Finding a Dr

Wish82

My H and I are just starting our TTC process. I have always just been to my PCP for my annual exam and pap, but I am would like to find an OBGYN that I am comfortable with before conceiving. I have a few recommendations from some friends, but the idea of finding a new doctor is quite daunting. Can you share any of your experiences with finding a doctor? What were you specifically looking for? How did you choose the right one?

TIA.

Allycat11

I have moved a fair amount and have spent a lot of time trying to find the right Dr. So here is what I recommend:

First, keep in mind your insurance coverage and make sure they are in network for your plan.  If you have friends or family in the area, ask who they see (this one has only worked for me in one area and that is where I had my favorite Dr.).   Read reviews online but take them with a grain of salt.  Think of what you want in an office.  Personally I like a practice that has a few OBs working together and that is able to do bloodwork and u/s right in their office.  Visit the offices that interest you most and try to set up an appt. to meet the Dr.  I can do all of the research in the world but until I actually visit the office, I can't decide if I would be comfortable there.  

If you are TTC, keep in mind where you want to deliver.  For example, I do not like the hospital in my town and would not be comfortable having a baby there so when I recently had to find a new OB, I looked to the town just North of where I live.  

My last bit of advice is, if you see a Dr. and are not comfortable with him/her, don't hesitate to either speak up or re-start your search.  The first OB I saw here was okay but I could not shake a bad feeling I had about her.  About a week after my appt. I decided to change Dr's and I could not be happier with that decision.   

LiteraryFoodie

I second the PP advice. MH and I knew we wanted to go with the midwife model of care, so we started interviewing midwives in our area when we started TTC.

Consider if you are okay with/want interventions or you want a med-free birth. Look at the statistics for interventions at the hospital you want to (or have to) birth at. I agree that I would look for a practice that works as a team, where you are comfortable with all the OB's and/or midwives because it is likely that any of them could end up delivering your baby. 

Ask for interviews at the office; and definitely don't hesitate to "fire" your OB if you don't like him or her. It's your insurance, your money, your body--you get to decide what feels right. 

dande2129

I started at my OB/GYNs practice years ago, but the location that I normally went to was only a GYN. I didn't even know they had other locations (maybe they didn't at the time)

When I got pregnant with DS, I wanted to deliver at the hospital closest to us, so I searched that way. I found an OB office that delivered specifically to that hospital. I then switched to midwives in an attempt to do a home birth, and when that didn't work out, I ended up at a totally different hospital, with an OB I didn't know.

This time, my insurance only allows me to deliver at one hospital. My insurance had provided me a list of referrals for OBs that delivered at this hospital. I then saw the company name of my first GYN. I called and got in the next week because I wasn't a new patient.

First, you should verify the preferred providers for your insurance. Then try and decide where you'd like to deliver. Then, I'd start thinking about what you want for yourself and your baby, assuming that everything runs smoothly in L&D. Do you care if the doctor is pro-episiotomy? Do you want to labor naturally in different position/on a birthing ball/whatever? Do you want someone who is stern and telling you want to do, or more nurturing and encouraging? Just like every personality, each OB is different, and each have different ideas of what birth should be like. When you visit the office that you decide upon, the only way to really know how your potential OB feels about the things you care about is to ask. They'll give you an honest answer. The last thing they want to do is fight with an expecting mother also.