Good Doctors

Taken from my Cafemom Blog.

You DESERVE a Good Doctor!

• March 4, 2008 at 12:53 PM by deelucas
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The title of my journal is something I couldn't come to grips with and to be quite honest, I couldn't completely wrap my head around.

A few months before I got pregnant a friend of mine and I went to go see the movie, "Knocked Up". There is a series of scenes in the movie where the main character is interviewing OB/GYN's and she goes through numerous appointments before she settles on one she feels comfortable with. To me, the whole entire thing seemed overboard. Who would spend that much time looking for a doctor? They're all virtually the same, right? Boy was I wrong.

In the end, the joke was on me because as I was walking out the theater door muttering, "man that movie was good birth control" I had no idea what was in store for me just a few short months later.

When I started looking for an OB/GYN I had very little criteria. I'm still young, so 75% of the doctors I've seen in my life have been chosen by my parents. The others, were referrals from either my parents or friends- and I had never personally chosen one for myself. I was personally more concerned about where they did their blood-work, because of my deathly fear of needles. And honestly, that is how I chose my first OB.

This pregnancy was textbook. I was keeping my weight gain to a minimum, eating healthy, exercising, and all of my appointments were short and routine. I had very little questions and my doctor seemed to like it that way. Everything looked good and I felt confident.

Until I hit 29 weeks. That's when everything started to unravel. My blood pressure was elevated, my doctor was pushing the panic button and I had no idea why. Every question I asked was met with an extremely vague answer. Every test came and went without so much as an explanation. I was left to go home after every appointment (4 in one week) and Google these conditions to get answers. The extreme cases I was reading about were scaring me half to death and all I could think about was my blood pressure shooting through the roof and my baby dying.

The final straw came when I went in to see her and she made me feel bad about gaining weight. I couldn't believe that after she had put me on bed rest, she was making me feel bad for gaining weight! There wasn't ANYTHING I could do to control that, of course I was going to gain some weight- I'm not MOVING. I was furious. Her response, "Oh well, we did put you on bed rest...didn't we?" as if she couldn't remember her own diagnosis was just insane. I immediately started looking for a new doctor.

The moment I walked into the office yesterday, I could tell it was a different feeling. It was small, quaint (not big and fancy like my last office) and relaxing. The receptionist was calling everyone by their first name (my last Dr. couldn't even remember my name) and the nurse offered me free prenatal vitamins. I spent 1/2 hr VENTING (I told myself I wouldn't do that, but it was hard) to the doctor about everything that had happened and she seemed sympathetic. She was appalled my doctor hadn't referred me to a perionatologist and hadn't taken ultrasounds to see how Davin was doing. She spent time going over what they were testing for at my appointments and explained to me how she would go about handling the rest of my pregnancy. I finally felt empowered and informed, for the first time in a month.

Needless to say, I immediately ordered my records and made another appointment to see her. I called and cancelled my appointment at my old office and it felt like I had a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Bottom line is; If you don't feel like you are getting quality care or attention from a doctor...you deserve better. Yes, it's stressful to change doctors at almost 32 weeks- I won't deny that. But, I can't even imagine letting my old doctor deliver my son now. If you don't feel like your doctor is communicating with you, change. Period. It's worth it in the end.

(On a side note- I will be delivering Davin early. He should be here in about a month! I will update with the date as soon as we schedule it)