20 yrs later still suffering from a surgery went wrong. She performed what was to be a one day surgery and ended up almost costing me my life. What it did cost me is a chance to be a mother. I found out I am infertile due to the complications of the malpractice. 20 years filled with mental and physical pain. Numerous specialist and thousands upon thousands of dollars spent on care trying to rectify what she did. Avoid this doctor. It was the not surgery malpractice that got me, it was the complete lack of care and ill advice and avoidance of practice afterwards. I was told if I would have waited one more day to go back in I would have died. I spent 2.5 weeks in ICU after having a major surgery to correct the ‘one day’ one. . She has made a negative impact on every single day of my life since that surgery.

Submitted May 18, 2022

Dr. Block was not good enough. The awards on display in her clinic mean nothing when, on multiple occasions, her actions and words were careless. I was in her care for 9 months before I left. I should have listened to my initial instincts because she never changed.
During my very first appointment she appeared to be a detailed listener and problem solver. The second appointment - what should have been a red flag - was rushed and as a result of her haste, a critical detail was mis-recorded in my chart. This affected my ability to get a test done in a time sensitive manner.
When I was able to have the test done, a month behind schedule, she was not able to complete it. It was a stressful situation and she assured me, while she did not have time to answer BRIEF questions after her failed attempt at the test, she would help me the next day... the next day I was scheduled for a simple surgery, and she said she would answer my questions beforehand. This was not quite good enough, as it meant delaying brief but important questions, until the last minute. I had no chance to press her, as she walked out of the room.
The morning of surgery I sat prepared with my list of 3 questions. She came into the surgery prep room 5 minutes before the surgery and I began to ask her what she had promised time for. Mid way through she cut me off, looked at the clock, and said "we have to wrap this up or we'll be late for surgery."
This pattern of cutting me off and literally walking out of the room with her back to me, still talking, is her M.O.
There was another instance where she interrupted me during an appointment, said "Hold that question, I'll go get the things you'll need from the lab," and walked out. A nurse walked back in with the lab bag, apologizing that Dr Block had to leave. This after waiting for 40 minutes to see her, paying for ten minutes of her time, with a list of two Precise questions. She never gave respectful time. The irony is I was always direct and prepared; it didn't matter!
She is a combination of dismissive and overly-affectionate with her words. I never appreciated being called "Honey" or "Dear" when I could not get simple, DIRECT questions answered with clarity. I got tired of talking to her back as she walked out the door. She lacked authenticity, directness, thorough problem solving, an ability to explain options, compassion, and self control with her time. Please don't bother.

Submitted Jan. 5, 2018

Doctor Block saw me through the duration of my first pregnancy. I agree with others that she seems rushed and indifferent. I also believe she induced me prematurely, which resulted in my having had a cesarean section at the end of an otherwise normal, healthy pregnancy. DO NOT SEE DONNA BLOCK.

Submitted Aug. 28, 2017

I have had an issue for awhile now, and I went in Donna took one look and knew exactly what needed to be done. That Friday after my Monday appointment I went into surgery and the staff was amazing and I am now hopefully for a full recovery!

Submitted July 12, 2017

Dr Block is fantastic. She's the best OBGYN and all my friends agree. She took excellent care of me through both of my pregnancies, calmly seeing and addressing issues proactively that could have been terrible, but she helped me manage them well to a healthy delivery. I am so thankful for Dr Block. She treats each patient like they are her own daughter.

Submitted May 27, 2017

I went to this doctor because she was highly recommended. However, I always found that she was rushed, and seemed more interested in generating revenue for her practice than in the general welfare of her patients. She wanted to take me off the pill at age 45 because "my vessels are getting old." What???? Instead of the pill, which has no cost benefit to her, she wanted me to undergo a procedure in her office. When I said no and that I wanted to stay on the pill, we really butted heads. I left and went to Women's Health Consultants instead. They were caring, compassionate and told me there was no reason whatsoever for me to be taken off the pill. I love my new doctor and will never go back to Clinic Sofia.

Submitted May 16, 2015

I wanted to share my experience so other women do not have to be surprised by the same experience that I had. I was highly referred to Clinic Sofia, however, saw Dr. Block whom was not the specific doctor recommended at this clinic. She was just rated one of the Top Docs in MN which means nothing to me after the 10 weeks I spent with her as my physician during my pregnancy. If you look at another review by Julia M dated 10/6/12, you will see that I am not alone in this experience.

I moved 20 weeks into my pregnancy and wanted a doctor closer to my new home. At my first meeting with her I thought she was charming as she discussed how everything is going well in my pregnancy and how she was excited to be "a part of this magical" time with me. As I continued to see her I experienced a much different doctor. It often felt that she didn't know me from the next patient and she was always rushed.

My pregnancy has been very healthy. No diabetes, high blood pressure or any other minor complications. My baby is extremely healthy and like the rest of my family, he will likely be a 8 or 9 lb baby. I did not question monthly growth ultrasounds as they were expecting him to be a bigger baby. Not huge or off the charts..just an above average healthy baby. But when the ultrasound tech delivered the message that Dr. Block had ordered monthly BPP and NST testing my husband and I were very confused. My baby passed both of these tests with flying colors and of course, Dr Block was too busy to talk to me that day so I was not able to discuss with her the reason for testing etc.

I was left researching on my own and wondering all weekend "what is wrong with my baby that weekly testing is needed". According to ACOG and Mayo Clinic literature that I could find this type of testing is done for high risk pregnancies. None of the criteria applied to me. After stressing out all weekend I finally called to speak with anyone Sunday night. Dr. Block called me back and said that I was considered high risk because my baby was bigger and they didn't know why...which in my case, its obvious and had been discussed with her many times! 8-9 lb babies run in my family! She then interrupted herself and said, "Oh, I see you did pass your gestational diabetes testing"...which goes back to my feeling of her not knowing me from the rest of the patients she rushes around to see.

When I continued to ask questions to understand why this was the best approach, she gave me answers like "ACOG recommends this", "I don't trust your baby 100%, just 95%" (is that even ethical to say to a pregnant mother? Not to mention it was a completely unintelligent response to what was supposed to be an intelligent question so as a woman and a mother I can understand why all of this medical micromanagement of a healthy pregnancy would be needed). She gave me no answers, planted seeds of doubt about the health of my baby and made me feel so nervous about what it would be like with her in the labor and delivery room.

She seemed irritated that I wanted to be informed about the recommendations of my care during my HEALTHY pregnancy. When I provided her with the feedback that these recommendations should be discussed with the patient by the Dr. and not an ultrasound tech, she said that "she would pass the feedback along" as if she was taking no responsibility for the fact that SHE failed to have dialogue with me about this.

Ultimately, I went back to Dr. Collins at Paul Larson OBGYN. I should have never left. She and her colleagues reviewed the same ultrasounds and information and said that they found no reason or support from ACOG for this type of medical testing weekly as my pregnancy and baby are healthy.

I am not sure if her approach is motivated by money (she is the founder of Clinic Sofia and these tests, while covered by my insurance, are not cheap) or if she just looks at pregnancy as a condition that needs medical micromanagement and unnecessary interventions instead of the natural process that it is.

Either way, not for me, and not for my healthy baby and healthy pregnancy.

Submitted Sept. 19, 2014

I first went to clinic sofia for a check up before trying to get pregnant and wanting to get advice Dr. Jewelia Wagner only suggested folic acid (now I know that she could have recommended many other things, among them vitamin D and supplements especially because we were about to start winter.. and there is currently so much scientific research on things we can do before getting pregnant.. that I know now.. but I didn't before). I decided to change to Dr Block. Even though she is more kind she is always in a rush, she is never present, she is not even thinking, she is just responding. I asked her for book recommendations on prenatal nutrition and she didn't knew any title, which to me is hard to believe. I couple of times she also mention things like.. there is nothing you can do.. there is a superior force... assuming she was talking about god I decided to look for a doctor with a scientific approach instead of a religious one. I found that ignorant and irresponsable.

Submitted Aug. 4, 2014

she encouraged me to induce my pregnancy early, was dismissive of my questions & complaints, and performed what I believe was an "unnecessarean" (an unnecessary cesarean). I would go OUT OF MY WAY to warn people about her. A labor & delivery nurse at her hospital told me she "keeps the NICU full." What a terrible use of her credentials.

Submitted July 22, 2014

This was my 1st appointment with Dr Block. Would not recommend her. I arrived 15mins early. The woman at desk kindly informed me that Dr. Block was running a bit behind. There was only one other woman in the lobby. I didn't mind the wait. I asked if she thought I had time to grab a snack. She confirmed with Dr. Block that would be no problem and confirmed my cell. Came back 10mins after scheduled. Checked back in no problem. I was informed 20mins later that my wait would be longer than expected. No worries I said. They asked me later that Dr Block wants to know if I want to see another Dr. I had done my research and didn't want to change, would rather wait it out but if it's going to be over an hour to let me know. Dr. Block 10 mins later informed them to tell me it will be an hour flat and suggested I take another Dr./reschedule. I researched the other Dr. Nothing other than their site. Went to the desk was told they were trying to figure out what to do with me I cancled.

Submitted Oct. 9, 2013