla and Kathy were with me the entire time--I would never get that kind of care from a doctor!

I could not have received better care and would recommend this practice to anyone.

• Pros: very personal care, low rates of unnecessary intervention,
• Cons: office could be spruced up, no home births

10/20/09

Excellent

by Daladyjax at Citysearch

I had my first baby with them and have returned to them for other services since then. They have always been supportive, friendly, respectful and very attentive to my individual needs. I can't say enough wonderful things about this practice.

• Pros: Incredibly friendly, helpful staff, relaxed atmosphere
• Cons: No homebirths :(

08/07/09

Wonderful Midwives

by cbs123 at Citysearch

I went to Kathy Slone's practice for the birth of my second child. Everyone, from the office staff to the midwives, is so kind and professional. There are no sign in sheets at this office- when you walk in the door they know you by name.

In my first birth experience with an OB, I saw the doctor for about a total of 15 minutes; however, with my second birth, Kate (the midwife) was by my side from the minute I arrived at the hospital. I have continued to go to this practice for my regular annual visits. I highly recommend Kathy Slone and Associates!

• Pros: Low intervention; wonderful staff; everyone knows your name
• Cons: Office decor could use some updating