How did you decide?!

[julianovak]

Sooo....... My first pregnancy i was thrown from one doctor to another, I didnt have a "set" doctor..... I dont know why that was..... I didnt like how everything turned out, i hadnt really gotten comfortable with one person, and id go see someone new.Oh and my Ob/gyn doctor that saw me during my first pregnancy "popped" in to see how i was "pushing" how absolutly pathetic. I found that SO RUDE..... And i cant stand to see someone who does things like that.... Im not a "number" im NOT a "patient" whos being treated for an illness of some sort. I want to be treated with the respect and dignity i was treated with in the delivery room.....

After delivery i realized that the women (midwife) who delivered my baby was someone id never even met....... Now, as akward as this sounds, I remember this midwife so well, i remember her being so gentle and caring towards my daughter at birth and being so patient with me...... I actually now know her name, and with this baby Ive decided i want to see her, and i hope to have her present for my second childs birth as well..... My heart is set on it.... Its so strange how sometimes you "just" know"......... What are your experiances with "choosing the perfect midwife/ob/gyn".......

=)

[julianovak]

Yeah I agree, every hospital is very different I known at the one I was at my ob do pop in a few times during my labor so I never had the fear of someone not being there in case of Er , l know at the hospitAl I will deliver at it's only one floor with only about 15 delivery rooms. So it is not big in terms of ob not getting to my room on time, also they have heart monitor on in the lobby so they see baby heart beat.... And all high risk pregnancys or preemies go to deliver at another hospital much bigger one. There is always a few ob gym doctors checking our babies chicken ob our labor but here At the hospital we deliver with midwives, I chose to see midwife thru out my pregnancy instead of seeing ob bc I know that is who wil deliver baby

[ammanda]

First of all, I'm not gonna start an argument, this is my opinion, which is what you asked for so don't argue back with me please.... I had an OB GYN.  He was my sisters OB for both of her pregnancies.  so I just went with him.  There are pros and there are cons with him.  Lets start with the pros. First of all he was very nice. and even though there are 2 doctors in his practice I told him from the beginning that I didn't want to see anyone but him. and he made that possible.  If he couldn't be there he would reschedule with me for later in the day or the next day.  I begged him for a C section and he would not give me one( I don't agree with saying all Ob's like C sections. its ignorant for someone to say that)  I also begged to be induced and he refused, he was more of the kind that wanted to let nature take its course.  He always let me have as many people in his office as I wanted for my checkups( I had a lot of happy anxious friends and family that wanted to be apart of it)  He never acted irritated or anything.  And all though I did feel rushed when it came to my appointments or like a number like someone had said before.. when it came down to it and I had a question he always took the time to explain it the best he could.  And i was 4 weeks behind in growth as some of you might remember, he was kind enough to give me 3 u/s to make sure everything was okay.  But when it came to my delivery, he was there pretty much most of the time. He did step out for about a half hour while I was pushing cause I wasn't progressing much at the time, But I had a wonderful nurse.  but he delivered my baby. I don't get what some of you mean by OBS never seeing a birth, My OB delivered my baby.  

I don't disagree about midwives not being safe or whatever.  My friend had a midwife, which practice in the same office as my doctor, and my friend loved her. she delivered in the hospital, and there was an ob doctor on the floor in case of an emergency.  So here they take all precautions.  

But I do agree that if it was a midwife on her own, then I wouldn't trust that my baby would be okay if something bad were to happen or something be seriously wrong.  
Everyone is entitled to there own opinions. everyone feels different.

[mom2ariana]

im sorry you had a bad experience with an ob. im sure plenty of people have bad experiences with obs and plenty of people have bad experiences with midwives. i was just blessed to have a good experience & birth. but i dont judge anyone for chosing a midwife, i was just giving my opinion. :)

[julianovak]

Yes I know... My point is if my child is head down, why would I need an ob gyn ? Obv if the baby is trAnsverse it requires ob gyn but I'm talking from everything being normal I dot need a surgeon to deliver my baby.  All obs are different . I had am awful experiAnce with mine and have no more interest in a doctor who has dinner and getting home on time on his mind. I'll pass on any ob gyn I had a midwife deliver my first baby and she turned her while ahe was coming out and overAll treated me and my daughter with respect compared to the ob who treated me like a number and induced me for no reason exept for the fact that he was at hospital that day. Yeah no thanks.

[julianovak]

Yes I know... My point is if my child is head down, why would I need an ob gyn ? Obv if the baby is trAnsverse it requires ob gyn but I'm talking from everything being normal I dot need a surgeon to deliver my baby.  All obs are different . I had am awful experiAnce with mine and have no more interest in a doctor who has dinner and getting home on time on his mind. I'll pass on any ob gyn I had a midwife deliver my first baby and she turned her while ahe was coming out and overAll treated me and my daughter with respect compared to the ob who treated me like a number and induced me for no reason exept for the fact that he was at hospital that day. Yeah no thanks.

[mom2ariana]

oh and i know the history. babies and women used to die all the time back before our medicine had intervened. modern medicine is indeed a blessing beyond all measure and saves countless lives every year. sure, midwives were all that delivered women, but back in those days before c sections existed nothing could be done for a baby that was transverse and wouldn't turn. both mother and baby died in labor.

[mom2ariana]

also about the c section thing i do not think that is fair to put OB's in that category because the doctor that delivered my baby did EVERYTHING they could to avoid a c section, including giving me oxygen, putting me in different positions, and (despite the nurse thinking it unnecessary) giving me an amniofusion...only after my baby's heart rate had recovered did the OB tell me she and my primary OB were both concerned i would need a c section.

[mom2ariana]

well i am just picturing any scenario where the baby's life is in danger, be it a cord accident, heart rate fall, etc... and it will take a few seconds for the OBGYN to get into the delivery room. if you are delivering at a hospital where i live and a midwife is delivering your baby, the OB is not in the room they are just on call in the doctor's lounge. anywhoo i am not saying it is unlogical to have a midwife deliver your baby, im just saying strictly IMO OBGYNs are what i consider safer and what i am more comfortable with. you asked how we chose our doctor/midwife and i was just telling you how i came to my decision. i am by no means judging you for chosing a midwife, just like i do not judge pregnant women that do certain things during their pregnancy i wouldn't be comfortable with and vise versa.

[Shayne1989]

WItht he OB office out here for prenatal care, it seems all of them are where there are anywhere from 2-5 different OB's working in that one office and you go around and see all of them and whichever is on call is the one that delivers your baby for you. I think its stupid. Especially since atleast at my old office, i liked one but not the other. I had to change since we moved but out here its the same way! has anyone else seen OB offices run this way?

[julianovak]

Why do you think that midwives are not safe? That's so funny for me to hear bc ob gym doctors  didn't even exist, midwives mAde all the deliveries..... Ob gyn doctors came into the view only when the world realized they wanted to make money off of our births.... You should research that you would be surprised to find most ob gym doctors have never seen a natural childbirth before. Ob gym are only neeed for those that are high risk.... That is the only difference between ob doc and midwife is that ob knows how to perform c section. You make it seem as if making the choice to have a midwife deliver my baby is unlogical, when in actuality it's the only logical decision one can come up with, as that is all they do is deliver babies... And precious seconds? I don't know wher you live but here where I do the doctors are doing c sections and midwives aee delivering. Ob gyn are AlwYs around should the need arise, and usually a problem is usually seen on heart monitor well ahead of time. Not talking seconds but a decent amount of time, regardless of whAt emergency should Arise either way you have to be prepped and wheeled n to c sec room if that s what you meant. But seriously do look into the history

[Graciemom77]

My first group with dd they bounced you around so you could get  to know everyone. My labor was so Long I had two of them   Anyway this time I asked around and my gf have me the name of the ones her and her fam use. They seem really nice and small so well see.  

But finding a good ob your comfortable with is hard Just keep looking and don't atop till your happy.

[mom2ariana]

i chose my ob because she was already my gynecologist when i wasn't pregnant so the decision was easy. i never even considered a midwife because i think its somewhat unsafe....at least IMO i'd rather have a doctor present just in case something were to go wrong. i dont want a doctor to be down the hall if something happens...those precious seconds it takes them to get to your room could be life/death. idk maybe i was paranoid but i felt much safer with an OB. i don't care if im a number or a patient, as long as the took care of my daughter. which they never failed to do. my ob did make me feel like that somewhat but to this day i dont care, because my daughter is perfectly healthy and was delivered safely.
i was rotated around as well, because there are 5 doctors in their practice and she wanted me to know them all in case they delivered ariana instead of her. i saw one that was WONDERFUL. she was one of the doctors that is safe beyond measure. she admitted me to the hospital for a night because she saw dips in ariana's heartrate, she gave me an NST because i was worried ariana's femur measured short, and she also gave me an advanced ultrasound to check for other soft markers. she told me she didn't think it was necessary but she didn't want to scare me. so some OB's don't make you feel like a number, and they are extremely kind and considerate. she ended up being the one that was on call when i delivered. but even if she wasn't,, i wouldn't have cared. sure, it was irritating sometimes to be rushed out but as long as ariana was taken care of i wasn't concerned.

[julianovak]

I made an appoitment with a nurse, and then im going to be seeing the midwife that delivered my baby.... Ive never seen her thruout my pregnancy with Isa, but she was so caring and gentle with BElla that i know i HAVE to see her with this pregnancy.

[Ashelen]

I got shifted around a group of doctors my first pregnancy...and there were several fantastic doctors and some really really awful ones...one midwife that consistantly made me cry and whom I actually had a row with in the office when she pushed so hard with the dopplar on my stomach at my 18wk appointment that I cramped so hard I couldn't straighten for 2 days....went to the ER and they told me never to let her touch me again...I went back after calling the office and telling them never to schedule me with her again and she came in and tried to have a go at me for "maligning her professional mannerisms and giving her a bad reputation" and I gave her an earful. now i am NOT a confrontational person but she seriously got the rough side of my tongue that day.


the doctor who delivered my daughter was so old and slow (he was even semi-retired) that he barely made it in time to catch my daughter. granted he had quick fingers and sewed me up before I bled to death so I am grateful to him for that...but...never again.

so with my son I did a lot of searching...pulled up a pair of OBs who work as hand-in-hand partners and did some online patient review reading...and when EVERY SINGLE review out of 300 (!!!!) was favorable..I decided to go with them. they were the most amazing, most caring, most professional, caring, funny, affectionate, skilled doctors I have seen in my life, and I've seen a ton of doctors. I wish I could get ALL my care from them.

online patient reviews = a God-send.

[JoyRenee]

*found the midwives with my third baby; forgot to mention that. The first two were born with OBGYNs.

Obstetricians are in actuality trained surgeons and most have never even seen or attended a birth (especially not a natural one) before starting out in their field of choice. A midwife is specifically trained in birth and how to make it most effective. I really appreciate the midwives' stance on birth and the womans' body.

They're becoming increasingly popular. People think they're hippies who smell like patchouli and don't shave or dance under the moon. They're not. They VERY intelligent, educated and trained in all things birth. Most midwives have a c-section rate of less than 5% whereas OBs have upwards of almost 50%. And it is proven that home birth is safer than hospital birth. The infant and woman mortality rate in the US is one of the highest. We need to look at WHY and get back to letting the laboring woman do what her body needs to do. And in the rare cases assistance is needed welcome the OB with open arms!

[JoyRenee]

Had OBGYNs with my first two births and just felt like a number in line. There was a LOT of defensive medicine ("We'll give you an IV JUST in case...") and even talk of a c-section because my second daughter's collarbone broke at birth. There was no resolution or solutions to my fears.

So I called up a midwife group when I was 36 or 37 weeks pregnant and they took me in. A few weeks later I had my baby with only three people in the room (MIL, husband and the midwife) without any preventative/defensive measures and I had her vaginally and DID NOT EVEN TEAR.

I felt I was FINALLY heard when I found the midwife group. Next time I'm shooting for a water birth! Might even consider a home birth if husband is on board.

[trying43]

I picked my doctor based on how much time she spent with me and how she treated me as a person not just a patient.  I was totally comfortable with her. Also all the doctors in her group are excellent in case she isnt there in time and they are all super nice.  

[julianovak]

Thank You! I definatly will check into patient reviews.... =)

[beanie485]

I chose a Dr I use to work with the decision was really easy for me but that's because I had worked for him for a few years I know he's a good doctor with great work ethics and WONDERFUL bedside manners. His patients are absolutely his first priority I mean how many doctors do you know who give out their personal cell numbers and say if you need me call me. I have seen him drive to his office on a weekend unlock the door let one patient in and do a ultrasound on her because she was so worried about her baby. I have seen him pay for a patient to take a taxi to the office because she had no other way there and I have seen him call patients at home numerous times just to see how they were doing
YES this is the doctor for me because I know I am in good hands I have no doubts or fears.
Plus if he is your assigned doctor then he will be the one to deliver your baby and you see only him throughout your pregnancy

Ask around ask other friends and family who they saw, what they thought and you can also research doctors online through ACOG I think you can see their patient ratings what patients think of the staff that are in the office and things like that

[smjmekg]

That's my point! I'm not really limited, but it'd be difficult to switch drs...I'm just so grateful that this dr has a brain! I really like her, plus she's pregnant too about 6 or 9 weeks behind me, so it's kinda cool to be going through the same thing. I mean, how much closer to knowing how you feel can your dr get besides being the exact same number of weeks?

[julianovak]

hahaha lol.. No i totally agree with you! This is my baby and me, why cant i have the midwife of my choice? unless god forbid complications arise and ill need a ob/gyn.

[smjmekg]

Sorry I couldn't help more, I just thought of the movie "Knocked Up" and how she went through interviewing so many drs...I don't see why you can't do it in real life too.

[julianovak]

Yeah Thats what i was thinking.... Ill see how my appoitment goes with C.Smidy Cnm, then if im still not "satisfied" or comfortable ill look for another one.

[smjmekg]

I unfortunately didn't have a choice with Elijah, I had two different OBs since I moved to another state, both were HORRIBLE! This time I am fortunate that I like my dr.

I would see if you can maybe set up an appointment kind of like an interview with ones that are available for you to see, and see how you like them.