Introducing myself and question

veronicafvr · June 2011

Hello ladies, I am due in September and have never officially introduced myself to your board. This is my DH and my first child and I will be having a water birth at a birth center. I am so excited for the experience and love my midwives and doula.

As I'm sure you have all experienced as well, we have received a lot of negative reactions and that is fine. To each their own. But we are running into a problem finding a pediatrician who will care for our LO after birth. The feedback we have been getting is that there is too much liability with "birth center babies" because they aren't monitored close enough after birth and have health problems because of it. I find this very offensive; my baby is not bio-hazard.

Have any of you run into this? Any advice?

FyshWyfe · June 2011

Wow, I've never heard of pedis saying that kind of thing but it's really not surprising given how liability-scared everyone seems to be. Where are you located, just out of curiosity? Geography has so much to do with it, unfortunately. I'm sorry you're running into this. I don't have any real advice except to keep looking for someone who's more open-minded b/c if they're going to be attitude-y about this, you're probably going to be fighting them over lots of issues over the years (e.g., vaccines, antibiotics, holistic treatment, etc. if that's your thing).

veronicafvr · June 2011

Thank you for responding! I am in SW Florida. I am going to see if my Hypnobirthing instructor, who is also an RN, knows of any ped's in the area. I started with this one because from word of mouth I heard she was AP friendly, evidently not especially since when I said I wanted to breastfeed she literally laughed. I agree that it's better I run into this now than later, I have a couple months to find the right fit. I always anticipate a bit of eye-rolling from people, but this was just over the top.

Thanks again!

Trishes · June 2011

Hi! So excited to see another September mom going the natural route, and your birthing experience sounds like it will be amazing! I'm jealous!

The negative reactions are super annoying, and I've just stopped telling people about what I'm doing - if they ask, I just sort of go with a "We'll see" or something. It sucks, but that's what it's come down to.

As for the pediatrician, is this one you're super set on? If he disagrees with the birthing center, will he be difficult about other more natural methods of treatment?

Trishes · June 2011

veronicafvr:
Thank you for responding! I am in SW Florida. I am going to see if my Hypnobirthing instructor, who is also an RN, knows of any ped's in the area. I started with this one because from word of mouth I heard she was AP friendly, evidently not especially since when I said I wanted to breastfeed she literally laughed. I agree that it's better I run into this now than later, I have a couple months to find the right fit. I always anticipate a bit of eye-rolling from people, but this was just over the top.
Thanks again!

Wow... just... wow. I would definitely go with someone else. This is ridiculous. You will need support from every source with bf'ing.

DaisyJanie · June 2011

Do your midwives recommend anybody? That's how I found our pedi.

Sounds like the first one you talked to would not be a good fit even if they did take birth center babies. Tongue Tied

veronicafvr · June 2011

I definitely won't be using this pediatrician. My birth center is 45 minutes away so I was hoping to find a ped closer to where I live, and they don't have any recommendations in this area. My sister ran into the same problem when she had my niece 4 years ago. To the point where she had to go to the ER to get care when her daughter developed jaundice, nobody in the area would even touch my niece for the same reasons. I am thinking if I don't have any luck in my area I will have to just travel the distance to go to a good, open-minded, caring, ped who supports us as parents and our decisions.

It is just so frustrating. I want to clap my hands in front of their faces and say "wake up!!!" they are so narrow minded.

InfamousQBert · June 2011

i have a friend in FL (not sure where exactly) who is a med student currently. she's very NB & AP friendly, so i just sent her an email asking if she has any recommendations. i'll let you know if she has any.

veronicafvr · June 2011

InfamousQBert:
i have a friend in FL (not sure where exactly) who is a med student currently. she's very NB & AP friendly, so i just sent her an email asking if she has any recommendations. i'll let you know if she has any.

Thank you SO much!

wnk1029 · June 2011

Definitely ask your midwife/doula... chances are VERY good that they'll have been asked that question many times before, and will be able to recommend a doctor that won't flip out on you about having a non-hospital birth.

Texas77again · June 2011

i'm from SW FL! i lived in st pete/clwtr for 30 yrs, i miss it every.single.day. who are you using for your mw? where are you?

your mw should follow baby for the first 6-8 weeks right? i guess it depends on what you want, but like the others said i would ask your mw, i would think she has someone she recommends. if not, you could always wait until after baby is born and then find a ped and tell them you moved recently and are new to the area? i really don't like the idea of lying, but i think it's ridic that you can't find someone.

TheQuietGrrrl · June 2011

veronicafvr:
But we are running into a problem finding a pediatrician who will care for our LO after birth. The feedback we have been getting is that there is too much liability with "birth center babies" because they aren't monitored close enough after birth and have health problems because of it.

Seriously???

Wasn't it either in SW or SE Fl where an OB group was refusing to accept patients due to obesity alone? No eminent issues, no out of control health problems that's beyond the scope of an OB. Just calculate a BMI and say no.

Granted, I don't blame doctors for some degree of liability paranoia, patients of the past DO feed into that vicious cycle, their malpractice insurers likely don't make it easy to do their jobs, but this is absolutely ridiculous. If they're not caring for these patients, then who the hell is supposed to, the ER doc? ER docs are good at what they do, but long term health care is not their specialty. Stabilization is. Someone needs to send these docs back to med school and remind them why they have a license to practice in the first place. Patient CARE. They get the $$$ to shoulder the responsibility of someone's life, not an easy way to pull a 6 figure check.

I'm never a proponent for lying to your health care providers, but Texas77's suggestion is sounding pretty good. Especially if someone else is monitoring those first few days or week or so after birth.

InfamousQBert · June 2011

veronicafvr:

InfamousQBert:
i have a friend in FL (not sure where exactly) who is a med student currently. she's very NB & AP friendly, so i just sent her an email asking if she has any recommendations. i'll let you know if she has any.

Thank you SO much!

well, turns out she's in SE FL and doesn't know anyone on your side, but she did have some suggestions for other resources.

"I would look for local La Leche League, ICAN, and attachment parenting groups. She can check meetup.com and mothering.com (with caution. That site is a great resource for stuff like this but attracts very intolerant judgmental parents, too). She can contact local lactation consultants, too.
Tell her good luck from me."

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