Questions to ask your OB

If you read one of the previous posts you will know that James and I felt good about our old doctors office. We only had to see the one doctor I felt comfortable with for all the office visits, and even though there was a slight chance we would have to see the other doctor (the one that delivered Jack) we were okay with that. After all, delivering a second child is supposed to be easier than the first with less complications, right?

But after hearing a few more stories from friends experiences with the same doctor (the one that delivered Jack that is) we decided our doctor search was not over. A few of them had similar feelings to me. They didn't feel comfortable with the doctors visits with Dr. B, so they requested to only see Dr. A or the other dr. on call. But when they went into labor it was Dr. B who delivered them and we all shared the same disapointed outcome - a very unfulfilling birth experience. One of my friends even told me that he refused to let her have a second opinion about getting a c-section. Who does that?

Needless to say I began to feel more and more uncomfortable with our decision. There had to be another option for us. As luck would have it, our friend Kiersten left a comment on our blog saying that she had found a great family doctor in town that also had training in obstetrics. She said that she had been really happy with the personal service they received and he was very friendly and had time to discuss and answer questions she had, which the other doctors never had the liberty to really do. They were so busy. So I decided to interview this other doctor she referred.

I'm happy to say that I am in love. We spent 45 minutes of Dr. Jones' time just asking him question after question. He was very friendly, and didn't seem to be bothered by us taking up his time. We were very impressed with him! All of our concerns with the other doctor were put to rest with this one. He was very approachable, explained things with out us having to specifically ask him to, and we won't have to worry about having to see more than one doctor because he is the only one in his practice. He is welcoming to all types of birth experiences (He has worked with midwives and doulas and also with special care doctors) and welcomes bringing in and discussing the type of birth plan we are looking for. We were a little worried about our due date because my cycle had been so irregular that my due date could have been anywhere from June to July and I didn't want to get induced if our due date wasn't very accurate. Jack had measured a week and a half ahead of his due date and had been three days late before we got induced with him, so I was worried that maybe the same thing was happening with this baby. Maybe he/she was only 16 weeks along but measuring at 18 weeks, so I would hate to have to force them out with an induction before they were ready to come. He said that the early ultrasounds are pretty accurate in measuring how many weeks along you are, but the longer you wait the less accurate they are. The measuring of the stomach (he used another word) is also another indication of due date because generally speaking if you are measuring 18 you should be 18 weeks along. When you feel quickening (first movements of the baby) that is also an indication of whether or not you are on the right course with your due date. He also said that if we are really worried about it, there is a procedure where they can actually test the age of the amniotic fluid to get an accurate gestational age of the baby. Our due date from our first ultrasound to our second one was only off by 1 day, so we're hoping that means our due date is pretty accurate.

Needless to say we won't be going back to the other doctors office. We both feel really good about our choice. The only thing stopping us now is we have to wait until we hear from our insurance to make sure we are covered before we switch over. Hopefully we hear from them soon!

Before we went in to interview him we researched and thought up some good questions that you should ask your ob doctors. I thought I would share some below for those who are also in the same plight as we were with finding a good ob doctor.

1. How long have you been in practice?
2. Where did you receive your training? Specifically for ob/gyn?
3. Is this a solo practice? If so, do you deliver all your patients or is there another dr. that may be called?
4. Why did you become a dr?
5. What tests do you normally perform for a woman like me?
6. What hospital do you work with?
7. Can you be reached in an emergency? If so, how?
8. How many babies have you delivered? What percentage vaginal? What percentage c-section? Why do you think that is?
9. How often do you perform vacuum or forceps assisted deliveries? (For us we asked how many of those are for a 2nd baby)
10. What is your position on inductions? C-sections? Pain Control? Episiotomies?
11. Do you have a problem with us asking for a 2nd opinion from another doctor if you are requesting these procedures?
12. How often do you perform episiotomies? (for 2nd babies) Why do you perform them? Would you be comfortable if we requested not to have an episiotomy and would prefer to tear instead?
13. Do you support various labor methods? (Natural? Lamaze? Bradley? Pain Medicated?)
14. Do you support or recommend the use of a birth plan?
15. How experiences are you with high-risk pregnancies? What things do you watch out for?
16. Do you have any vacations scheduled that conflict with or are close to my due date?
17. Does the office offer any support with respect to breast feeding?

You should also look at how the office staff treats you and other patients. Are they friendly and approachable? Is the office clean and orderly? What is the wait time for your appointments and scheduling?

Those type of things also make an impact on your experience you will have there. What is most important is how you feel about your experience there and what things are most important to you.