Is the pediatrician on your insurance plan? Is he or she in a convenient location so that you don’t have to drive for an hour with a sick child? Are the office hours convenient for you? How long do you have to wait for an appointment? Will you always see your own pediatrician? How long will you be kept waiting in the office? Is someone available when the office is closed if you need help? Is the office affiliated with a children’s hospital?
Although you could wait until your prenatal visit to consider these questions, you could also do a little homework on your own and call the offices to save some time. One “wrong” answer may not be enough to disqualify a potential doctor, but if you get several unsatisfactory answers, especially for the questions that are most important to you, then scratch that doctor’s name off of your list of candidates. Next, find out if the pediatricians that you are considering agree with your positions on important matters, like breastfeeding, antibiotic overuse, circumcision, and so on. If not, are they at least flexible and willing to help you do things the way you want to, even if they disagree with your methods?
The New Dad Consult
Although the first visit with a pediatrician is often called a “new mom consult,” it is usually best if both mom and dad go to any prenatal visits to meet the doctors that you are considering. After you make a list of candidates from recommendations and the questions found in this chapter, try to schedule a prenatal visit to meet each doctor. While some doctors charge for these “interviews,” most provide them as a free service. You will want to ask several questions about issues that are important to you, but the main point of these visits is simply to find out if you feel comfortable with the pediatrician and to see how his office works. For example, if you see a waiting room that is overflowing with frustrated parents who seem to be waiting for long periods of time, you might end up waiting for your visits, too, unless there was an emergency that put the office behind schedule. If you show up early for your prenatal visit and see a regular stream of kids come in and quickly go back to see the doctor, then you have likely found an office that is run very efficiently and which you might want to go to yourself.
You Can Change Your Mind
Even with a lot of recommendations and a good prenatal visit, it will still take a few “real-world” visits to find out if you have found the right pediatrician for you. It could be that there is a policy you didn’t know about, or maybe the doctor was simply on her best behavior for the “interview.” If you later encounter problems with your pediatrician or her office and you can’t resolve them, start the process over and look for another pediatrician.
title: “Choosing A Pediatrician” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Sandra Jorgensen”
Don’t just pick a doctor from the phone book or from a list provided by your insurance company. Don’t pick whoever is “on-call” when your baby is born. Don’t go to a pediatrician that someone else likes unless you ask what they like about the doctor. Don’t go to a doctor just because the office is in a convenient location.
It is important to choose a pediatrician before your baby is born so that if anything goes wrong, you will know who is taking care of your baby and advising you on medical decisions that you must make. Choosing the right doctor may mean avoiding unnecessary tests or treatments from a provider who is overly aggressive or, on the other hand, avoiding a doctor who misses something important because of an inappropriate “wait-and-see” attitude.
Getting Recommendations
Your choice is fairly easy if you already have a pediatrician who has been caring for your other children or if your own pediatrician is still practicing. If not, the best way to find a pediatrician is to get recommendations from friends or family members who have a pediatrician that they like. But it is important to find out why they like their doctor. Is it simply because the office is efficient and they can get in and out quickly? Or is it because they always get an antibiotic when they want one? When accepting someone’s recommendation, make sure that you are comfortable with the reason why they like the pediatrician, and that this reason has something to do with being an educated and competent doctor (not a personal preference for the way the waiting room is decorated, for instance). The same applies when a person recommends against a doctor, because the reason for being unhappy with that particular pediatrician may be something that wouldn’t bother you. Your partner’s own OB/GYN doctor might also be a good source of a recommendation, but again, ask why she is recommending the pediatrician.
Practicing Styles
Although parents often focus on office hours, hospital affiliations, and length of wait times, one of the most important things to focus on is the pediatrician’s style of practicing medicine. Does he wear a white coat and tie and seem very formal, or does he dress casually and have a playful, informal style? Does he spend a long time explaining things, or does he provide you with reference material that you can take home and read? Recognizing the pediatrician’s style is important, because just as we each become friends with different types of people, there will likely be a particular pediatrician’s style with which you and your baby’s mother will be most comfortable.
Your Expectations
It is also important to consider your own expectations when you choose a pediatrician. Do you want to always be able to talk to the doctor when you call for advice, and not have to speak with a nurse? Do you expect these calls to be able to last fifteen or thirty minutes? If you have moved or your previous pediatrician is no longer practicing, you can’t always expect to have the same relationship with your new doctor. Just because your previous pediatrician gave you her home phone number to use at any time does not mean that your new pediatrician will do the same thing. The one thing you should expect is that building a relationship takes time on both ends, although with time you may get those same privileges from another doctor.
