Finding the Right OBGYN: One Family’s Story of Compassionate Pregnancy Care

Becom­ing a mom comes with a whirl­wind of emo­tions — excite­ment, antic­i­pa­tion, and a whole lot of ​“what ifs.” That was cer­tain­ly the case for Ash­ley H. Through­out her preg­nan­cy, she felt sup­port­ed by her health­care providers at Duly Health and Care, which helped ease her anx­i­eties. That same sense of sup­port was with her the day her son, Lin­coln, was born.

“That morn­ing, I def­i­nite­ly felt a bit off,” Ash­ley recalled. ​“But the doc­tor on call encour­aged me and edu­cat­ed me on the signs to look for that would sug­gest labor and need­ing to be checked further.”

With that guid­ance, Ash­ley decid­ed to go to work and car­ry on with her day as a pedi­atric occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­pist. She was two weeks away from her due date, so she thought she had time. As she went about her day, see­ing most of her patients, the first-time mom nerves start­ed to get the best of her.

She left ear­ly to head to the hos­pi­tal to get checked out. What was ini­tial­ly a quick check turned into an unex­pect­ed admis­sion, with Ash­ley walk­ing into the hos­pi­tal already start­ing to dilate.

“Being two weeks before his due date came with a strong mix of emo­tions — excit­ed, ner­vous, hap­py. Although I had to send my hus­band home to fin­ish gath­er­ing my hos­pi­tal bag, it com­fort­ed me know­ing that we were in good hands with the deliv­ery process,” she said. At the hos­pi­tal, she was met by one of the providers on her labor and deliv­ery team, Dr. Eliz­a­beth Potoc­nik, obste­tri­cian and gyne­col­o­gist at Duly.

“I felt very com­fort­able and con­fi­dent in her care. Pri­or to deliv­er­ing my son, I had called a cou­ple of times through­out my preg­nan­cy for advice and to ask ques­tions, and she was always very quick to respond back. She was pro­fes­sion­al and thor­ough, lis­ten­ing to all my ques­tions and pro­vid­ing detailed feedback.” 

Ash­ley had a birth plan and knew how she want­ed to deliv­er, but she under­stood that things can, and often do, change unex­pect­ed­ly. ​“Dr. Potoc­nik and the nurs­es assist­ing in our deliv­ery process helped us by talk­ing through each step in detail, so we knew every­thing that was going on and why,” she said.

There were a few uncer­tain moments along the way. After try­ing for a vagi­nal deliv­ery, Dr. Potoc­nik was there to offer com­fort and sup­port. She calm­ly laid out their options for deliv­er­ing their son.

“I most appre­ci­ate the tim­ing of her guid­ance, as it allowed my hus­band and I to talk through our deci­sion with a clear mind before things got ​‘too late,’” she shared. ​“She also pro­vid­ed me with the full oppor­tu­ni­ty to attempt a vagi­nal deliv­ery first. Ulti­mate­ly, she sup­port­ed us in con­tin­u­ing with our desired deliv­ery method, but we felt edu­cat­ed in oth­er options if it came down to it.”

Then, the moment they had been wait­ing for: Lin­col­n’s arrival. ​“We felt extreme­ly hap­py, excit­ed, and relieved in the moments after Lincoln’s birth. As first-time par­ents, you nev­er know what to expect. But being giv­en the gift of hold­ing our healthy, almost 9‑pound boy filled us with extreme pride and grat­i­tude. We couldn’t have done it with­out our labor and deliv­ery team that day.”

For Ash­ley, hav­ing com­pas­sion­ate and atten­tive health­care providers was everything. 

“Being in the health­care field, I know the impor­tance of hav­ing providers that lis­ten. It’s what I look for in my providers. Noth­ing is of high­er impor­tance to us, as we hold a high stan­dard for the peo­ple car­ing for our fam­i­ly and our son.”

She feels espe­cial­ly grate­ful to Dr. Potoc­nik. ​“She real­ly gave us the best gift we could ever ask for that day. Hold­ing our son for the first time is tru­ly a moment we will nev­er for­get. Peo­ple have babies every day, but when it hap­pens to you and your fam­i­ly with your own child, it’s priceless.”

At Duly Health and Care, we know how impor­tant it is to feel sup­port­ed, informed, and cared for through­out your preg­nan­cy. From spe­cial­ized mon­i­tor­ing to per­son­al­ized treat­ment plans, our expe­ri­enced obste­tri­cians pro­vide expert care to ensure the best pos­si­ble out­comes for you and your baby. Learn how our team can guide you every step of the way, and sched­ule your pre­na­tal appoint­ment today.

The jour­ney con­tin­ues, with new chal­lenges and joys unfold­ing every day. ​“Being a new mom is quite the jour­ney. It’s a big adjust­ment, but noth­ing is more reward­ing. Through the sleep­less nights, see­ing his smile every day tru­ly makes it all worth it. We love watch­ing him grow and learn new things.”

The sup­port sys­tem remains strong, now extend­ing to Lincoln’s pedi­atric care. ​“We have con­tin­ued our health­care jour­ney with his pedi­a­tri­cian through Duly as well. Right now, we are work­ing with Dr. Danielle Cool­ing, who has been won­der­ful and very sup­port­ive in help­ing us nav­i­gate some dairy intol­er­ances for Lincoln.”