Why go to a large Dr's office if....

2.red.heads

you're really particular about having 'your' Dr. delivering you?  

It's just a question that's suddenly popped in my head.  So many people hope their Dr. can deliver them or they schedule inductions just so their preferred Dr. can deliver them.  Is it something that didn't seem apparent when you first started prenatal care early on?  Are there not many choices for Dr's offices because of your size of city, insurance reasons, what hospital to deliver at, etc?  Maybe you've just always gone to this OB for paps in years past and didn't want to change?  I know it's easy to get attached to a provider when you see them so often at the end.

It just seems like a smaller clinic or trusting ALL the Dr's/MW's in a practice would be best.  

......in a perfect world I suppose.   

danienross

for me, i stayed at my ob/gyn because 1) they take my insurance and 2) it was the only real doctor i had seen for paps (not counting the health dept, which i don't).  i have military insurance but do not live close to a base so not many drs in my area take my insurance even though i live in a decent size city.  i will be slightly nervous if another doc has to deliver me but only because i've never met any of the other OBs in the office.

J+MS

danienross:

for me, i stayed at my ob/gyn because 1) they take my insurance and 2) it was the only real doctor i had seen for paps (not counting the health dept, which i don't).  i have military insurance but do not live close to a base so not many drs in my area take my insurance even though i live in a decent size city.  i will be slightly nervous if another doc has to deliver me but only because i've never met any of the other OBs in the office.

I have military insurance as well so had a limited choice. There are 4 doctors in their practice...I don't really mind getting another doctor as I don't like mine much now anyway, but I agree with your post! If you only want your doctor then don't go to a large practice! 

mkeatts

I have only one doctor in my practice and he still will most likely not deliver for me. He shares call with other doctors at the hospital.  Personally, I don't mind. Either way, it's getting done.

earthboundmisfit

I picked my OB because he has his own practice. I just wasn't interested in a large one. I like it a lot..I love knowing that I'll be seeing the same Dr at every one of my prenatal appointments. And he's also my gyno. Of course he's only on call every other night, so there's a good chance he won't deliver me. Oh well.

It's more important for me to have a good relationship with my OB, and I have a great one.

 

nancemommy

I "hope" my doc delivers LO, but I'll be surprised if a Doctor even makes it to this delivery.  They have both almost missed the last two....just got there in time to catch 'em and say "good job". 

Also, the last few visits I have are with the other docs in the practice so I get the chance to meet them (I already know them from my last pg) and so they have atleast seen me and my chart.

I think a lot of first time mom's don't realize how much the nurses do during labor and how little the doctors do.  That is if your labor is non-emergent and causes no problems.

koalabear1987

We are using a large practice but it was not much of a choice. DH and I live in a very small town where there are about 3 OB/GYNs if you want to stay in town. We were going through fertility treatments so we opted for the practice that had an infertility dept from a bigger city. It worked out because we get to deliver at a better hospital that has a 3 star Nicu which around here is pretty good. They have around 10 doctors but only 2 come to my home town once a week. The practice has them split into 3's so you always see one of the 3 in your doctors group. The biggest drawback has been that anytime there is a problem we have to drive an hour to the main office to get it checked and all ultrasounds and such have to be done there as well. I am ok with all 3 doctors in the group so I am really not picky but it would be nice if the same doctor who treated me through my infertility delivered lo . There are ups and downs to using a large office but alot of areas do not have very many good choices. Around here you use the expensive out of town doctor who does not take medicaid (mine) or you use one of the other 3 jampacked doctors that run you through like cattle because they have too many patients (alot due to medicaid, around here its very common for women who cant afford to have kids to keep having them under government assistance).

KatieM1106

I am using a large practice - I still have two more doctors to meet, and I will meet them at my next two appointments. I like it because they are connected with an excellent hospital, and their reputation is excellent. Also, one of their offices is about 5 minutes from my house, and their other two offices are on the way home from work. I have only had to wait for an appointment once, because the on-call doctor never has appointments. And the wait was maybe 10-15 minutes.

I don't mind the sacrifice of not knowing who will deliver, because of the perks of the large practice. 

mb1210

Honeslty it doesn't matter to me. I figure the OB is only there for the last few minutes- basically to catch the baby and maybe a little more. I figure by the time I get to that point, I'm not gonna care who is there just as long as the kid comes out.

wife1014

OP, I totally understand where you are coming from with this post and I often think this as well. 

I now go to a larger m/w practice (with even more OB's) and I formerly went to a large OB practice.  I loved my OB and was pretty much fine with any of the Dr.'s delivering me when I was PG with my daughter. Unfortunately, that practice, although there were 8 delivering Dr's, also had days/weekends where they rotated with another practice.  I never thought that would be an issue as there were 8 Dr's.  However, the day I delivered was an off day for my practice.  After lots of thought, I ended up switching to a midwife where there are 5 rotating.  I've met all of them and am truly happy knowing one of my practitioners will be delivering. 

MamaKajsa

This is one of the things that I LOVE about my doctor. It is a big practice with 4 doctors and a m/w. If I weren't having a csection my doctor would come in even if he was not on call. The only circumstances where he wouldn't come in would be if he were on vacation or the delivery went to fast. The other thing I love about my doc is that he is the Vice Chief of Staff at the hospital.

firefly21989

This is a reason why I am probably one of the few people who loves going to a military hospital. I have little choice over which OB/MW I see, and at this point I have seen most of the ones available to me. I make it a point to ask the receptionist to make the appointment with someone new, so I can at least meet them. And I've never had a problem with any of the OB/MW not knowing my medical history. They all seem to thoroughly go through my records before the appointment. I am absolutely not being seen in a small clinic, but I still trust all my doctors. Another benefit of the military, maybe?