OB's and delivery

lbg832 · October 2009

Ok so I've been noticing that a lot of women have said that they aren't sure thier OB will be delivering their babies becasue they aren't on call or only deliver one day a week. This seems odd to me. My OB with DD delivered her patients no matter the day unless she was out of town and she has a very busy practice with at least 4 other partners. My current OB doesn't have certain on call days or days that he only delivers on and I've never heard of OB's that do this. Everyone that I know that has been pg has been delivered by their normal OB unless their are extinuating circumstances.

Maybe I'm being niave or silly but is it common to not be sure who's going to deliver your baby? I've just always assumed that unless there are extinuating circumstances you're delivered by the OB that's been looking after you for the last 8-9 months. Thoughts?

Jocelyn0415 · October 2009

I work at a hospital and we have two locations. I see my OB at the hospital where I work, but I'm delivering at the other hospital because it's closer to my house. My OB doesn't deliver at that hospital, so he told me just to show up there when I go into labor and whoever is on call when deliver the baby.

AdamsWife08 · October 2009

Our baby will be delivered by whichever OB is on call at that time. I go to a practice that has 3 Dr's so it will be one of those three. That's the normal "practice" in this area for the OB offices associated with the hospitals.

Hopefull11 · October 2009

At my hospital OB's are on call for weekend, and possible night shifts, don't know for sure. It is not a gaurantee that I will have my OB. I'm fine with that all the OB's in the practice are excellent.

mrs-rogers · October 2009

My ob told me it would either be her or her partner to do the delivery. They make sure I have at least one appointment with her partner before so I can get to know her.

CDCbaby · October 2009

If I have my baby during "office hours" then my OB would be the one to deliver. But if I deliver in the middle of the night, and she's not the On-Call doctor for that day/time, then I will get the on-call doc for delivery.

I've heard this situation is pretty common.

I'm with you on the 1 day a week thing being a little different though...

Nicole731 · October 2009

I don't think it's uncommon, especially with practices that have several doctors in them. I worked for a gastroenterologist office with several doctors (not the same as an OB, obviously, but I imagine the scheduling is somewhat the same). Each doctor was assigned certain weekends to be on call at the hospitals. And if a doctor was out for vacation or days off, another doctor was assigned as on call for them. If a patient had to go to the hospital for surgery or for whatever reason on a weekend or a time that their usual doctor was out, the on call doctor was the one that took care of the patient even if he'd never seen the patient before. Seems to work this way for all group doctor's offices I've been experienced with.

I delivered my son on a Thursday. On my check up on Saturday, I had to see a different doctor because my doctor took the day off to golf (the on call doc told me that info for whatever reason).

jkfranklin · October 2009

Some OB's have a practice where they cover for each other. Kinda like on the show Deliver Me. Mine isn't like this. I should have my OB for delivery.

lifesajourney · October 2009

My ob's office has several drs and they all deliver. They make you see all of the dr.'s and NP's throughout your pregnancy because whoever is on call when you go into labor is who will deliver your baby. I'm ok with this because I have (or will have) met and had an appointment with all the drs that could be delivering my LO.

WithoutMelissa · October 2009

I know for my OB's practice, they have a rotating schedule of on-call OB's so that you are ensured that your delivering doctor is rested. Due to the number of patients that alot of Dr's have - if they guaranteed that they would be at every birth then they would sometimes work 20+ hour shifts and exhausition could put them at risk to make mistakes. I got a lot of reading material from my OB that said she would make every effort to deliver my baby, however if I was ready to deliver outside the safe limits of her daily work schedule that one of the other OB's in her practice would deliver me instead.

PurpleK26 · October 2009

Mine is like what you are saying... IF I'm in labor. If I just have a question or a problem, I talk to whoever the on call dr. is for the evening or weekend.

I think alot of the girlst who are having that situation, live in bigger cities or go to an office with that method. From what i hear, they tend to rotate through the dr.s during their 9 months, so that they meet and are seen by all of them at some point during their pg.

I like that my office isn't like that! I've had to see two of the ones in our office, because our full time one was out from having surgery for a month or so.

ellemoney:) · October 2009

I need to make sure, but there are 2 Drs and 1 MW that are in the practice I go to, but I'm almost positive my Dr will be delivering.?

?

Really, it kind of doesn't matter b/c the nurse does most of the work anyways..?

tnpjuly04 · October 2009

There are 2 OB's in my practice, and there are 5 OB's that deliver at my hospital (2 of them being my OB's). During the week, I'm guaranteed to be delivered by 1 of my 2 OB's (DD#1 was delivered by my male OB, DD#2 was delivered by my female OB).

On the weekends, 4 of the 5 OB's are on rotation (1 of the OB's only delivers his own patients), so I have a 50% chance of being delivered by my practice if I go into labor on the weekends. My OB's office is very up-front with this in the beginning and explains this to all of their patients. As I get closer to my due date (and induction), they will let me know which weekends they are on call, and even which days of the week which doctor will be on hospital duty.

D*sMayBride · October 2009

the way all offices work around here is that there are several doctors with an on call scheudle. you rotate through all the docs during your pregnancy, so you are familiar with whichever is on call when you happen to go into labor.

oohgrrl11 · October 2009

I think smaller towns have the hospitals where the same OB that you see delivers most of the time. I know that is how it was when my sister and I were born. I chose to see a team of 3 midwives at my clinic and one of them will be on call when I go into labor. If I went with the OB there was a high chance I would not know the person delivering my baby.

jdreams76 · October 2009

Unless I'm induced or have a c-section my doc is only at the hospital on her certain days. Of course if she schedules me to have either one of the above then she will do when she is on staff. Otherwise my practice has 2 locations and about 10 docs on staff.

shainababygirl · October 2009

I see a MW in a large practice. She's one of 3 midwives and then there's like 3-4 OB's. She said something about being on call or... I don't remember. I need to re-ask this question.

When I went into L&D with contrax last week though, they called her, not the OB on call... so, maybe she will deliver?

Thank you for reminding me of a question to ask! I asked it at my 20 week appointment (when I switched to her) but um... that was 18 weeks ago.

kendi823 · October 2009

My OB is the only one in her small practice and she personally delivers all of her patients.

StephanieDeanne · October 2009

CDCbaby:
If I have my baby during "office hours" then my OB would be the one to deliver. But if I deliver in the middle of the night, and she's not the On-Call doctor for that day/time, then I will get the on-call doc for delivery.
I've heard this situation is pretty common.
I'm with you on the 1 day a week thing being a little different though...

This is how my OB does it.

fIowerchild · October 2009

Now that I'm pregnant, I don't have ONE OB anymore - I have to see everyone in the practice. So no matter who I end up getting, it will still be my doc.

FWIW, there is only one doc in the practice that I don't want to deliver my baby.

And I agree with the PPer who said the nurse does all the work. My doc checked on me a few times, but the nurse stayed the whole time - and chances are, you've never met him/her before. The doc came in for the last 5 minutes when I pushed the baby out.

purlgurl · October 2009

That is a crap job if you don't have a set call schedule and have to take all of your own deliveries. Doctors have families and lives too. I can't imagine what a PITA it would be if you could potentially get called in to deliver a baby at any moment.?

?My doc is part of a 3 doc group and one of 3 will deliver the baby. In the last month, you rotate and see the other docs. I had a scheduled c/s with DD ?and only saw my doc and will have another c/s this time around, so I only see my doc and she will be the one to deliver my baby.??

fenway2010 · October 2009

OBs have to have someone to cover for them from time to time (and more than when they are just on vacation), or they can't obtain malpractice insurance (I know this because my dad is a solo-practice OB/GYN). It's just not practical to think that your OB will always be the one delivering...they need to have coverage on nights and weekends. Otherwise, it would be possible for an OB to go many nights without sleeping due to patients in labor at night/office hours during the day, and they would never have a weekend off. But most should be able to narrow it down to just a few other doctors who may be delivering for them, so it's not completely up in the air...i.e. the other doctors in his practice, a small group of hospitalists (if your hospital uses this method), or another solo OB that he/she shares call with.

kristin7701 · October 2009

If it makes more sense, look at it from the provider's perspective. If every OB delivered every one of her patient's babies, the doctor could never go on vacation, might never get a full night's sleep, could never make plans, could never have a drink and unwind, etc. It's pretty rare for an OB to operate this way. It's a little more common for an FP because they don't have as many OB patients, but even FPs generally have call schedules.

wareto · October 2009

The one day a week thing seems weird to me too. My OB delivers at a couple hospitals, he's the only Dr. at his practice and he is always on call for his patients, so unless there are extenuating circumstances, he'll be delivering my daughter.

lbg832 · October 2009

Ok Ladies, I realize that the man needs a break and I do expect him to have an actual life. I would hope that he wouldn't be up every night delivering babies. I was mainly just curious about the one day a week thing. That to me sounded off and odd but I guess in a large practice with 7+ partners that would be the norm. I guess that's why I chose a doc with a smaller practice with both of my pregnancies. No I'm not in some small town (one of the bigger cities in Louisiana actually) and my experiences with L&D are not confined to this one city, just the state of La, or with my own pregnancies and DD's birth.

mhickey12 · October 2009

I agree with the other posters. It's standard that the docs in a practice share call and deliver all babies on their shift. There ae always exceptions for those who request a certain MD, but they certainly don't have to!!

hopeteneil · October 2009

Seems to me that the trend is for OB's to rotate through call and deliver people's babies that they have no relationship with. Other providers, like family physicians and midwifes, tend to deliver their own OB patients. Mine only takes a handful of OB patients that are likely to deliver at around the same time so that she can be the one that delivers. She also has 15 other doctors in the office....so I don't think that it is the size of the practice that really matters.

vmm0016 · October 2009

My due date is Christmas Eve and my OB does not work nights. So, if I go into labor then I will not get him but if I go during the day I will.

mattandbekah · October 2009

I dont know who will deliver our baby, but I do know that it is one of the Drs. that I have seen throughout my pregnancy. At the practice I go to, the patients cycle through the doctors and midwives so they have met them all, and been looked after by all of them, and ONE of those WILL deliver my baby.

noangel293 · October 2009

There are 5 doctors at my OB's practice as well as 2 PAs... through prenatal care I will see all of them... but who will deliver my baby will be one of the 5 doctors. It goes by the whole "on call" thing you talking about... and honestly, I think it sucks. I'm going to call beforehand to see which doctor is on call that day... because there's one doctor that I refuse to let deliver my son...

bbowie · October 2009

It's pretty normal to have an on-call doc outside of normal business hours.

I'm seeing a midwife this time and if I have to transfer for any reason her backup doctor deliveries all of his own babies. It's great that some doctors do that but I get the feeling most don't.

ernlei608 · October 2009

I go to a large practice with locations in two different cities and have privlages at two different hospitals (same health system). So whoever is on-call will delivery LO. I see the same OB unless she is out of town or something else comes up. It really doesnt bother me that there is a possibility that my OB won't deliver LO, all the OBs in the practice are highly recommended.

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