Hellobee Boards

Love the extras that you mentioned!

I have to say that my old OB practice would have kept my business if they listened to my concerns. They were too quick to dismiss me, and had to beg for a referral to a RE after 5 pregnancies with 1 LO. Once I finally made it to the RE, discovering that I had issues just made me more angry that my OB wouldn't listen to what I was saying. I think that's hugely important whether it's really listening to what someone wants in a birth plan to just how they feel treated as a patient is a must.

@jessibear: I could email my OB with questions... but I guess I never had an emergency outside of business hours where I was waiting for response from her.

@jessibear: I love the idea of being able to email non-emergent questions or concerns. Sometimes something would be worrying me, but I felt silly calling since I was sure it wasn't anything major. I'm sure that responding to those emails though could become insanely time consuming.

I was looking for a practice that had an in-house sonographer, a responsive office, local and a small number of OBs. My practice alternates between 3 different OBs, so no matter what, you aren't being delivered by a stranger.

@jessibear: Another vote for email for non-emergent issues as well! That would be cool if the on-call doctor could respond!

Wait times, whether front desk is friendly/helpful since you deal with them all the time, office hours...

Of course whether dr delivers at the hospital of my choice.

One thing I liked about my practice that I never knew to ask was I got tons of sonograms and got to see LO almost every time I went in!

I started by looking at the doctor's ratings online and various reviews.

Things that I like about my OB: available 24/7 to answer questions (the doctors and nurses take turns being "on call" for call-in questions); 5 doctors who rotate so that whenever you deliver, it'll be a doctor you know; short wait time whenever I go in; handle ultrasounds, blood work, and almost everything on-site; affiliated with the hospital where I want to deliver; the doctors are very warm and easy to talk to; they always have tons of pamphlets and magazines available to take (a small perk, but I like it); they provide information for local groups, classes, etc. for patients who may be interested.

Things my OB could do better: unless it's an emergency, appointments have to be scheduled 2-4 weeks in advance (because they're a well-reviewed and popular OB office); sometimes have to wait a while to see the doctor.

I actually prefer being with a practice with 4 obs. They rotate you towards the end so that you meet all the doctors. I was with a single ob at the very beginning of my pregnancy and it was annoying having appointments constantly rescheduled or having to wait for hours at a time to see the doctor because she was constantly in surgery or delivering.

I will also say that the office staff and nurses are just as important to me staying. Another reason I left my first doctor at the beginning of pregnancy was because her office staff and nurse were rude and took days to get in contact with me regarding blood work and questions I had. I did not feel like I was valued so I left for a practice that takes the time to listen and is proactive. I appreciate being heard even if it seems silly.

For me seeing the same doctor every time was important. I also liked having in house ultrasound equipment so they could take a peek at any time. Bonus features to me- are having the pediatrician's office adjacent and extras like support groups, yoga and doulas they work with regularly.

I have the ability to email my midwives with questions, and I use it a LOT. It's one of my favorite things about them since I hate talking on the phone.

I also love that my midwives never, ever have long wait times. Every OB I've ever seen, you're lucky to see an actual doctor within 45 minutes of your appointment time. There's always a long wait in the waiting room and then another long wait once they take you back. My midwives are sometimes waiting on ME, if I need to fill out paperwork or something. In a similar vein, not booking up super far in advance is very helpful. If I need to get in at a particular time so my husband can come with me, I don't want to have to wait weeks longer if it's a popular time slot.

Support of natural birth, particularly with openness to things like laboring in water, using nitrous, moving around during labor, etc is very important to me. Even if I get the epi ultimately, I want it to be my choice and to have all the resources I need to maximize my chances of avoiding it. It's also my midwives standard practice to do skin to skin for the first two hours after birth, with baby never taken from me unless something is wrong. That was so exciting to hear.

My midwives do the rotating thing, but since there are so many they're split into two groups and you only ever see the midwives from your group. I like it in theory (since I don't know who will be on call when I deliver, this way I have met them all), but it actually doesn't work very well (possibly because there are still too many. They might do well to break into 3 or 4 groups). Pretty much every appointment they tell me what to expect at the next one, but apparently they don't communicate that so at the next one it's not what I was told. Like I was told I'd hear the heartbeat at my next appointment, then when I went in they said it was too early (and the first one did know when the appointment would be, just apparently the second one preferred to wait later). Then she said at the next one they'd be doing a pelvic exam, and they didn't do that either (though that I didn't mind skipping). They're overall great, and they take the time to listen to me and my concerns, but they don't communicate with each other well. Or other offices. I had a genetic screening this pregnancy through the genetics counselor at the MFM office (on the midwives recommendation), and over a month later one of the midwives asked me if we were considering doing any genetic testing. Long after we knew the results.

Also, they take the time to really familiarize themselves with my history before coming to talk to me. With my history, it can be very awkward to talk to a new doctor and have to explain my losses. They've never needed any explanation when I say I'm worried about the anatomy scan or something like that, and they're VERY understanding and accommodating when I need extra reassurance or to come in more frequently than usual. I also think they must take the time to read it before I get there, or they have it very well summarized in my chart, because like I said, they still don't have any extra wait before they come in, even with how complicated it is.

As far as the postpartum stuff, having not been postpartum yet I can't say for sure. I do know that being someone who has social anxiety, going to a group meeting would not be of interest to me. The MFM's tried to make me do that for GD last time, and I just flat refused. Having an LC available at postpartum visits would be nice though.

ETA- Agree that in-house ultrasounds are a big bonus. My midwives don't have that. So far it hasn't mattered, but I worry that one day they'll have a hard time finding the heartbeat, and I'll have to go to the imaging place to check on things, and that wait will drive me nuts worrying.