Tuesday, March 03, 2009

GP for me

When I got pregnant the first time I went to see my doctor and she referred me to someone to follow my pregnancy. She told me I had 3 options : OB, a different GP that followed pregnancies or a midwife.

She immediately told me she would prefer I didn't have a midwife because of my tendency to get high blood pressure and my family history of pre-eclampsia.

She then told me that I could have an OB if I wanted but that she didn't really recommend it. Her reasoning is that OBs specialize in pregnancy issues. If you don't have anything complicated going on with your pregnancy then you're just a regular old pregnant lady like they see HUNDREDS of times a year. As a result her experience was that they didn't offer the same level of care, time, and personal touch as the other two option.

So she recommended the GP because it was a good blend of the two. And I have to say I really agree.

I contemplated going with a midwife this time around but for the same reasons as I chose the GP the first time, as well as because Kiernan's cord was wrapped around his neck, I knew I felt a bit more comfortable with a doctor. I chose a different GP because I wanted to deliver at a closer hospital this time.

When I got pregnant with twins I was told by the ultrasound technician that a lot of GPs don't feel comfortable following twin pregnancies so he might transfer me to an OB. Luckily that wasn't the case - my doctor has been doing this for upwards of 30 years and he's pretty easy going about stuff - twins was no big deal to him. But he did want me to have a consult with an OB - which I had yesterday.

The OB was very nice, and maybe it was different because it was a consult and I wasn't becoming his actual patient, but I really did feel like "just another pregnant lady". And I've got two babies - that's a bit more complicated than just one...

He wasn't rude or anything. He just made me feel like he was rushed. And my questions were kind of inane. And when I told him he'd delivered a bunch of my friends' babies his response was more or less "I'm not surprised. I deliver a lot of babies". Umm. ok. Sorry, I won't try to make any conversation here.

He and his team now have my file and will be available to me should anything get more complicated with my pregnancy. So that's good. Hopefully I won't have any need for them though. And I have an ultrasound scheduled on Thursday and I can't wait to see the babies and found out how big they are (more to come soon on how big and uncomfortable *I* am ;)

What did you choose when you had a baby? Where you happy with that?

2 comments:

Katie Valentine said...

hah. Was that OB Dr. LaMensa, by chance?

Anonymous said...

I had no choice but to have an OB because of the anti-epileptic drugs I'm on.

But I love her. She does tend to run late, but that is because she gives each patient personal attention. I saw her throughout all three of my pregnancies and she delivered my last two (she would have delivered the 1st, but, well, it is a long story- she was there during labor and after, just not for the c-section). She was pregnant with her third at age 39 while I was pregnant with my second. She was one of my inspirations when I went on to have a non-medicated birth with #3.

No matter what kind of person delivers your baby(ies), I think it is important to feel comfortable with them. If you aren't happy with this OB, maybe try to find another? Hopefully you won't need to use him but just in case.