Pediatrician Question

bootsiebabe

At my last appointment, my doctor advised me to go ahead and start looking for a pediatrician.  I called the local office that I'll be using to basically see what I needed to do to get my baby set up as a new patient (see which doctors were accepting new patients, etc.).  

The new patient scheduler basically said that they don't do anything until the baby is actually born and to call back after he's here.  Umm what?  Does this sound right?  

RedDawnsRevenge

That's what mine said with DD. That office schedules newborn exams after the birth. They wouldn't let me see the office or met the doctor. I ended up switching @3months because the office sucked, DD was seen by the pediatric hospitalist while in hospital.

leighbball

I had done a lot of research and had gotten recommendations from friends when we chose our practice.  I didn't interview them, but I probably could've had I wanted to.  I didn't need to do anything until I went into the hospital- I just told them who the ped was and the group started seeing ds right in the hospital.  I asked at ds' checkup if I need to do anything different this time around and they said no.  So we will share the info when I am admitted just like I did with ds. Lucky for us we have been happy with the 7 docs in our ped practice.

Rrrrrachel

I didn't call last time until baby was on the outside and I don't plan on it this time, either.

snmetz7

This prompted me to check my network coverages for pediatricians. I've narrowed it down to 2 based on hours, reviews, sex, location and how they were ranked by my insurance. so i will call them tomorrow and see if they are accepting new patients in april and if they both say yes ill just pick one.

seafyr

My son was born at a military facility so I didn't have a say in who the ped was. But from what my other mommy friends have said, I would definitely be meeting/interviewing. It might be an out of pocket expense but better to have a good feeling before your first appointment than wind up needing to switch providers/hospitals after you've started. 

Rrrrrachel

Meh. I switched last time because I didn't like the office staff and it wasn't even remotely a big deal.

LEIGHLOVE09

We are at a really good pediatrician in our area and we has to reserve a spot with DD months in advance. A friend tried to get in like 1 month before baby's birth and couldn't. She was so upset. She waited too long. It sounds like this place does it a little different. Strange really. You need a pediatrician to look at baby in hospital and actually after birth they asked me in hospital who the baby's pedi was. I would think you need to know prior....

Sarahjess06

I called from the hospital bed after DS was born. Figured if I didn't like the dr, I could always switch. No one ever said anything to me about finding a ped. While pregnant and it never crossed my mind.

LBStewart

I had mine decided on before DD was born.  My ob/gym recommended this so the pedi could exam LO at the hospital before being discharged.  It turned out that the pedi we went with didn't have hospital rights where I delivered so DD had to be examined by the pedi on call.  It was still nice to have all the new patient paperwork filled out in advance though.

strawberrytree

Yeah, I never registered DS with a doctor until he was born either. I called up beforehand and the receptionist was like "Uh, you need a health card before we can accept someone as a patient, so just call once he's born...dumbass." (Okay, she didn't say that last part, but it was implied.) I'm sure it varies from place to place but it's not that weird.