Dear Village Obstetrics,
I will never forget all that you did for our family.
I came to VOB 24 weeks into my pregnancy. I had been with a practice that was highly rated but somehow didn’t feel right. There were five doctors in the practice, but I never felt totally comfortable with them.
I’m a producer. I love research and accurate info. I like to ask questions, get answers, and perhaps come back a couple of weeks later with more follow up questions. At my first practice, I suppose I was given competent responses to my inquiries, but in six months I rarely saw the same physician twice. This made it very difficult to form a relationship with a practitioner. I also never felt like I was really getting all of the information I craved. This was my first pregnancy, and the experience (as you all know) is intimate! I didn’t want to go into labor and feel like the person checking my dilation was a stranger. Furthermore, I absolutely needed to trust the person or persons who were in charge of my well being, and that of my (soon to be) child. While searching for a doula (something my previous practice was rather indifferent about) I came across VOb. A practice that puts their C-section statistics right on their web landing page, and offered suggestions for where to buy champagne at the hospital for a post-birth celebration. Does it get any better than that? I knew I had found my perfect medical match!! My husband and I met with Drs. Worth and Mussalli, and knew immediately that this was the place we were meant to be. We felt more informed after speaking with Drs. Worth & Mussalli for one hour than I did after 6 months at my previous practice. I knew we had just met the doctors who would deliver our first child. I was not even deterred by the fact that Dr. Mussalli has some of the “biggest hands” in the Mt. Sinai OB department!
Joining Village Obstetrics was one of the single best decisions I have ever made. I ended up delivering almost 2 weeks past my due date, so I got to spend a lot of time with Dr. Worth, Dr. Mussalli, and the lovely ladies of VOb – Lourdes and Leanne. In those four months, I was given; a referral for the pre-natal chiropractor who got me walking when my failing, painful pelvis threatened to keep me hobbled and sedentary; one fantastic recipe for Kafta kabobs; many moments of reflection listening to my little one’s heartbeat during all of those NSTs; information about my baby’s position and placement – and why it mattered; countless reassuring smiles; many words of encouragement; a phone call from my doctor with test results on the weekend (!!!!); patient, thorough answers to my never ending questions; a review of my birth plan (why do people write those, anyway?); a referral to the best Gyn I’ve ever had; and one truly epic – there are other descriptive words I decline to use for reasons of common decency- membrane sweep.
Thank you for making sure I did not feel alone or scared while some of my biggest birth fears became realities. Thank you for literally letting me lean on you while getting my spinal. Thank you for your sure hands, for counting all of the surgical instruments before closing, thank you for not laughing at all of my ridiculous jokes brought on by nerves and morphine! Thank you Dr. Mussalli for the smiley faces on the belly, for your calm energy, thank you for the kind words on the phone before I was wheeled into surgery. Thank you all for your compassion, understanding, knowledge, SKILLs, and PATIENCE. Thank you for being the best at what you do! Thank you for helping us bring this amazing, strong little girl into this world.
With love and gratitude, Z, D and baby Z
