Dr. Cordia Clark-White and Women's Progressive Health Sucks — 10/10 do not recommend

TLDR; Dr. Clark-White is licensed and her office is clean, however, choose a different women’s health practitioner if you have the option. She failed to diagnosed my preeclampsia and provided abysmal care. Hopefully, Dr. Clark-White will retire from practicing obstetrics and gynecology and follow her true passion of being a Botox Babe ™ — I mean, aesthetician. 

Documentaries like After Shock have brought the institution-wide inadequacy Black maternal medical care to light, and Dr. Cordia Clark-White and Women's Progressive Health are unfortunately part of that problem. Heartbreaking since this practice is owned and operated by Black women. 

THE LONG:

December ’21: We came to Women's Progressive Health regarding prenatal care. 

January ’22: I was suffering from near-daily migraines, nausea, pelvic pain, and was unable to walk or stand for more than 30 minutes at a time. 

March '22: When I shared my symptoms, Dr. Clark-White minimized them. Attempting to to test the ‘care culture’ by presenting an easily resolvable issue, I mentioned that I didn’t want the nurse shouting my weight. For that, Dr. Clark-White chastised me for 10 minutes about being sensitive. Her response made me shut down emotionally and begin my search for alternative care. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible because the previously mentioned symptoms meant I was in a dark room most days.

Other issues that came up during that time: Multiple requests to complete ‘new patient’ paperwork. Constantly asking our due date vs. referring to our chart. Requesting medical documents 2 hours before appointment vs. a more reasonable time frame. Not completing forms (FMLA, hospital authorization/reservation) within an agreed timeframe and doing so incorrectly despite receiving the details in an email. The office was not equipped to provide standard prenatal vaccinations (i.e., Tdap). The office poorly communicated the procedure for accessing medical devices (e.g., belly band).  

According to my medical records, my blood pressure was consistently high since January ’22. In February or March ’22, the nurse asked me what I knew about having protein in my urine. When asked what it meant and if I should be concerned, the nurse walked out of the room and no one ever mentioned it again. Later research revealed that consistently high blood pressure and protein in urine were undeniable signs of pre-eclampsia.

April ’22: I was finally able to consult with my old midwife and a potential CNM. However, my insurance confirmed that it was too late to switch practitioners. So, we continued to see Dr. Clark-White. I didn’t feel safe (re)sharing my symptoms. I silently hoped that she would bring up preeclampsia should my BP and protein become an issue again. Those are symptoms I couldn’t hide from her. 

She once said, “You’re so quiet; I can never tell what you’re thinking.”

I was thinking: I don’t trust this ‘doctor’. Dear God, please let her notice preeclampsia if we have it. Please let her be a good doctor.

Instead, we got blamed for doing ultrasounds a few days early even though she absolutely didn’t specify a date. We were pressured to take useless, non-covered tests. The final straw was being pressured multiple times to schedule a c-section, induction, and breaking my mucus during weeks 36, 37, and 38 of our pregnancy. The entire situation felt very strange. Yes, I felt like I was at death's door but I chalked it up to morning sickness. After all, the Internet helped me reason away all my symptoms as normal. This, of course, excluded my high BP combined with protein in urine, which I couldn’t test for at home. We declined early intervention because according to the Internet there was no need to do so without medical reason (e.g. preeclampsia, birthing multiples).

Turns out, Dr. Clark-White wasn’t itching to cut us open because of medical reasons; she was planning to be out of town during week 39 of our pregnancy. She not disclose this. She skipped town without providing information for a backup practitioner. July 11, we called the office and were told her first availability was July 18 at 1 p.m. — our due date was July 17.  

Dr. Clarke White is a class act.

On September 12, we sent a very polite letter requesting medical records and asked:

‘When was it known that I might be at risk for preeclampsia?’ and ‘When did Dr. Clark-White know the office would be closed/she would be unavailable July 10-18? Why were patients not notified and provided with the contact information for emergency/interim care?’ We gave Women's Progressive Health until October 14, 2022 to respond in writing.

October 13, after no response or acknowledgment of our letter, I went to the office to request my medical records and pay my $30 bill in pennies. The billing specialist (who is the same nurse who shouted my weight) said they need 7-10 business days to prepare the printout. When I informed them that I’d requested them in writing 6 weeks prior, they claimed to not have seen my email. The tracking pixel placed in the email showed my message was opened 4 times within 7 days of sending.

October 29, we received my medical records and a letter from Dr. Clark-White terminating our doctor/patient relationship. She also claims that her team followed up for post-natal care but received no response from me.

Ma’am, it’s cute that you’re officially breaking up with me 3 months after the birth when I clearly broke up with you on September 12.

Also, one of our complaints is that no one from Women’s Progressive Health followed up with us in a *meaningful* way. 

Ma’am, you did not show up for our scheduled induction on July 25. No one from your office called to inform us that we would be on our own. We were given the run around all day concerning your whereabouts. It was only until we were in active labor that we were told you would not be showing up. (Lowkey we were glad). You waltzed in on July 27 and stayed less than 5 minutes. You offered no apology nor conducted a proper post-partum inspection. You didn’t look at my chart or show concern about my blood pressure. Based on your comments, we had a normal birth and I was recovering fine. The only other follow-up your office did was force a postnatal appointment for August 4 at 2:15 p.m. onto my calendar. You didn’t even call me to see if I would be available that day.

Now, you tell me, would I request follow-up care from the negligent, chastising, no-show ‘doctor’ or would switch to the OBGYN who successfully birthed our child, mentioned that my blood pressure was an issue, and strongly encouraged me to book an emergency appointment if I felt unwell.

We were discharged on July 28. I had an appointment with the new OBGYN for August 10. On July 29, I called the office saying I felt unwell. The new OBGYN, bumped my appointment up to August 1 but strongly encouraged me to go to the ER sooner.

On August 1 my blood pressure was still high and I was re-admitted to the Maternity department for further evaluation. August 2, I was officially admitted to the hospital to treat my preeclampsia. I was told, “You technically already had preeclampsia but it was noted as mild”. When I was stabilized, I canceled my appointment at Women’s Progressive Health for August 4. 

Now that I have my medical records, I know that Dr. Cordia should have seen the signs as early as February ’22. Had we waited to see Dr. Cordia Clark-White on August 4, I would have been dead.

Fuuuuuuuck you bitch and yo’ raggedy team of incompetent dimwits to hell and back.