doctors doing all your prenatal care. Am I the only person that has never heard of this? I'm part of a page on Facebook where woman ask questions like this forum and I guess in Canada it's practiced all the time.
Where I live (in Canada),the family doctor will do everything up until about 30 weeks. I personally had my ob for both of my pregnancies, but many friends of mine have had their family doctors until they were starting their third trimester
Yup my doctor is a family doctor and delivers babies. We live in a small town with no OBs after the one we had just left. I transferred to him at 20 weeks when the OB put in her notice. It's very common in our area in Texas. Lots of small towns.
I live in Fort McMurray Alberta, and I will be seeing my family doctor until week 36 when I will then go see my OB. I love it. I love my Dr and he has a real passion for pregnancy. There are only two OBs in Fort McMurray and they alone deliver upwards of 125 babies a month, May 2014 we had three Obs, those three delivered over 150 in one month. So I get very personal care the longer I stay with my family doctor. We are extremely understaffed in Fort McMurray.
It would make sense small towns would be like that. Gosh I'm learning all kinds of stuff on these forums. When it's all said and done I'm going to know it all. Lol...
My doc is great and he's seen my daughter since she was born. He didn't deliver any of mine yet but with my last 2, he came and visited me in the hospital and prayed over me and the baby. When my ob moved I didn't think twice about moving to him.
All family doctors are trained in OB care during their residency (3 years) but it generally depends on where you live as to whether they continue to deliver babies once they're out of training. Some also have additional training in C-Sections, etc, generally as a Women's Health fellowship. In small towns and in the Midwest it's more common to have family doctors who deliver.
I saw my family doc only for the first trimester and then was transferred to my OB. I won't see my family doc again until after baby is born or if I have an issue and can't get in to see my OB right away. I'm from Alberta, Canada. Perhaps it just differs per doctor. As well, my family doc used to do it all but has slowed down his practise a bit in the past few years - which could be why I wasn't transferred right away.
I'm in Canada (Halifax) and started seeing an OB at 10w. But there are some family Dr practices that specialize in prenatal care and do their own deliveries. At 29w I just got in with one of them. Our OB practice has 18 drs that rotate call, and you're at the mercy of the call schedule. My family Dr works with 1 other Dr, both female, and is more willing to make an individual birth plan.
I'm in North Dakota and my family doctor does everything. He's our family doctor, my OB, my kids' pediatrician. He delivered both of my babies and will deliver this one, too, no matter what time of day it is. He'll leave the clinic to come to the hospital if it's during business hours or the hospital will page him if it's after hours to come in. We absolutely LOVE him!! He's also the doctor that most of my extended family members see, too, so he makes it a point to ask about what my grandma has been up to, or to tell my mom 'hi' and he'll ask about what our weekend plans are and tell us what his weekend plans are or about recent vacations he's been on. He truly makes you feel like he actually cares and that you're a person to him and not just a number.
Re: How many people have ever heard of family
I personally had my ob for both of my pregnancies, but many friends of mine have had their family doctors until they were starting their third trimester
ETA: I guess the real question is about switching part way thru prenatal care, I get it now. Ha.