Discussions

New to Brandon and recently found out my husband and I are expecting. Who would you recommend (or not recommend) as an good OBGYN

Dr. Akintola. So friendly and gentle. Really listened to me and my concerns.

I had dr. Akintola with my first and really liked him. This time I got a midwife and I'm enjoying it so much more. I learn so much more with the midwife, and I wait a few minutes for a long appointment instead of waiting an hour or more for a very short appointment with the dr.  
 
Just another option to think about, but if you want one, call right away and put your name on the list (though they said now with more midwives they typically don't have to turn ppl away).

I have had Dr. Shunmugam as my OB/GYN for the past 8 years and have never had a problem. He has a lot of experience and is good at the bedside. However I find that he is not a man of many words so you do have to ask questions and clarify if you don't understand... no different than any other doctor really. If you prefer, there are also two new female OB/GYN doctors at the Brandon Clinic... Dr. Parr and Dr. Rutherford. Both are very nice.

Everyone has their favs. I personally would choose Shumagum or Atkintola. Many gp's deliver too. Congrats by the way!

Dr Sutter. Some don't like her, but she knew her stuff and was patient with me. She doesn't beat around the bush. I just heard she retired in December though. I've heard GREAT things about Dr Helms, that's who I'm going with next time!

There all good doctors, but they all have there own personalities. I saw Dr. Helms for something not pregnancy related, and I personal feel he's a great doctor BUT his humour isn't everyone's style and it could come off as rude, but as long as you have "thick" skin, he's great. I haven't had any experience with the others, but reading discussions on here you can easily learn which one would better suit you.

He takes what you want seriously. I'm that person that investigates and he always answers all my questions and points me in the right direction.

Over my 2 pregnancies I've had dr adkintola (he was too quiet for me..) dr helms (really good doc. Always to the point. And I liked his bluntness) dr sutter (I hated waiting for her, but good doc..she's retired now though) and the new female doctor, dr Rutherford! (She's awesome. New to the game, but knew her stuff. She was quick, but I has no issues, so there was no point in hanging out and talking...which is what sutter did, which is probably why it took so long to see her..lol..). I recommend helms or Rutherford. Gl has h & h 9 months!!

I've had experiences with a lot of the OBGYN's over my 4 pregnancies, and I would always choose Helms. He actually only delivered one of my kids, as whoever is on call delivers, but I still prefer to have him look after me during the pregnancy.  
It just depends on your personality. If you like someone quieter who doesn't say a lot, then Shunmugam is good, if you don't mind a blunt sense of humor, then Helms is great. There were only 2 female OBGYN's when I had my kids, and personally I did not care for either of them. One delivered my last baby, and I really didn't like her bedside manner.

Congratulations!!  
 
I highly recommend getting a midwife. You and your husband will learn so much and be very well cared for. The midwives provide exceptional prenatal and postnatal care for you and your little one. And if for some reason you need OB-GYN care you can always transfer to a doctor. Call 571-5530 to get your name on the list.  
 
I ended up needing an emergency C section preformed by Dr. Shunmugam. He was excellent. Great bedside manner and no complications with the incision or recovery in general. However, I was very grateful to have my midwife there to answer questions and guide me through recovery and breastfeeding.  
 
I saw Dr. Akintola a couple times after two miscarriages. I really appreciated his calm manner, and he was very patient with me in my emotional state.  
 
Edited by village_idiot, 2016-01-20 09:18:49

I have Dr. Helms. He's been great so far. I've heard he can be "moody" but I haven't seen that at all. He's been very reassuring. Dr. Sutter has not retired, I just saw her in the office at my last appointment 2 weeks ago. I would love to have had a midwife, but I was already seeing Helms before I got pregnant so I just assumed I would stay with him and that would be it. Can you have both?

yellowstraw said "I have Dr. Helms. He's been great so far. I've heard he can be "moody" but I haven't seen that at all. He's been very reassuring. Dr. Sutter has not retired, I just saw her in the office at my last appointment 2 weeks ago. I would love to have had a midwife, but I was already seeing Helms before I got pregnant so I just assumed I would stay with him and that would be it. Can you have both? "

For prenatal care you have to choose one or the other, not both. If you have other health concerns that require OB-GYN care you could probably see both, but if the pregnancy is high-risk you'd have to do your prenatal care with the OB.

For the OP who is new in town. When you go into labor, you will get whichever OBGyn is on call, which may or may not be the one who you saw in the office.  
As a health care professional, I can say with certainty that we are very lucky to have to quality of OBGyn's in Brandon that we do. They may all have different styles, but they are all excellent at what they do. As well as Drs Akintola, Helms, and Shunmugam, there are two new female OBGyns now: Drs Rutherford and Parr. Dr Sutter is working only part-time now, and I don't think she is taking on new prenatal clients.

was absolutely wonderful before, during and after. I lucked out that he was the one who delivered as I ended up having a few complications during labour and he got us through it just fine. Even 6 months later when I bring my baby for pediatrician appointments we see him and he stops to chat. He is so patient and answered any questions I had. He was very reassuring and I will go back to him for the next one! I saw Dr. Sutter once and waited 6 hours for her. She was nice enough but found her very rough with her exams in comparison. I've heard that you can't go wrong with any of them! Congratulations and good luck!  

LOVE Dr. Helms, would recommend him to anyone. He went on holidays midway through my pregnancy so I had to see Sutter and Akintola for a couple appointments and didn't really like them, they seemed uninterested & uncaring in my concerns I was so glad when Dr. helms got back! His bedside matter was just the right one for me- direct, to the point, and caring!

I think Dr. Helms is who you are automatically referred to if you are high risk. We had him and we were not high risk. Be prepared that he may pressure you into a c-section. So glad we stood our ground and had a vaginally birth without complications. I dealt with Sutter a couple times and really liked her. Doing it all over again I would choose her, but like others said I heard she has retired or at least anounced her retirement.

I have only had experience with him and really enjoyed seeing him. He is very quiet, but always friendly and I rarely waited for him which was nice. He took all my questions seriously and made sure there was time to answer questions if I had them. No issues with language. He did the delivery as well. He didn't stick around to "chat", he came and did what he needed to, answered questions and was gone but that was fine with me. I always felt like I was in knowledgeable hands. He performed my emergency C-section as well and that went smoothly as well.