Pediatrician

I have 6 weeks till my scheduled C-section and my Dr. suggested that I find a pediatrician with rights at the hospital I am delivering. I live 45 miles away so I will also have one in the town I live in for after the girls get home. Has anyone else done this yet? It feels wierd to just call and schedule an appt. Not sure if that is what I even have to do. I know they are supposed to come to the hospital when the girls are born. Thanks.

p.s. If anyone lives in Houston, I would especially like to chat about this in more detail. Thanks.

 

I had asked my dr. for referrals for a Pedi., once I got the names I called & told them that I would be having twins and my c/s date.
The Pedi office let me know that the hospital will contact them once the babies arrive. (you will tell the hospital who you have chosen as a pedi).
Once the hospital notifies the Pedi the babies were born the pedi will come to the hospital a few times in the first couple days
Good luck!

 

Does anyone have a list (or something like that) of question to ask pediatricians to find out if they are right for you?

 

The way it works at our hospital is you let L&D know when you check in who the babies pediatrician is. Your OB should be able to give you some recommendations since you do not live nearby. Before the babies are discharged depending on the pediatrician he or she will come in and examine the babies, perform circumcisions, and discharge them home. If the pediatrician you have chosen does not come into the hospital then one of the pediatric attendings will do this. Either way you will be asked to make an appt. for 2 days after discharge to follow-up with your ped. Our hospital makes us do this prior to our own discharge. When I chose my last babies doctor I just called in to see if he was accepting new pt.'s-and he was. The next step was to just let the hospital know when I went in to have her. It may be easier just to pick a follow-up physician in your own town since at the hospital all they are really going to do is give them the once over in the nursery and discharge them. If the babies have NICU time or any other needs (I'm sure they won't) it is likely that there will be other doctors tending to that, not your regular pediatrician.

I would ask about same day appts. for sick visits because that is what I hae heard a lot of people complain about. What if your child gets sick on the weekends? Is there anybody on call? A lot of people have complained about having to take their kiddos into urgent care because their peds office did not offer these services. Also you might want to ask where the doctor has priveleges close to your hometown in case of hospital admissions. My oldest daughters ped doesn't have rights to the hospital where we work and our covered so if we ever had to admit her for anything eiither she wouldn't be able to follow her care or we would have to pay out of pocket for her to go to a different hospital.

 

I've had the same ped since my oldest DD was a baby. I had used another one when she was first born, but didn't care for them. They totally dismissed my concern about her "screaming" and told me babies cry. :angry: I switched to another ped that my friend used and loved and it turned out my concerns were founded, my DD had reflux. Anyway, my point is I am very glad I went with a recommendation from a friend.

Do you have any friends or family in the area that have a ped they love that you might want to go to? I would call the peds office once you decide on one and tlel them you are having twins and your c/s date (just as Tamara did).

 

I live in Houston. PM and I can help.

 

My hospital I was delivering at was 45 minutes from my hometown. So I found a pediatrician for the girls at the hospital, and then another for my hometown.

It was odd though because the one I picked at the hospital wasn't there, so the person covering for him was on call. I thank god she was because she was AWESOME! She had had triplets and was so helpful to me when Addison had to be lifeflighted to a Level 3 NICU.

Anyways, I never saw them again and I found another ped in my hometown where we go now.

 

I live about 40min from where I will deliver (the same facility I work in) and all the pediatricians here aren't taking new patients...ggrr!

I found a couple of local providers that I acutally set up 'appointments' with. Just kind of a meet and greet, to make sure their philosophies match mine.

I know the providers in our area are used to parents coming in for a consult prior to babies being born.

Best of luck to you!

 

I delivered in the city but live in the suburbs. I just had whatever ped was in the hospital that day. It may have been one that my Dr. knew. I really dont know. I did not have to schedule one to come though...they just came! Then I used my own once I got home.

 

I found my twins doctor when I was only 5 months pregnant. I was referred to her through a friend since she was comfortable with our views on certain things.