early-pregnancy.info

• WORD OF MOUTH

By all means, get recommendations from friends, family members and colleagues. It’s easier to go with the good experiences of someone you know and whose opinion you trust, rather than to go with a complete stranger who you may have only read about. However, if you’re not ready to spread the news of your pregnancy and can’t go asking people you know for the name of a doctor they recommend, you could try asking the hospital you’ve chosen to deliver at. They will have a list of specialists they work with and you can narrow this down to those who are conveniently located near you. The other way round works too; once you’ve chosen a gynaecologist, you can ask them which hospitals they’re attached to or work with. And likewise, narrow the choices down to those closest to you.

• YOUR TIME TOGETHER

We can’t stress enough how important it is to choose a doctor who will meet all your needs - from being able to work with your schedule for appointments, to area of expertise if you have a current medical complication, to even thoughts about how much your partner should be involved. In a low-risk pregnancy, you will visit your doctor once a month for your first and most of your second trimester. Once you hit 28 weeks, your visits will be more frequent at every fortnight. In your last month, you may be scheduled for weekly visits. 

• INTERVIEW WITH YOUR GYNAECOLOCIST 

Before you go to the first gynaecologist that was recommended or is nearest to you, you need to make a list of what’s important to you during your pregnancy, labour and delivery. You may want to try narrowing down your choices by doing an informal interview of the doctors on your list. If meeting them face to face and possibly telling them “this won’t work” makes you uncomfortable, you may want to call the doctor’s office and ask the receptionist if you’re allowed to ask a few questions. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but you can start with some of these:

• Is this a solo or group practice - you may feel better with a group of doctor who can attend to you at any time, or you might prefer the attention of one doctor who gets to know you and your baby
• Which health-care programme are you participating in - you can tally this with the medical programme that you or your partner’s company works with
• What are your office hours - if you can only make it for appointments on weekends or weekday evenings, this is relevant. You don’t want to take too much time off work for gynaecologist’s appointments
• Which hospitals do you work with – as mentioned before, you can connect this with the hospital you have in mind
• Do these hospitals have a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) - this is a special nursery for babies who are born with medical complication, this may be essential for women in high-risk pregnancies
• What are the hospitals’ policies about rooming-in - you may prefer to recuperate without the baby or you may want him with you always. Find out what each hospital offers
• Can my partner be present during each visit - most gynaecologists encourage these but it’s always good to find out first, especially if his presence is important to you
• Do the hospitals you work with encourage fathers during labour and delivery? 

If your gynaecologist is also your obstetrician:

• What is your stand on pain relief during delivery
• should you ask before you’re given or will this Ob/Gyn give you relief the moment you need it?
• Do you encourage elective Caesareans and when would you consider an emergency C-section for me?
• Do you encourage natural childbirth if I’ve had a previous Caesarean?

When you first find out you’re expecting, it may feel like you’re stepping into uncharted territory. You’re at loss about what to do next and where you can get the most help. Aside from well-meaning elder relatives and friends who have children of their own, the one person you can turn to most would probably be your gynaecologist and or obstetrician. It makes a world of difference when you have to spend a lot of time in the next nine months with a healthcare provider who is reassuring and proficient.  
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