Help - First Obstetrician Appointment - Questions

[morganm2b]

Hi there.

I have my first obstetrician appointment tomorrow and was wondering what sort of questions I should ask. This obstetrician has been referred to me by my doctor but I am a bit nervous as I don't know anyone else who has used her. I will be ten weeks tomorrow. Does this mean that if I don't like her it will be too late to change to another? Will another have to do the same tests all over again? Cheers!! I hope everybody has had a good weekend.

Nervous m2b.

Julie

[morganm2b]

Anyone know?

[veve]

sorry hon - I didn't see your post!!!!

firstly congrats on the pregnancy :D

I dont really remember my first OB appointment ... I was kinda overwhelmed I think!!!

you could post a thread asking if anyone has used your OB before... I know I have no dramas recommending mine .. I loved him!!! so if someone here has used her you will usually be told! :)

I think one of the main things I did was check my dates.. discuss the hospitals he was based in ... and talked to him about his stance on some birth stuff - like that I wanted to move around during labour... I also insisted that he tell me what was normal... ( I hate it when they tell you the baby's heartrate... and then nothing else... IS IT RIGHT FOR THE AGE??? :o ) ...

if you meet her and dont like her dont be afraid to look for another... I met mine at 8 weeks... but I dont think that 10 weeks would be too late to look around..

good luck!!!
xxx

[drewid]

Hi there

Why would you have offended someone? :confused:

I didn't ask much as my first OB appointment, I was so nervous that he would give me an 'examination' that everything else was eclipsed!! lol. He was really lovely though, very laidback.

If you dont' like your ob and have to change, you shouldn't have to have all your tests done again - just take all your previous results with you to your new doc.

Oh, and its NEVER too late to change your doctor!! Its YOUR choice...you're paying for their service!! Having said that though, some obs get booked up awfully quickly, so its best to settle on one sooner rather than later!!

[veve]

nicole I think she was worried cause no one had replied since 5:30... and it is now 8:30... I dont know how I missed her post ???

xx

[morganm2b]

Hehe. Thanks heaps. We didn't find out we were expecting until I was 7 weeks (I have long cycles and as we had been trying for so long I didn't think we were). Anyway, I did my test of Christmas dat and then on boxing day we went to Tasmania for ten days, so I couldn't see my doc until I got back. Hence the delay with everything. Thanks again for your advice.

[Frazzled]

Congrat's Morgan. Always keep in mind that you can always chnage ur doc if ur not comofrtable. First visit you will be asked a lot of questions - family medical history, medication, previous preg's, partners med hist, blood group etc. They will check ur weight and blood pressure and if ur lucky and ur ob has a ultrasound machine in her rooms you will get to see the baby! Very exciting. Has your GP done bloods yet or sent u for an ultrasound? If not the ob will do that cause they need to confirm your blood group, check for a range of sti's etc. and some docs like to do a confirming ultrasound.

If u change ur ob you'll find they will just get the info from the old ob, not resend u. You'll find that after the initial tests you wont have anything until your Glucose test and 18 week ultrasound, unless there is any need for other things.

Things to ask - will she be on holidays or away when u are expecting? costs? what happens when she is delayed for appointments because of births - will they cancel and reschedule appnts or does she have a midwife in her rooms that you can see? what does she recommend for early pregnancy(taking care of urself etc)? you can also ask a range of quests about labour and pain relief etc but i found that was far more relevant later in the preg. Discuss hospital options with her also.

A good indication of how popular and well thought of is - how busy she is (if shes great be prepared to pend a long time in the waiting room for the next 8 months) and how many thank you notes and photos are on her waiting room walls. IMO anyway!

Good luck x

[morganm2b]

Thanks heaps KateP. Geez I hope I don't have to wait too long as I'm trying to squeeze the appointment into my lunch break. My local hospital uses this obstetrician aswell for their public patients so I'm not sure if that is a good sign or not. That's where I got her name from, and then my doctor referred me, saying that she knew of her also. Our local hospital is a public hospital (as I said) but they take private patients too. I was keen on another private hospital which my ob uses but it's about a half hour drive away and my friends reckon that's too far to drive. Any thoughts?? The local is about ten to fifteen minutes away.

[veve]

pffft ... its not too far away ..

friends of mine live 45 minutes from the hospital that we all use... and they all got there (all three of them) on time....

unless you have an amazingly quick birth (especially being your first) you'll be fine... one of my friends was sent home and had to come back cause she went in too early... she made it easily BOTH times...

I figure you're paying private fees??? go the private hospital,,, try to ensure that you have a good chance at getting your own room... and dont be afraid to ring both hospitals and ask for a tour!!! (my prenatal class did one) ... you need to know NOW that you are going to get what you want LATER..

xxx

[Frazzled]

Are u a private patient? Then i'd recommend the private. I went private and it was fanatastic, and thats what u are paying your money for right? Our hosp was 20-30 mins away, and keep in mid that 1st labours are very rarely over in a speedy amount of time.

My obs was amazing and also worked in the public hosp, so don't take that as any sign.

Good luck for the lunch break - in 8 months i never saw my ob on time, one day he was 4.5 hours late - sorry. But they used to recommend calling 1/2 hour early to see how he was going and the receptionist would give u a better time if required.

x

[morganm2b]

Thanks veve. Just what I thought. A friend of mine freaked today saying it was too far and what if I went into labour and it was rush hour blah blah blah. Scared my poor husband to death - got him thinking he was going to have to deliver it in the back of the car. Great!! It was just what I needed. A stressed husband!!

[morganm2b]

And yeah I am a private patient, although the local public also takes private patients (with their own private obs) if that makes sense. You are likely to get your own room at the local public anyway, but are probably more likely to get the private room at the private hospital. My husband is worried that if something goes wrong that we are better off with the closer one. I'll have a chat with the ob anyway - she might put his mind at rest. And yes thanks for the advice - I'll definitely call the ob half an hour before the appointment.