2nd Trimester

Wait time at the OB's office?

I had my 2nd appointment today, and was shocked by how long I had to wait. I was in the waiting room for an hour before being called in, and then waited in the exam room for almost 45 minutes. And then I saw the OB for all of 5 minutes.

I had to wait even longer at our first appointment (we were there for almost 3 hours), but I just thought it was a one time thing. I've never experienced such a long wait at a doctor's office... Is this normal? DH thinks they should give out those little beeper things they hand out at restaurants when you have to wait for a table - not a bad idea!

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Re: Wait time at the OB's office?

  • Welcome to 100% normalcy

    right with ya though, sucks a bunch

  • this is how the office was with my first son and i switched as soon as i had him. the max i wait now is 10 minutes.
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  • 45 minutes seems pretty standard for a dr, but 3 hours is out of control! ?I would have been ranting.

    I have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes, but I also always go to the very first appt slot of the day.?

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  • My husband and I felt the same way but then we realized that it was the time of day. We've since been scheduling my appointments for first thing in the morning since the office is usually quite empty and the Dr.'s are still on schedule.

  • What time do you make your appointments for? I usually try to be one of the first appointments of the day.. around 8:30am-9:00am... and I get right in. I only wait maybe five minutes in the waiting room, and another five or ten for the OB.
  • I have never waited that long. Usually about 10-15 min. after signing in.
  • I wait 10-15 minutes at most. I can't complain.
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  • My first visit, I sat in the waiting room for nearly an hour before being called in to even pee in a cup.

    I informed them that next time, they can expect me to show up 45 minutes later than my scheduled time, since I may have other things that need to be done during the day.

    Next appointment was only a 15 minute wait, though.  That's acceptable, IMO.

  • I've never waited an hour in the waiting room, although waiting room and exam room combined has certainly been an hour.  That's why I try to get appts first thing in the morning, I figure they can't be running too far behind at 8am!
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  • I've never waited that long. I show up five minutes before my appt and am usually in the room within ten. Once in the room the doctor (or at the very least the nurse) is usually in within a couple minutes.?
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  • 5 mins max.  At my first appt i got there early and was out before my actual appt time.  my second trip i was there all of 15 total from checking in, seeing the doc and to my car.  i love my dr office.
  • I always try to get first of the day or first after lunch....it's hard to be behind yet that way!
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  • i think a one time long wait is okay -- your doc could be delivering a baby, after all -- but if it's regular, yikes.  try scheduling either first morning appt or the first one after lunch.
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  • I never wait more than 5 minutes and spend at least 30-45 minutes with my midwife.
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  • I usually wait about an hour to see the DR, but we go in late afternoon and we go in the only day that they stay open until 7. So DH and I expect to wait for awhile. But we are actually seeing different DR in same office for te big U/S Friday! Hopefully we wont have to wait as long because the office isnt open as late.
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  • imagewater-fairy:
    I wait 10-15 minutes at most. I can't complain.

    ditto; we're in and out in an hour. tops

  • That is part of the reason why I switched OB's at 20 weeks. ?It got to be seriously ridiculous. ?My doctors appointments became an all day event.
  • Most times it only takes me about 10-15 minutes at most to get in.  Then I may wait up to 15 minutes for the doctor to get into the room.  I would hate waiting longer than that because I get so antsy in waiting rooms.  Try to get an earlier appt. so they're not as far behind.
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  • My first few two appointments I barely waited 5 minutes. At my 16 week appt., it was about 15?which was fine. However my last visit, I had to wait for over a half hour (and I got there early, so it was more like 45 minutes). So annoying.  I hope it's not the norm... maybe I chose a bad day for the visit.
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  • I think the answers you get vary so much from office to office.  It really depends on how they do their scheduling. 

    When I had my DD I never had to wait longer than 15 min to get called back and frequently I was in and out of the office within 30-45 min.  They had 6 OBs in the practice and only 5 of them took appts a day, as the other one was on call at the hospital and phones.  I think they scheduled their appts about 20 min apart if I recall correctly. 

    Since having DD we have moves, so I am with a new practice.  This office I typically wait 30 min to be taken back and need a minimum of an hour to get in and out.  They have 3 OBs in the practice and the on call doc also has appts, so if there is a delivery they get very backed up.  They also schedule their appts only 15 min apart, so the second someone has questions or runs 5 mins late they are behind.

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  • I never have to wait more than 10 minutes. ?I usually try to get the first appointment of the day which is like 9 am which I think helps a lot because they aren't running late yet :D
  • sam19sam19 member
    I have never had to wait. I even showed up to one appointment early and was out before my scheduled time. My appointments are around 11am usually so it's not like first thing in the morning either
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  • If it is a small office with only one or two OB's, then wait times are not unusual.

    Think about it...if the first couple of patients show up late, or have more-than-normal anticipated problems and go over their alloted appointment time period (most appts are blocked into 15-20 minute increments), in a small office, that will screw up the schedule for the rest of the day.  

    If you want to avoid wait times, your best bet is to schedule your appt. for as soon as they open in the morning.

    I've been lucky, I go to a group practice, so they're pretty much always on schedule as there are so many providers available.


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  • I am not sure how it works in London, but in Windsor most OBs delivery their own pt's babies during "office hours" so if they have a pt delivering they leave the office, go to the hospital & deliver. This can easily take well over an hour, assuming there are no complications. At our hospital we have receantly started aa day call system, which means the on call DR delivers even if its not your DR. My OB does nto participate. I do know the waits can be crazy, esp in Ontario with the DR shortage. I usually get in fast, but I work with him & think I might get special treatment. First thing int he AM or after lunch would probably help!
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  • My obstetrician has a little notice at the receptionist's window that says there's always a chance she could be called to L&D or to emergency. That's never happened while I was there, but I did notice that if I made an appointment for a certain time of day, the wait was very long. There's no way I could deal with getting the first appointment of the day, so now I make my appointments for early afternoon (1 or 1:30). I'm usually the first appointment after lunch, and I've found that I'm in the actual exam room before my appointment time.
  • My OB is in the city so they are pressed for time and always on-time.  I've even arrived five minutes late before (the buses were late that day) and they were pisssed at me because they had to wait.  Totally expected and totally deserved.  I always make my appointments for lunchtime (12PM) and it works out well.
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  • I usually have to wait 30 to 45 minutes for my OB appointments- but it is worth it because my doctor is great. And for my first ultrasound I waited almost an hour- which was excruciating because they tell you have to come with a full blatter to every appointment (not just ultrasound appts.) and then make you wait almost an hour, they should expect to have some pee on their waiting room chairs!! :)
  • I usually have to wait about 10 minutes.  The longest I had to wait was an hour and the only reason then was because the u/s machine in one office was broken so they had to send everyone to their other office.  With my full bladder it felt like I was waiting days!
  • The only time I've ever waited more than 10 minutes, the nurse had called me when I was on my way to let me know the doctor was on her way back to the office from a delivery and would be a little late.  I can understand that doctors get behind due to deliveries, urgent appts, etc, but they could at least warn you that you'll be waiting a while.

  • There is no way I would wait this long. I would be throwing a fit. If you have to wait that long why don't they just move your appt time back?? At my 1st doc. the longest I waited was about 20 min but at my new doc only 5.
  • i waited over 2 hours on the ultra sound night. on regular nights i usually wait at least an hour. it is horrible, but i dont want to switch doctors at this point. i have seriously thought about it though.
  • Less than 10 minutes. I have never waited more than 10 since switching MDs. I think it is because my OB is younger and new to the area, and she hasn't built up her patient base as much as others. In the same practice before switching, I've waited as long as 2 hours.

    Did I mention I love my doctor? :)

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  • You have to wait at any dr office but 3 hrs is crazy. Did they tell you why?  I use to work for an ob and babies come when they want so we would always inform the pts waiting when it would be long.  I typically only wait about 10 to 15 minutes.  Now the day of my u/s I waited 45mins but another women was going into early labor and they asked if she could go ahead of me to see what was going on so of course I said yes.  Try morning appointments if possible.  By the afternoon the Dr can be running late and it takes longer it seems.
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