Too late to switch doctors??

Christinekeyser · August 2013

I have been seeing the same group of doctors since I was 18 & about 5 yrs ago this doctors group decided to only deliver at one hospital and this one is about 45 min from my house. My husband really wants me to deliver at the other hospital closer to us but that would mean that I need to switch doctors. Should I stay with the same doctors group or switch? I really don't feel like switching but I also wouldn't mind delivering at the hospital closer to us. Help?!?

sarajean5682 · August 2013

It about what your comfortable with. What's more important to you? The doc or the hospital? Are you ok with driving 45 minutes to get to the hospital? Questions you and your H need to discuss.

SarahLane24 · August 2013

Tour both hospitals ... See which you like better. It might help make your decision a little easier.

I live about 45 minutes from the hospital that the practice I go to uses, but I wouldn't have it any other way because I love my hospital. It's Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. If anything were to go wrong I'd want to be at the place I felt safest.

Hope that helps!

AcaAwkward · August 2013

How attached are you to your doctor? How supportive is he or she about your birthing wishes (for example, if you want to keep interventions low, is he or she encouraging of that goal)? How probable is it that he or she will actually deliver your baby (one reason I love my OB is that, as long as she is in town and not sick, she delivers your baby - in 2012, she delivered all but 3 of her patients!)? On the other end of the spectrum, how do the hospitals compare? Do they both have NICUs or would your baby have to be transferred if anything went wrong at one?

Time to weigh the pros and cons and decide what factors are the most important to y'all! But, no, it's definitely not too late to switch if you want to.

KHendy27 · August 2013

Never too late! I switched at 37 weeks my last pregnancy. lol

bingbongsmama · August 2013

Not at all!

LEIGHLOVE09 · August 2013

I switched at 15 weeks my last pregnancy because the practice I was going to closed down. It was fine. I love my current practice. I wouldn't switch if it were only for the hospital though. You are only there for like 2 days so unless you wanted to leave for others reasons I would stay with the doc I'm comfortable with. 45 min really isn't that far.

TravAnda · August 2013

KHendy27 said:

Never too late! I switched at 37 weeks my last pregnancy. lol

I switched at 37 weeks also! lol

SB31 · August 2013

I know someone who fired her OB while she was in labor, so not too late!

A lot of PPs are saying that 45 minutes isn't that far. But I have to say that the 2 contractions that I had during the 7 minute drive to the hospital were the worst of my 16 hour med-free birth. Something about being confined to the seat made them much more painful. Just something to consider.

Mustardseed2007 · August 2013

With my first the same kind of thing happened to me, the practice switched to delivering at a different hospital about 2 months before I was due. I toured the hospital and was fine with it, but it really threw me for a loop for a moment.

I would go ahead and tour the hospitals now, and see if one is dramatically better/worse than the other. Length of time to the hospital could be a big deal if you end up having complications (God forbid) and have to go more than once. Also it is difficult to have contractions while you are driving. However, we ended up being about 30 minutes away from the hospital and it really was NBD.

I agree that you should decide if you're desires for birth match your doctor. With my first I really didn't have that many preferences at first...and then the more I became educated about the options you have the more opinionated I got. I would say it would be better if you can decide whether you have strong opinions sooner rather than later, and decide to switch sooner rather than later. You CAN always switch, but you may be limited the longer you wait, b/c some doctors don't like to take new patients that are late into their third trimester.

Still though, you're only in the first trimester so it's definitely fine to start looking around if that's what you want, and you shouldn't have any problems.

dreamalways · August 2013

I live about 45-50min away from the hospital and dr office that I use. We have a hospital and dr offices about 15-20min away from us but I love the hospital and dr office I go to. This will be my 3rd child (4th pregnancy) and I really debated going to a closer hospital because I hate hate driving in snow and I will have to do alot of that this pregnancy... But I love my drs and the hospital.

Christinekeyser · August 2013

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really didn't think women can switch drs when pregnant. I may decide to tour both sooner to help me decide. The only one difference in the doctor practices is that my current one offers doctors, midwives, and nurse practitioners whereas the other one only had midwives. I'm naive but feel more comfortable with doctors (again I know nothing & expect others to feel totally confident with a midwife).

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