July 2011 Moms
CactusGirl
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Pediatrician gender?
CactusGirl
member
Does the gender of your baby have an effect on the gender of your pediatrician? I inetrviewed a pediatrician the other day which had all male doctors. I liked the office and the doctor I met with, but thinking back when I was a kid I was really uncomfortable around men doctors and preferred women.
SO, I decided to keep looking for a pediatrician because if my daughter is anything like me then I want to find a female doctor her for. Obviously she won't mind when she is a baby, but for when she starts getting older I would prefer not to switch.
Does the gender of your child have an effect on the gender of your pediatrician?
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Re: Pediatrician gender?
Same here. I went to my (male) pediatrician until I was 18.
I went to a female gynecologist prior to this pregnancy. However, the practice I currently use has 5 Drs and you have to rotate between them. One of them is male and he's one of my favorites. I wouldn't have been comfortable going to a male gynecologist at 20 but now, I really don't care.
I had a male pediatrician as a kid and never felt weird about it. I picked my DDs based on their background (one is an allergy/asthma specialist, which I have and had a feeling my kids might get). They also worked with my hospital so they could be the ones to evaluate DD. They just happened to be a practice of female docs (and a NP).
If your DD is uncomfortable with her pediatrician at a later time (around puberty) you could probably switch to whoever your primary doctor is at that time. I honestly don't remember my male doctor ever checking out my underwear area. And whenever he had to examine something normally covered by clothing my Mom and a nurse was in the room so its not like it was something weird. The only time I ever got embarassed is when my Mom brought up I hadn't started my period yet in middle school. I was a late bloomer and didn't start until 14 so I was a bit mortified she was talking to my doctor about it, but I'd likely have been embarassed no matter who he or she was.
DD1, Kathleen 9/15/2007
Well it was the only pediatrician interview I have done and I would like to see at least one or two other offices before making a decision. I actually have a interview next week with one much closer to my house, so I am really hoping I like the office and the doctor because it would be so much more convenient *keeps fingers crossed*.
And I guess most of you are right that it doesn't matter when it comes to just a regular doctor. I am thinking of my uncomfortableness more when I was a teenager and had to give a ton of pee samples and talk about my vagina with my male doc (since I was having some female issues, lol). That was so not fun to me
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Nope. Doesn't concern me. That being said, our pedi's office has 6 doctors, both male and female, so my boys see both.
I saw male pedi's growing up and never had an issue. In my OB's office there are 2 males and 3 females and my favorite one is one of the males
No. We were/are team green. Pedi is female.
What would you do if you had more than one kid and they were different sexes? Bring them to different doctors?
As a child we saw a male doctor, he is a family physician so he actually saw my parents and all the kids and I still see him as my general practitioner. I don't ever remember being uncomfortable with him, but I'm also fine with male gyn/ob (even in my early 20s it didn't bother me).
IMO the quality of the Dr is more important than him/her having the same sex as the patient, but some people prefer having the same sex Dr. treat them.
Also thinking about future kids, if you have a female Dr. for your daughter, will you have a different pedi if you ever have a son?
LOL! Totally didn't even think of this (duh), which is why I like and learn so much from The Bump.
And Ps: The women who are saying that the quality of the doctor is more important than the gender --> Of course I am going to choose a good quality pediatrician. If I end up choosing a woman doctor it doesn't automatically mean she isn't as good as a man doctor..
Interesting question.
I had a male Dr. until my early 20's. He retired and currently I see a female Dr. So, I don't really care what gender they are, as long as they're attentive to my needs, kick butt at what they do, and are personable. My LO will go to my current Dr...she's female and we're team green so he or she will only know what I introduce them to in terms of who they see!
The office we go to has one of each and we picked the female pediatrician for DD as I figured once she got close to puberty she would be more comfortable that way. We will take DS to the female pedi until he gets older and then switch over to the male. FWIW our male pediatrician doesn't do paps/gyno exams as he feels getting one is uncomfortable as it is, being with an older male doctor may make it worse.
I had a male doctor growing up and never had a problem with it, but since the office has one of each I figure why not make them as comfortable as possible.
I don't actually get to choose my pediatrician, so I assume they will give me a male since my LO will be male. For some reason that's how they have always done it with me, even though I have no preference on the matter. My family doctor was a male, and he is the standard I hold all other doctors to when I've moved and gotten new ones. My current one is female and I would love for her to be my LO's doctor, but her team is full on peds right now so she is not allowed to take on any more.
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