Mommies - question re OB GYN

eacerna · February 2010

As you know, we are TTCing. Well, I don't have an OB GYN. I normally go to my GP/internist for my annual exams. I guess it's time to look for an OB GYN now. How did you end up choosing your doctor? I know the doc should accept our insurance plan. How do I go about choosing one knowing that he/she may eventually deliver our baby? What should I keep in mind in choosing one? Any advice will be appreciated Big Smile

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MauidAims · February 2010

def ask friends for referrals and make sure you like him/her. I picked mine by a referral through the Dr and through the years have found out that at least 4-5 of my friends go to the same practice. Also, when it comes time to deliver your baby you may not get your OB. Depends on if they are around or in my case get to the hospital in time. lol

MauidAims · February 2010

totally forgot. Make sure the Dr you pick is affiliated with the hospital you want to deliver at. Just because the hospital may be in the network of your insurance does not mean your OB has rights at that particular hospital. I found that out the hard way .

Married2MrWright · February 2010

I wanted a woman and someone that didn't have a problem with my weight or age (like the first doc I saw when I moved to Tulsa...it was HORRIBLE. I've come to find out, via my doula, that the doctor I saw has an awful reputation for her bedside manner...yikes!)

I asked my coworker, who has a son and is about 5'2" and 300 lbs., who she went to and if she liked her OB. That's how I found my doc. Turns out ALL of the women of child-bearing age in my office go to her and she's delievered all of their babies! LOL!

When I met with her I also wanted to know if she was open to natural childbirth (since all of my colleagues had been induced or scheduled c/s) and also just get a feel for her personality, etc. I also asked her questions specific to my being nearly 35 and TTC#1 and felt good about her replies since she was an older mom herself (had a set of identical twin girls at age 37).

Finally, her office location is ideal (halfway between my office and home) and the wait to see her was less than 10 minutes. In fact in the year I've been seeing her (saw her last February 7th for my pre-conception visit) I've never waited longer than 15 minutes to see her and even then, it was when we had a snowstorm so lots of patients had been rescheduled for the same day.

lola808 · February 2010

I would start by asking your friends who they go to and if they have any recommendations. You can learn a lot about their styles that way (e.g., who gives lots of info, who tries to spare you from worry, who is more business-like vs. nurturing, how they handled other pregnancies, etc.) and see who might be a good fit for you.

From there, I'd see if the doctors are taking new patients and possibly set up a new patient consultation and, if you have any really strong/not-typical opinions about pregnancy and childbirth discuss those then. I've never had a real discussion with my OB about our birthing philosophies, however, since nothing we want is really that uncommon.

Like pp said, location is also key. You will be going A LOT toward the end of the pregnancy. My OB is affiliated with a couple hospitals, so that really helped to have choice in delivery, too.

We're looking for pediatricians now and the thought of "interviewing" them during a consult is just so weird to me. My OB was found just through good referrals and I've been really happy. I'm hoping the first ped we visit shares and supports our health-related ideas because going down a long list till we find "the one" just overwhelms me. GL!

MauidAims · February 2010

lola- I interviewed 5 Drs before I found "the one". This seemed like a silly thing to do but after I interviewed the first one it became very important. They are all so different and if you elect to do a selective vaccine scheduled this is very important. Not all Drs support it.

lelekay · February 2010

Word-of-mouth referrals are great, if you can get them. But in my case, I don't have a whole lot of friends within a 20 mile radius of my house, and I wanted my doctor to be a lot closer than that. So, here's what I did.

My insurance network has a website where you can check all the doctors in their network's credentials. I started there, since it was important to me that my doctor be an MD (as opposed to a DO), and that they were American-educated. These may not be important criteria for everyone, but they were to me (being in the profession, MH takes these types of credentials seriously, as he knows what foreign schools, like many of them in the Caribbean, are like. Not saying they are all bad, but he feels pretty strongly about this).

Using this info, a well as locations near my house and their hours (I needed them to be open at least some evenings so I wouldn't always have to take a day off to see them), I narrowed it down to 3 or 4 of them.

Then I called their offices, and asked if they'd be available for a meet-and-greet apointment. This is where you simply meet them for 5 minutes, with no vitals taken, so undressing, just talking. They shouldn't charge you for this type of visit. For me, first impressions mean a lot. I went with the second one because she fit all my criteria, and she was very pleasant and had a good sense of humor. So far so good!

eacerna · February 2010

lelekay:

My insurance network has a website where you can check all the doctors in their network's credentials. I started there, since it was important to me that my doctor be an MD (as opposed to a DO), and that they were American-educated. These may not be important criteria for everyone, but they were to me (being in the profession, MH takes these types of credentials seriously, as he knows what foreign schools, like many of them in the Caribbean, are like. Not saying they are all bad, but he feels pretty strongly about this).

Using this info, a well as locations near my house and their hours (I needed them to be open at least some evenings so I wouldn't always have to take a day off to see them), I narrowed it down to 3 or 4 of them.

This is actually what I did today. Yeah productive day at work Stick out tongue lol. I also looked up reviews online and their doctor ratings. I found a couple who have good ratings. One graduated from Yale but she's only been practicing for 10 yrs. She's about DH's age. The other one was much older and listed in Washingtonian's top doctors. Should I be concerned that some of them are affiliated with teaching hospitals?

myday1708 · February 2010

Sent you an email re the ob practice we go to! We were referred to them by DH's primary care physician. Actually, his doctor (a woman) gave us 3 names of ob's she recommended.

I looked them up and decided I liked one of them the most. We didn't interview them... We got pg sooner than we thought, so we just called and booked an appointment!

It's funny tho that the dr we were originally referred to isn't who we ended up seeing. We liked another doctor who we met at one of our first appointments and just stuck with her. (Photo of her on my blog from yesterday's appt!)

mrspresley · February 2010

we went based on a referral from a friend and didn't even think about hospital affiliation...thankfully i was really happy w/the hospital i delivered at. i love my ob and have since found that many others go to her. she is part of a group practice though so i had a 1 in 6 chance of her delivering my baby, depending on when i delivered.... i got lucky and she delivered my baby

but i was ok w/any of the other ob's in the practice b/c i got to meet them during my PG. so, find out how the ob's do deliveries and on call schedules if it matters to you.

eacerna · February 2010

Thanks for all your insights. They are very helpful :-).

myday1708:
Sent you an email re the ob practice we go to! We were referred to them by DH's primary care physician. Actually, his doctor (a woman) gave us 3 names of ob's she recommended.
I looked them up and decided I liked one of them the most. We didn't interview them... We got pg sooner than we thought, so we just called and booked an appointment!
It's funny tho that the dr we were originally referred to isn't who we ended up seeing. We liked another doctor who we met at one of our first appointments and just stuck with her. (Photo of her on my blog from yesterday's appt!)

Got your email. Thank you! I'll give them a call on Monday to check if they take my insurance.

Mommies - question re OB GYN

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