https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:54:22 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1675225 Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:30:26 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 1675225@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Update: had an awesome apt with my OB. He spent at least 45-minutes with me (this was a "listen-to-HB and answer questions," so should have only been about 10 mins). He logged into his system and saw the phone log, and said he'd talk with his staff about the issues I've had getting info. Either way, I totally trust him, and think he's a good choice....even if I'm sure I come off as high maintenance :wink: . Thanks, all, for your advice and feedback. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1671134 Sun, 01 Jun 2014 09:40:31 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 1671134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Espion: thanks so much for your advice. I'm seeing him tomorrow, and will be honest about my concerns. I mentioned the front desk staff sucking in passing, but need to explain just how awful they are. I also want to see how he approaches the Placenta Previa. </p> <p>I'll report back-thanks again, everyone!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1670454 Sat, 31 May 2014 12:56:22 +0000 Espion 1670454@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChiCalGoBee: Just now seeing this. TELL your doc your concerns. If he is private practice, he may be completely lousy at managing his own business or has a terrible office manager, or he just doesn't realize what is going on. </p> <p>I would not put up with such things from my office staff. At a previous place I worked, patients kept complaining about a particular front desk person...and she was let go. I can't abide rudeness or lack of desire to help. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1670366 Sat, 31 May 2014 10:21:57 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 1670366@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: Yes, this is what my gut says. I am seeing MY doc on Monday, and plan to ask him about a lot of these concerns face-to-face. I also have my anatomy scan at 18.5 weeks coming up soon, and I'm anxious to see how it goes in that office.<br /> @MaryM: Yes-that's a really good idea! I'll see if I can find a nurse that I can strike up a convo with. I'm definitely planning on doing this at the hospital. I'm a teacher, and have always thought of nurses and teachers as kindred spirits (underpaid, incredibly hard-working, devoted to a hard job, etc. etc.) Oh and I've also almost completely lost it on the phone-scheduler guy when I'd been tossed around all day and couldn't handle being transferred one.more.time.! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1667345 Thu, 29 May 2014 21:14:53 +0000 MaryM 1667345@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChiCalGoBee: you might also see if you can build a relationship with a nurse or two that you like. For a while I felt like I was just a piece of paper at my doctors office, but toward the end of my MC I knew that if I ask for Nurse Megan I'll get what I need and she'll have perfect bedside manner.</p> <p>But I totally get what it's like to be frustrated when pregnant! I totally lost it on the poor records guy when he tried to put me on hold when I'd already called tree times and been on hold for 10 minutes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666706 Thu, 29 May 2014 19:03:26 +0000 wonderstruck 1666706@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ChiCalGoBee: I wouldn't do it then. Particularly since you haven't had a complicated pregnancy. I mean, I know emergencies can always arise...but they're a lot more likely to arise when you're in labor. And in the case of a real emergency, you'd end up at the hospital, and you want it to be a good one! Obviously it's your call, but that's just my perspective. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666641 Thu, 29 May 2014 18:48:22 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 1666641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: Thanks for raising the good question-I'm going to ask this at my next appointment with him (Monday). It'd be *so* nice to be able to bypass the staff.<br /> @snowjewelz: Yeah....you're right. I guess it couldn't hurt to meet another OB and see if I get a different vibe. I'd need to do some good research beforehand. I have an apt with my actual doc on Monday, and I'm going to tell him everything that's been going on. Hoping he will either assuage my fears, or if he doesn't, it will be clear that I need to move on.<br /> @Ginabean3: Thanks so much-I am an absolute ball of nerves and hormones, and it sucks to feel like I'm inconveniencing them when this is their job!<br /> @Mrs. Blue: You're totally right. And it IS frustrating. Luckily my pregnancy has been pretty low-key so far, but I know with your first pregnancy (and the amount that you had to go in/get ultrasounds) that having the communication be optimal was of paramount importance. BTW-congrats on #3!<br /> @wonderstruck: This is the sticking point. I have heard *amazing amazing* things about the hospital I will deliver at with him. Nurses falling over themselves to help you, strong team of doctors and midwives on call 24/7. Only private rooms, just won a nation-wide award, etc. etc. The other office I'd consider doesn't deliver there... :meh:<br /> @magnolia: Good point! I hadn't thought about that-I know I've used a nurses line when I was sick before, so it's definitely worth looking into for the pregnancy.<br /> @Anya: Thanks so much for your perspective. I hope you're healing emotionally and physically after the horrible ordeal you went through. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666500 Thu, 29 May 2014 18:11:11 +0000 Anya 1666500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would switch. I switched ob practices last year for similar reasons (among others). The office staff at my current practice only deals with scheduling and billing. If you have medical questions you speak to the triage nurses via their answering service. That said though, another reason I switched was I didn't like the hospital the old practice delivers at, so as a previous poster said, that is a very important factor. Having now gone through a true emergency experience with my new practice, I felt I was very well taken care of and this solidified my confidence in my decision to switch. You have to ask yourself how comfortable you would be with dealing with this office if you were having a crisis, god forbid </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666415 Thu, 29 May 2014 17:28:52 +0000 magnolia 1666415@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Does your insurance offer a nurses line you could call with questions? I didn't know mine did until I got pregnant and they informed me, just a thought in case you don't switch. Best of luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666391 Thu, 29 May 2014 17:16:21 +0000 wonderstruck 1666391@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In my experience this is not typical. However, now that I've been through birth I can tell you that without a doubt the most important thing is the hospital - quality of it, the nurses, the doctor delivering the baby, etc. I would take an OB with shitty office staff but an amazing hospital experience over one who has a good office staff but mediocre hospital experience any day. The only way I would switch is if you can find a doctor you like equally who delivers at the same hospital. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666375 Thu, 29 May 2014 17:01:29 +0000 Mrs. Blue 1666375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My OB's phone number gives you an option to hit 3 to leave a message for a nurse. You don't even have to talk to a receptionist. A nurse has always either answered or called my back within a couple of hours. It would really frustrate me to not be able to reach the nurses or feel like I was getting advice that wasn't merited (like the no flying thing). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666358 Thu, 29 May 2014 16:49:52 +0000 Ginabean3 1666358@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would be so frustrated and I would switch. I don't have patience with front office staff who are like that. And quite honestly I think if they are like that it's a reflection of how the doctor manages his staff. I remember when I was pregnant I had to call and talk to the receptionist/nurse a lot.....and I was already a ball of hormones and nerves....the last thing I needed was to stress about having to deal with people like that! My personal experience....I loved my OB and her staff (nurses and receptionists) were amazing. Sure I was on hold sometimes but in the end they were knowledgeable, polite, and I felt like I was in safe hands. And I got every call returned when they said they would return it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666249 Thu, 29 May 2014 16:10:40 +0000 snowjewelz 1666249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would be so frustrated too. Maybe you can schedule 1-2 other consultations to see if you like the other office/doctors? Is it something you think you can endure in order to stick w/ the doctor you like? I love the front office of my OB and actually I am just meh about my OB, no complaints, but no praises either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666209 Thu, 29 May 2014 15:56:15 +0000 MaryM 1666209@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is there not a nurses line you can call directly? </p> <p>The front office at my doctor is a mess. So I can understand that frustration. However, I love my doctors so much that I'm willing to put up with those inconveniences in order to have doctors that I trust and am really comfortable with. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-doctors-mid-pregnancy#post-1666193 Thu, 29 May 2014 15:48:25 +0000 ChiCalGoBee 1666193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>**So sorry this is long!**</p> <p>I picked my doctor based on my neighbor's recommendation. I knew I wanted an OB that was connected to one of the best hospitals in the area. She had had two different docs with her two pregnancies, and gave me the name of the doctor I'm using. My neighbor's husband is a pediatrician, and works with *so* many OBs, that I doubly trusted their advice as her hubby really knows "who is who" in the world of baby docs.</p> <p>Here is what I will say. I *really* like my doctor. I'm 16.5 weeks, and saw him for my first appointment at 7.5 weeks. He spent over an hour with us, answered every question, and then told us answers to questions we hadn't even thought of. I told him I'd had some trouble with his office staff (his receptionists suck), and he apologized, and said he'd look into it as that shouldn't be happening. We left feeling like he was a bit quirky, but also that his 'quirkiness' was a good way of assuaging tension during ups and downs of a very emotional process (pregnancy!).</p> <p>Here's the thing, though-his office staff SUCKS. Often when I call with questions, the receptionists refer me to a packet of information that they gave me at my first appointment, and hems and haws before agreeing to leave a message with a nurse. The packet has information in there, but when I'm calling, it's because I have a specific question that relates to MY pregnancy, not pregnancies in general. Often it takes two calls to get a nurse to call me back. The nurses have been mostly helpful, but with a recent issue (Placenta Previa, diagnosed by the Perinatologist during our NT scan so my doc hasn't talked with me yet), the nurse left me a voicemail saying I am not allowed to fly without even looking at my ultrasound. She then talked with a doctor, and gave me the go-ahead.</p> <p>What I want to know, is.....does this sound typical of OB offices? Are they all like this? At the end of the day, it's the doctor in the delivery room with me, and I like him and trust him. However, I see him so infrequently, that I find myself frustrated more often than not and I know that isn't good. Do you think it's worth looking for another OB? I would feel like an idiot switching practices if what I'm experiencing is "par for the course" with OB offices. However, if many of you chime in and say that you typically receive better care/attention/"service" from your docs, maybe it's worth looking into. I'm 16.5 weeks, so it isn't too late to switch, but if I'm going to I should do it soon. Thanks to anyone who read this whole thing and chimes in. :heart: </p>