Anyone not meeting with a pediatrician before baby comes?

Helmink0804 · March 2014

I'm trying to decided if it would be worth it to meet with a pediatrician or not. I would want my husband to be there and he's been working 12+ hrs at work and I've been working Saturdays. I just figure that even if we do a meet and greet we still might not like how he handles the actual baby when she comes.

Is there anyone else who isn't meeting with one or any STM+ moms who didn't meet with one with first baby?

He came highly recommended by a few ladies and I've researched him online and was just raved about. He's nice and close with hours that would work with us.

Mrsgattis11 · March 2014

We are not meeting with ours but that's because she was mine for 17 years I already trust her and DH says it's whatever I am comfortable with. If I didn't know her like I do I probably would.

whitneymarie003 · March 2014

Ditto @Mrsgattis11‌ ; our pediatrician was also mine for 18 years so I am super comfortable with her, and DH didn't have a problem not meeting her first. If she wasn't available we would definitely want to meet with some different options first.

mamagerman · March 2014

At this point it is not in the plan. But we have some time, so who know. I honestly didn't even know this was a "thing" until I came to this board.

lauralou3x3 · March 2014

I had my doctor tell me about this today as well. Would never have thought about meeting with them first. I may or may not.

When you chose one, do you call to let them know you're pregnant and will have a new patient for them? Or wait until baby is born? (Probably a dumb question)

britab · March 2014

We'll go to the office by our house that's connected with the local children's hospital. If we don't like her after the first appointment or few, we'll switch.

yogasailmomma · March 2014

We aren't meeting with ours first. I just registered with the practice today. They came highly recommended, have 5 drs and Saturday hours. Plus I can walk to their office. Think it will work out just fine!

LunaBug924 · March 2014

The practice we are using doesn't do prenatal/first time parent visits, so meeting the pediatrician isn't even an option before DD is born. But like pp, we are using the same doctor that DH used as a kid and I trust him. Unfortunately, he won't come to the hospital I'm delivering at, so we'll be seen by the in-house pediatrician in the hospital and have our first visit 2 days after discharge. This seems to be the norm from other friends I've talked to, so I'm not worried. Good luck!

Arinias · March 2014

I was just planning on going with my Doctor who is a family practicioner. I honestly have only seen him a handful of times, but he seems nice and I went with him on a recommendation from a friend. I figure if we don't like how he does with the baby we can always switch. So I think your plan is fine.

Helmink0804 · March 2014

I talked to the receptionist today. She said that it's up to us if we want to meet first, that some do and some don't. They don't work with the hospital I'm delivering at, but the hospital is aware of their practice and we can use the in hospital doctors while we're there and than call them when I get home to make an appointment a few days later. They have Saturdays, which is great for us. They're only 7 mins from our house, so nice and close. I think we'll just meet them when we have DD. I've researched them online and have only read positive feedback. They were recommended by people we know really good. She said if we decided not to meet and greet we can always call with any questions we have and they'll be more than happy to answer them for us.

Country0202 · March 2014

We got enough recommendations for ours that I didn't bother meeting her before I had baby #1, and everything worked out great!

mdelanater · March 2014

@lauralou3x3 I was told by the receptionist at the office we chose that once we have the baby the hospital will ask if we have chosen a doctor and if so which ever doctor is on call from the office that day will make a visit to the hospital to assess the baby and then once dc from hospital we make a follow up appointment to see the doctor we chose.

stinamarie412 · March 2014

We aren't meeting with the practice we chose. The practice is affiliated with the children's hospital closeby and we feel comfortable with not meeting before baby comes.

lauralou3x3 · March 2014

@mdelanater‌ thanks! There is so much to learn as a FTM!

runningyogimama · March 2014

I didn't. He was highly recommended and had great reviews online, so we never met him ahead of time. We've LOVED him with DD, though!

cbrust · March 2014

Not meeting mine because the office doesn't do "meet and greet" visits. She came highly recommended by my OB (she even takes her kids to her) and I trust her opinion. They are directly affiliated with the hospital I'm delivering at and in the same building as my OB so I feel comfortable not meeting them before hand.

Helmink0804 · March 2014

Thanks ladies for all the input and replies!

pandadair · March 2014

We haven't even looked for one, yet, as we've been in the middle of a house hunt and have no idea in what area we'll end up. *sigh* It's on my list.

mrspopsicle · March 2014

We didn't meet ours prior to DD being born. She was highly recommended by several of my friends and colleagues (I am a pediatric nurse). I did call the office beforehand and there was a form I had to fill out with our address, due date, etc.

AugustGlass · March 2014

No, because she's a family friend I've known since I was 5 and she was my pedi growing up.

ho11yday · March 2014

We never met the pediatrician before going there, but never have had issues. But I also got a lot of recommendations too

haylo33 · March 2014

My husbands aunt will be our pediatrician (or someone in her practice) we trust them all

CVislo · March 2014

We did not meet my son's pediatrician before he was born. We use the military doctors because we don't want to pay co-pays or higher premiums. So we get who the military assigns him. However, if at any point, we decide to change doctors, we can request a different doctor be assigned to him, or we can opt to pay the higher premiums and co-pays. Here in Japan, I've already met my older son's pediatrician, and I do like her, so I will request that she be assigned to the baby when he is born.

MrsT2008 · March 2014

I didn't meet with any before DD. Went with the practice off of many recommendations and figured I would switch if necessary. We lovvvve our pedi so it all worked out.

Jennyinheaven · March 2014

No , practice is recommended from friends of ours, if I don't like them I'll switch after baby has been seen once

spacepotatoes · March 2014

We won't be. Generally, in the Canadian system, the GP is the go-to for everything and a pediatrician requires a specialist referral. Some areas don't completely follow that but mine seems to.

chillypenguin · March 2014

We also did not meet our pediatrician before the baby was born. I figured if I didn't like them, I could switch. Luckily it turns out that I love all but one doctor in the practice, so I would just never go to that one doctor (who was semi-retired and should have just completely retired!). I say go with your gut, you will probably know pretty quickly if your pedi office is a good fit.

caycelee · March 2014

We are meeting with one next week, the practice is across the street from our home so it's nice and convenient. The one I really wanted to go with isn't accepting new patients yet...if he was I wouldn't even do a meet and greet because I've heard such amazing things.

spinsoffresonance · March 2014

We didn't meet ours ahead of time, it's not an option in our practice. our pedi isn't affiliated with the hospital I'm delivering at so the staff pedi at the hospital will care for LO while we're there. We have to call our pedi once we have the discharge instruction to schedule LO's first appointment. We did the same with DD1 and ended up really liking our pedi. If you end up not liking them you can always switch later.

ckandi007 · March 2014

We didn't meet with on beforehand. We were going to move 4 months later anyways so it'd only be a few visits before I'd be hunting for a new one anyway!

pistolpackinmomma · March 2014

We only had 2 options basically. One would be with a practice with multiple drs or the one dr practice we go to. We decided we would just wait and see who was on call when he was born and if we didn't like them when they came to see him then we would try the other practice. Turns up we got the one dr and we loved her. Like absolutely love her. She will be the dr for this LO as well.

QOTR · March 2014

britab said:

We'll go to the office by our house that's connected with the local children's hospital. If we don't like her after the first appointment or few, we'll switch.

Same here. We picked one based on location and reviews and will switch if we don't mesh.

danabsd · March 2014

We didn't meet with ours. Pedis in this area don't do that.

motoLyn · March 2014

I met with 3, since I don't have any friends with kids, and no recommendations. For me I wanted to talk to the Ped to see who I connect with best. Turns out one of the three I would have never been comfortable with. The first one I really liked.

Mittens14 · March 2014

We had several pedis that were highly recommended to us before DS was born, we met with each of them and I'm so glad that we did because the top 3 were definite NO go's for us once we met them, saw the office, etc. It didn't matter to us how highly recommended the doctor came if we didn't share the same views, didn't like their personality, the office was dirty, the front desk girls were bitchy, etc. So, even though the doctor might be the most recommended one in the area they might not be a good match for you. Plus, we didn't want to be meeting with a complete stranger in the hospital when DS was born...

RickiLea25 · March 2014

I did not meet our pediatrician ahead of time. He came highly recommended from my work colleagues at the time. I adore him! I wouldn't lose sleep over not meeting him/her before hand. If you don't end up liking the doctor it is easy enough to switch to another one. Good luck!

Helmink0804 · March 2014

There's a lot of you not meeting or didn't meet with before hand. I asked my friend who has a 14 month old and she was dead set on meeting. She kept saying how it was her babies health and she wanted to make she sure met with the pedi before hand to make sure they were on the same page. She kind of made me feel like I wasn't being a good mom to be by not meeting with him since she kept saying it's her baby's health at risk. You ladies made me feel a lot better! Thanks!!

ErikaLynn75 · March 2014

We have an appointment in April to meet one of the pediatricians (there are 10 at the practice we've chosen). This practice was recommended by a lot of people, so I'm pretty confident we don't need to meet any others. At the first appointment, they just talk about how their practice works, and we can fill out some paperwork ahead of time so all we have to do is call them from the hospital to schedule the baby's first appointment.

However, the doctors in this practice don't do hospital rounds. So the baby's very first doctor visit will be with the hospital's resident pediatrician. We don't plan to meet him/her before the birth.

motoLyn · March 2014

Helmink0804 said:

There's a lot of you not meeting or didn't meet with before hand. I asked my friend who has a 14 month old and she was dead set on meeting. She kept saying how it was her babies health and she wanted to make she sure met with the pedi before hand to make sure they were on the same page. She kind of made me feel like I wasn't being a good mom to be by not meeting with him since she kept saying it's her baby's health at risk. You ladies made me feel a lot better! Thanks!!

Don't let your friend make you feel bad. Its a choice to interview or meet your Pedi. If he or she comes high recommended and you trust the source then you're all set. Also the PP bring up the great point that if you don't like him or her, switch to another pedi.

Helmink0804 · March 2014

Thanks @motoLyn‌!

ns1 · March 2014

We didn't with the first. We only have two options nearby and only one had evening and weekend hours. And I got good recs for them. We're still with them after 2.5 years and will take this one there too.

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone not meeting with a pediatrician before baby comes?

Re: Anyone not meeting with a pediatrician before baby comes?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards