Dr. Ronald Jaekle, MD

I had the worst experience with " Dr." Ronald K. Jaekle yesterday. I made sure to look at his name on his shirt and remembered that name before I wrote a review, which I have never done but he was an absolute pompous and arrogant human being. My husband and I went to our pre-conception consultation and met with Kristin who was very nice and professional. We spoke about the risks of becoming pregnant and all that. Which I already assumed if I get pregnant it will be nothing like my last 3. That they will look different and the care will be different. So she went and brought in Jaekle. As soon as he walks in the door he says (in a laughing manner), "what are you doing here?" My husband laughs and shakes his hand, I kind of just went "he he he" and shook his hand. There was something about him I didn't like. Then he sat down and said" I've been doing this a long time and I don't know what OB said you can get pregnant (I asked an OB at hi-roc after I had open heart surgery at UT, with a mechanical valve, and was told I can definitely get pregnant but the meds had to be tweaked) I'm just going to give it to you straight, YOU ARE STU-PID for wanting to get pregnant and give birth with a mechanical valve." And he looked at me in the eyes saying this and was waiting for a reaction from the both of us cos he just paused and looked at us waiting for it to sink in. Then said (all of this in an arrogant and angry attitude), "now do you have questions for me?" He was very surprised when he didn't get the reaction he thought he would get from either of us. My husband asked him some questions while I was focused on his eyes, his pupils looked so tiny as he was talking. I've never seen pupils that tiny and you could see the arrogance and rage in a mocking way. He was confusing because he would say "you're stu-pid for even wanting this" then... "before you conceive we would want your a1c and echo from your cardiologist" then... "there's no way you should get pregnant" to then... "and I don't want to hear you waiting past 36/37 weeks and wanting a vaginal birth"... He really was a Jekyll and Hyde. My husband mentioned once he read some studies and before he even finished, Jaekle (in a mocking angry tone) said, " oh yeah? Oh yeah? What studies? Tell me what studies?!?!?" Kristin was just sitting in the corner in stunned silence, I'm sure she felt humiliated by this male's (I write male because he was no man) immature and unprofessional outburst. But we didn't react, get angry, cry, nothing. My husband asked his questions and that was it and I just said, "fair enough". I was nervous but I felt such a calm that washed over me , it was so strange to feel that, because in the past I would have reacted in anger or cry because it was a very stressful and FAST attack... But it was actually so funny his sudden anger and pompous attitude, I felt as if I was dealing with a toddler than a doctor. We left and came home wondering "what was THAT!" My husband noticed his eyes too and the strangeness of it all. He said "man, the guy took a look at us and came in guns a-blazing!" I said, "he acted like a bull in a china shop". My husband then said "if he was like that when you're not pregnant, how will he be when you are?" A ot of what he said was valid (about the risks) and we took seriously, but the other stuff was so unwarranted and uncalled for. I had to bite my tongue as I was so close to saying, "did you not take your meds or need to because you are quite unhinged, sir." I can understand if he came in compassionately saying " I just don't see the wisdom in you becoming pregnant because we see this and that problem. But that's just what I'm recommending. So let's deal with these 2 things and then we can go from there." He came at us with all he got immediately. It was so bizarre. His doublespeak was impressively confusing. But his pompous, arrogant, condescending words with a sprinkle of rage was enough to make me think "yeah, if I have to come back I don't want that male near me or my baby". Which now I understand that this male feeds off of people's fear and emotional outbursts (and he was very disappointed when he didn't receive it from us) which is dangerous to have him as a doctor for expectant mothers. If you're expecting, run far from Ronald Jaekle. Have them (the office) put in your records you will not have him near you or your precious baby. I took the unwarranted surprise attack so you (mothers/mothers-to-be) don't have to be cornered and bullied. I hope he either changes his cruel "bedside manner" or is completely removed from UT. I know when I go back, that male will not come near me or my baby.

My wife had a high risk pregnancy and was referred to the UT High Risk OBGYN office. We saw many doctors there over the course of our pregnancy. Some were very supportive and others were a bit blunt, but Dr. Jaekle was outright mean. Over the four or five appointments he was very cold. Kept insisting we seek and abortion. When my wife reached 36 weeks, she went in for a checkup and ultrasound and we discovered the baby had passed. Dr. Jaekle came into the room, told us he left in forty minutes and we had to set a time for the surgery. Finally, he told my wife that the miscarriage was for the best. He didn’t attempt to comfort us, or even practice basic bedside manners. If you have a high risk pregnancy, run from this doctor, he is cold uninformed and doesn’t care about his patients.