Hellobee Boards

I'm an MD and while at my current job I don't do OB I did all during residency. I delivered my LO at a teaching hospital and when I was a resident I liked knowing if my patient was in healthcare so I disclosed my profession. Sometimes it was a fun conversation topic because only very few FP docs do OB on the east coast so I was an anomaly! I kept it very casual and made sure to say I was going to let them do their jobs (no backseat doctoring) and that my DH wasn't a doc so he still needed all the explanations! I really only told one person I think, my OB had it in my chart so they all knew (or the one person I told spread the news fast!). It was nice because I felt like I was involved more as part of the team but also still appropriately treated like a patient. And could skip the explanations of things I already knew when my husband was asleep and didn't need to be filled in. Overall much less awkward than I thought.

ETA: My first time as a patient too - IVs hurt way more than I thought! Either that or I'm a wimp! And it feels really weird to have fluids running. Epidurals also way less eventful than it looks.

I can't imagine going through pregnancy and labor care without disclosing information like that. I'm not a nurse, but as a person with a lot of nurse friends, and a birth photographer who has photographed the births of nurses, I've experienced all of them disclosing the info.

Honestly, I feel like they always get treated better. I hear nurses giving them specific info on how to get certain discharge privileges, different positioning and places to labor, etc.

I feel like they likely feel a kinship with one another, and it helps them bond.

@Espion: I'm glad it wasn't just me! I was dying with contractions so I thought I wouldn't even notice the IV but it brought tears to my eyes! I also was having a hard time with my blood pressure cuff. I was so swollen by the end from fluids and such that every 15 min when it did it's thing I could see my veins bulging and my arm would throb! Man I am a weenie patient!

I didn't have to tell, I guess in my patient information it had it listed or something because the nurse already knew when she came in and asked where I worked. But anyways, I do feel like it helped because I feel like they shared more information!

I have a superstition against telling the person drawing my blood or starting an IV; I think it makes them miss. Otherwise, I tell. It helps them tailor the info they give me and the questions they ask. Also think it helps to humanize me even if it is a brutal crazy day for them and all of the other pts are blurring together.

I'm an MD too, and I said something because I hate when I see someone I healthcare who doesn't disclose! Not in a I need privilege way , just as an FYI kind of way.

It was actually kind of awkward bc I also delivered at a teaching hospital where I work sometimes and I knew everyone. And I was a crazy person when I was in labor. It almost makes me want to change hospitals this time I was so embarassed lol.

I am an NICU nurse in a pretty small hospital, so all the maternal child people know each other pretty well. They all knew me I think they assigned me more nursing students than usual though - those girls were pretty funny, scared to death of me at first then asking me questions you would NEVER normally ask a patient within an hour or 2 LOL.

@junebugsmama: I try to do that too!

@littlejoy: @junebugsmama: I was tempted to say, "Soooooo, a doctor who doesn't help people? How nice." He was very caught up in his sense of authority over the nurses and residents. Total jerk.

@junebugsmama: I don't think I'd deal well with medical students for a traditional birth since I live in such a small community. But, they could come and observe my repeat c-section! I know who my anesthesia is going to be though, and I taunt him every time I see him.