Did your doctor actually deliver your LO?

littlemissmarla · July 2014

Help me out ladies, I'm trying to understand how this is all going to work. Total FTM question - which I know I need to ask my own dr about her procedure. I'm trying to understand how your doctor gets to the hospital in time to deliver the baby. I've been reading all the delivery reports, and a lot of them seem to show being in labor for x amount of hours, the doctor comes in (might break the water) and then hours later when they are ready to deliver the nurse goes and gets the doctor. Now, I know every situation is different, but are people usually referring to their regular OB who comes to the hospital once you notify them and then do they hang around until you deliver? Or, are most people being seen by the resident and delivered by their doctor or does the resident continue to follow through with the delivery. I'm just finding it hard to imagine that my OB will be waiting around in the hospital for me to get this baby out or if they wait until i'm close to pushing to inform her - that she will get there in time. Thanks for any insight!!

AMcLaws · July 2014

I'm not too much help...except to say that with DD1, my doc wanted to be the one to deliver because I had several complications and she knew my case forward and back. So she brought me in to be induced the night before her on-call rotation. I ended with a CS, and she was my doc.

I think it really depends on the doctor. I've heard that most practices just go with whomever is on call, is the doc to deliver the babies.

My doc really likes to be the one to deliver, so he tries hard to be there for everyone. (So much so that his home is in the neighborhood 2 minutes from the hospital)

littlemissmarla · July 2014

AMcLaws said:

I'm not too much help...except to say that with DD1, my doc wanted to be the one to deliver because I had several complications and she knew my case forward and back. So she brought me in to be induced the night before her on-call rotation. I ended with a CS, and she was my doc. I think it really depends on the doctor. I've heard that most practices just go with whomever is on call, is the doc to deliver the babies. My doc really likes to be the one to deliver, so he tries hard to be there for everyone. (So much so that his home is in the neighborhood 2 minutes from the hospital)

I feel like I am the only person who has a doc who is not in a practice with other OBs, which I guess is where my concern is stemming from. That is, if I go into labor on my own. I'm not sure if it's weird that it doesn't terribly concern me if I end up with her or a resident, just wanted to kind of get an idea of what others have been through.

AMcLaws · July 2014

littlemissmarla said:

AMcLaws said:

I'm not too much help...except to say that with DD1, my doc wanted to be the one to deliver because I had several complications and she knew my case forward and back. So she brought me in to be induced the night before her on-call rotation. I ended with a CS, and she was my doc.

I think it really depends on the doctor. I've heard that most practices just go with whomever is on call, is the doc to deliver the babies.

My doc really likes to be the one to deliver, so he tries hard to be there for everyone. (So much so that his home is in the neighborhood 2 minutes from the hospital)

I feel like I am the only person who has a doc who is not in a practice with other OBs, which I guess is where my concern is stemming from. That is, if I go into labor on my own. I'm not sure if it's weird that it doesn't terribly concern me if I end up with her or a resident, just wanted to kind of get an idea of what others have been through.

Oh, that is odd. Most docs I know of have at least one partner in their practice. IDK how they'd work that, then.

TexasGirl81 · July 2014

Yes my doc delivered. The nurse/staff (I believe) keeps them updated. Then when it's show time, they do the delivery. At least that how it was for me.

lindslalala · July 2014

My MW has me call when I'm in labor/water breaks to give her a heads up and she advises me on when to come in. She sat with me for about 75% of my labor with DS as it was clear I was progressing quickly. She gives me the number of an OB to call if she's out of town. She has her own office so I've never met her sponsoring OB before. My guess is he'd deliver the baby if she wasn't there, but I really don't know for certain. She's very dependable so it's not a concern I have.

iris427 · July 2014

AMcLaws said:

AMcLaws said:

I'm not too much help...except to say that with DD1, my doc wanted to be the one to deliver because I had several complications and she knew my case forward and back. So she brought me in to be induced the night before her on-call rotation. I ended with a CS, and she was my doc. I think it really depends on the doctor. I've heard that most practices just go with whomever is on call, is the doc to deliver the babies. My doc really likes to be the one to deliver, so he tries hard to be there for everyone. (So much so that his home is in the neighborhood 2 minutes from the hospital)

I feel like I am the only person who has a doc who is not in a practice with other OBs, which I guess is where my concern is stemming from. That is, if I go into labor on my own. I'm not sure if it's weird that it doesn't terribly concern me if I end up with her or a resident, just wanted to kind of get an idea of what others have been through.
Oh, that is odd. Most docs I know of have at least one partner in their practice. IDK how they'd work that, then.

My doctor is the only one in her practice who does obstetrics. If she couldn't make it to a delivery, she has other doctors in another practice who could cover, or the residents or attending on duty at the hospital could cover. For my delivery this time, we got there before she did, so the OB and a resident who were there saw me first, and my doctor arrived soon after. I was already 10 cm when I arrived so obviously she just stayed.

With my first, I was in labor 2 days. It seemed like my OB then was around the entire time. I don't know if she went home and checked in periodically, or stayed around the hospital, but it all worked out. They did have me push for a while with just my nurse before the OB came in, which makes it seem like they wait until delivery seems soon (or there is a problem) to call in the doctor. But you can definitely ask your doctor if you are worried or want to know how it works.

littlemissmarla · July 2014

iris427 said:

AMcLaws said:

AMcLaws said:

I'm not too much help...except to say that with DD1, my doc wanted to be the one to deliver because I had several complications and she knew my case forward and back. So she brought me in to be induced the night before her on-call rotation. I ended with a CS, and she was my doc. I think it really depends on the doctor. I've heard that most practices just go with whomever is on call, is the doc to deliver the babies. My doc really likes to be the one to deliver, so he tries hard to be there for everyone. (So much so that his home is in the neighborhood 2 minutes from the hospital)

I feel like I am the only person who has a doc who is not in a practice with other OBs, which I guess is where my concern is stemming from. That is, if I go into labor on my own. I'm not sure if it's weird that it doesn't terribly concern me if I end up with her or a resident, just wanted to kind of get an idea of what others have been through.
Oh, that is odd. Most docs I know of have at least one partner in their practice. IDK how they'd work that, then.

My doctor is the only one in her practice who does obstetrics. If she couldn't make it to a delivery, she has other doctors in another practice who could cover, or the residents or attending on duty at the hospital could cover. For my delivery this time, we got there before she did, so the OB and a resident who were there saw me first, and my doctor arrived soon after. I was already 10 cm when I arrived so obviously she just stayed.

With my first, I was in labor 2 days. It seemed like my OB then was around the entire time. I don't know if she went home and checked in periodically, or stayed around the hospital, but it all worked out. They did have me push for a while with just my nurse before the OB came in, which makes it seem like they wait until delivery seems soon (or there is a problem) to call in the doctor. But you can definitely ask your doctor if you are worried or want to know how it works.

Yea, I feel like this will be the most likely scenario - keeping her updated and then she will come when things are progressing. I see her on Wednesday so I will be sure to ask her how this all works!

Thanks for all the feedback ladies!

[Deleted User] · July 2014

The practice I attend now has whichever doctor is on call at the hospital do the delivery. They also partner with another practice to cover shifts. For prenatal appointments they have you cycle through all the doctors to meet them, but there's still a chance you'll end up with one of the docs from the other practice when it's go time.

The practice I went to before I got married was literally right down the street from the hospital so they would just call the doctor when the mom was ready to deliver and he/she would run down and do it. For after-hours they would have whomever was on-call come in when it got close to time.

argonne · July 2014

I would assume very doctor is different. If you have a specific doctor (not a group of providers), then I would assume it would be that doctor that delivers or whomever is on call if your doctor can't make it or is on vacation. For me, I see a group of midwives (there are OBs in the same group), so whichever one is on call (24 hour rotation) is who delivers. They make a point for you to see all the MWs in the group throughout your prenatal care. They also do this if you see the OBs in the same office.

cookieinva · July 2014

My ob delivered this baby, and delivered my son 4 years ago as well. He keeps plenty busy at the hospital. At one point the nurses had me stop pushing because I was getting so close and my ob was not quite finished with another delivery he was doing while my labor progressed. I think this all varies quite a bit so you will just need to see how your dr does things.

lynjae2004 · July 2014

I'm a FTM as well, and this was a concern I had. My OB is the only delivering doctor in his practice- there are several medical students who may observe if I allow them- but he said the hospital will keep him notified on my progress, & he will come in when its close to 'go' time!

keshupe29 · July 2014

My dr office is connected to the hospital. So if it's during the day she can walk over. Also she said if it's after hours she gets to about 80% of deliveries. Which made me feel better. I'm also a FTM and prefer my dr. So hoping for the best!

abrazz · July 2014

My doctor is the only OBGYN in the hospital. He is on call 24/7. They notify him when they have someone in labor and keep him updated on progression. I work with him in surgery and have only known of one time he didn't make it for the delivery and she was supposed to be an RCS. I joked with him that I thought he didn't do VBACs. We have sleep rooms that he can stay in and I know he does that frequently.

My first baby was delivered by my primary OBGYN but if he hadn't been on call it would have been someone else from the group. When I was 36 weeks I met the other 3 doctors so I would feel more comfortable if they had to deliver DD.

bgoodbpar · July 2014

I'm with Kaiser. The OBs and Midwives work in shifts so you may or may not have your practitioner. With DS I almost had my own midwife but her shift ended shortly before I gave birth. She would come to check every so often but typically the L&D nurses check up on me and get things ready once fully dilated. My nurse with DS even got me through the first few pushes before the OB on duty was called in the do the actual delivery and recovery.

BBColt78 · July 2014

My practice is four doctors. We don't cycle through. I see the same doctor the entire time. If he is on call or working when I'm in labor, he will deliver the baby. If not, then whomever is on duty will deliver.

FWIW- Though my dr was working when DD was born, about 8 nurses delivered her. I care more about my nurses than if same doctor is there. The nurses do everything. I'm probably not in the norm though I'm sure.

honeybee434 · July 2014

My OB is the only one at her practice, but she participates with about 5 other OB's that are all affiliated with the hospital for on call rotations. So, if I had gone into labor after hours or on a weekend when she wasn't on call, one of the other OB's would have delivered DD.

seells · July 2014

My last pregnancy my doctor delivered my baby. She was in and out of the hospital seeing other patents. She did a couple csections, saw patients at her office that was down the street, went home and slept, came back. Hahahah. (My induction took 5 days.)

With this baby my doctor will deliver her. Since I'm a vbac once I'm admitted my doctor has to stay "a reasonable distance" to the hospital. Her office is in the same parking lot as the hospital so I'm sure she will see patients while I'm laboring and come around periodically to check on me.

hgtvmom · July 2014

I'm also with Kaiser, where all the ob's take shifts at the hospital. Somehow, in the 11 days I was hospitalized, my own ob was never on. She was seeing office visits the day she sent me for the c-section and then was never on while I was admitted - unless I missed her in the 20 hours I was discharged before going back in. But, I started and ended with the other high risk doc in the practice, who I had seen previously. He would have done my c-section, but the full moon had babies popping out all over, so he went off shift before they got to me.

MississippiCatfish · July 2014

The hospital I delivered at will call the dr to come when you're around a 7, if everything is going ok. Then they stay until delivery.

Good luck!

aimeepigott · July 2014

I rotate with each midwife each appt. that way I'm comfortable with all 3. They rotate on call weekends and such. So whoever is on hospital duty that week will deliver. All 3 women are fabulous. I would ideally like the same MW who delivered DS1 to deliver LO, but we'll have to see how that happens. I have also met all the OB's if for some reason I would need an emergency Csection.

dobbyisfree · July 2014

My Doc is the only one in her practice. She came to see me daily while I was here and the residents checked me daily too. Everytime something came back abnormal with labs or anything she had them call her and she made all decisions. She seriously showed up here everytime I needed anything it was great. When the on call doc thought we should probably just do a c section, they called her at home and she was here within 10 minutws to do it herself.

littlemissmarla · July 2014

amlonica said:
My Doc is the only one in her practice. She came to see me daily while I was here and the residents checked me daily too. Everytime something came back abnormal with labs or anything she had them call her and she made all decisions. She seriously showed up here everytime I needed anything it was great. When the on call doc thought we should probably just do a c section, they called her at home and she was here within 10 minutws to do it herself.

This is reassuring!! Hopefully my situation works out like this!

JKGordon · July 2014

There are 4 doctors in the practice I go to, and I was able to meet 3 of them during my appointments. It just so happened when I went into labor, my doctor was the one on call. She came in, checked on me, broke my water, had them get the epi started, realized it would be awhile, told me to sleep, went home herself, assured us she lived 8 min away, and came back a couple hours later when they called her. She was there in plenty of time.

Edit: posted early

slensic · July 2014

Had I gone into labor on my own with DD it would have been the on call ob if I delivered at night or on a Tuesday, During the day any other day it would have been my ob. Since I was induced she scheduled my induction for the morning of day she is the on call overnight ob so that most likely she would deliver her. I ended up with an emergency c-section and she performed it. This time since I am having a RCS, she did the same thing. My RCS is scheduled for the day that she also has the overnight on call duty. This way she will perform the surgery in the morning but if there are any complications during the night it will be her dealing with it.

1982Babies · July 2014

Mine did. I was induced, but labor was 36 hours. He lives 8 minutes from the hospital (so he says), and when they called him and I was an 8, he came in 10 minutes later and I was a 10 and ready to go. She was born soon after.

However, the day before, a lady came in screaming down the hallway "I want my epidural!!!!" Guess who her doctor was? Mine. :-) The nurses delivered her. The baby was lucky it didn't come out in the hallway. lol

runrinserepeat · July 2014

My kids were both delivered by the on call OB. Made no real difference to me.

alyss0nl · July 2014

Both of my kids were delivered by my OB. He prefers to be called in for his patients, but this time he was on call at the hospital. It was nice having my doctor deliver my baby.

littlemissmarla · July 2014

kleMcK said:

My kids were both delivered by the on call OB. Made no real difference to me.

Yea, this is kind of how I feel - I guess i'm not super attached to my doc, if she can be there, awesome but if not as long as someone is there who knows what they're doing lol.

Teachermom09 · July 2014

I will get who ever is on call. There are 3 obs and NP in my practice so they rotate. I actually had to wait to see one of them this week because 2 of them were next door at the hospital delivering a 12 pounder together!

sxymamakat · July 2014

It took me a while to get the specifics for how my OB works, but they finally spilled the beans at my 32 week appt. My practice has 7 docs, and they share call with 3 other practices, so in theory, if I go into labor on my own, I would be delivered by one of 27 different doctors. I was not pleased at all to discover this and honestly, it's one in a long string of reasons I really dislike my OB's office. My office has a policy where you have to see each doc and they pick the rotation you see them in, but after an incredibly negative experience with one of them, I refused to go back to that doctor and demanded to speak with the office manager. There is a note in my file that if she is on call if I went into labor before my scheduled C-section, I refuse to be seen by her and that a resident will have to deliver me. I'd rather drive to a different hospital during contractions than let that woman in my room or near me or my baby.

littlemissmarla · July 2014

sxymamakat said:

It took me a while to get the specifics for how my OB works, but they finally spilled the beans at my 32 week appt. My practice has 7 docs, and they share call with 3 other practices, so in theory, if I go into labor on my own, I would be delivered by one of 27 different doctors. I was not pleased at all to discover this and honestly, it's one in a long string of reasons I really dislike my OB's office. My office has a policy where you have to see each doc and they pick the rotation you see them in, but after an incredibly negative experience with one of them, I refused to go back to that doctor and demanded to speak with the office manager. There is a note in my file that if she is on call if I went into labor before my scheduled C-section, I refuse to be seen by her and that a resident will have to deliver me. I'd rather drive to a different hospital during contractions than let that woman in my room or near me or my baby.

That is terrible that you had to deal with a doctor that you didn't mesh with, but FX she's not on call when you go in! Good luck!

Acsim · July 2014

My doc is in a practice with other docs, but they all try to deliver their own patients. He said even if he's not on call, he expects his partners to call him and he will say yes I'll come anyway or no I really can't right now. He said that there's certain times his wife puts her foot down about him going in when they're in the middle of stuff for their sons. His secretary scheduled my RCS for him to be the one to do it, and since I've been a high risk pregnancy, any time I've gone in to the hospital for xyz, it hasn't always been him there but it works out.

With DD1, my last OB was the only doctor in his practice. She was born on NYE and he still delivered me.

LenaLove · July 2014

With my DD I got the on call Dr. from my Doctor's group. DD was born at 6:34pm and my Dr. came on at 7:30pm.

This time the practise I was with had 12 doctors on rotation, so you saw whoever was on call and whoever was at the hospital when you came in delivered. I just happened to have the same Dr. I had see the Wednesday prior, so it was nice to have a familiar face. That said, I didn't care at all with my DD when I didn't know the doctor. I just wanted someone to catch the baby!

cakebatter27 · July 2014

Hmm I don't know if you only have one OB! My practice has 5 who rotate at the hospital. I don't have a specific doctor since I see them all.

littlemissmarla · July 2014

cakebatter27 said:

Hmm I don't know if you only have one OB! My practice has 5 who rotate at the hospital. I don't have a specific doctor since I see them all.

I know! Lol, the more I have been reading on the bump, the more i'm like WTF - why didn't I go to an office w/ multiple OBs. I think for future pregnancies I will be switching to a practice, it just seems to make more sense.

unaveragejane · July 2014

LeaLupins said:

The practice I went to before I got married was literally right down the street from the hospital so they would just call the doctor when the mom was ready to deliver and he/she would run down and do it. For after-hours they would have whomever was on-call come in when it got close to time.

This is how my dr's practice works, as well. The hospital calls over and the nurses will ask, "Walk or run?" b/c the building is literally just down the hill from L&D. With DS1, I was in labor for 30 hours and at the hospital for 15 of them. The nurses took care of me until my water finally broke and I was ready to push. I don't remember seeing any doctors until mine ran in at the appointed hour.

IrishTraveler · July 2014

My doctor delivered both kids. There are several doctors in the practice, and if I went into labor early, the on-call physician would be there. However, my doctor's policy is that if she isn't doing something with her kids or out of town, she'll be there. It's one reason I've been so happy with her.

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