Planning A Family: Here's What To Consider When Choosing An Obstetrician To Work With

It's important to find an obstetrician to work with one-on-one throughout the entirety of your family planning experience. If you're seeing multiple doctors during the planning stages or throughout a pregnancy, you run the risk of having valuable medical data lost that's important to your overall care.

Fertility Treatments

One of the most important things to think about when choosing an obstetrician to work with as you plan your new family is fertility treatment options. If for any reason you find that you can't get pregnant naturally on your own at some point in the future, whether when trying for a first or third child, it's important that your OB-GYN offers multiple fertility treatment options to try. At the very least, they should have access to a network of trusted fertility specialists they can refer you to and that they can work with to find a solution that meets your needs.

At best, they'll have a fertility specialist working in-house so you can take advantage of an integrated treatment approach. But you certainly shouldn't have to go searching for a third-party fertility specialist to work with. This can result in a fractured treatment and care experience, where options are more likely to be overlooked or poorly executed. Make sure that the obstetrician works with a fertility specialist in-house, is a specialist themselves, or can refer you to someone they trust and are willing to collaborate with.

Virtual Support Access

Considering your communication and support options when choosing an OB-GYN to work with will help ensure that you're satisfied with your care long-term. In addition to being able to talk to a nurse on the phone when you have a question or concern, you should have access to support online and through your mobile devices. Look for a care provider to work with who offers communication options such as email, fax, text, and even virtual meetings via a program like Skype. Some care providers even offer simple smartphone apps that can be used to get advice when you're dealing with a yeast infection or trying to pinpoint your fertility days. With several communication and support options available, you should find getting care from your OB-GYN to be both convenient and effective.

The Birthing Center

The obstetrician you end up working with while planning and conceiving your family will be the one delivering your kids, so choose someone who has their own birthing center or whose facility is located near a hospital's birthing center. There is no reason why you should have to deliver your children across town from where your regular care center is, as it's time consuming and will put you in an environment you aren't familiar with. Having access to an in-house birthing center, or one nearby where you can visit it often throughout your pregnancy, will ensure that you give birth in a familiar environment that you feel comfortable in. This should help keep your stress levels low and enhance your overall birthing experience.

After-Care

You should also think about what will happen after your baby is born when deciding which prospective obstetrician you want to work with. Will your chosen doctor provide baby checkups during the first few weeks after birth and while you're recovering, or will you have to find a new pediatrician right away? Can your OB-GYN refer you to a pediatrician to start working with before you give birth to ensure that everyone is on the same page after baby is born? Ask each potential obstetrician you consult with to provide you with their after-care procedures and policies in writing. You can compare information packets to one another and determine who will probably give you the most peace of mind when it comes to post-pregnancy care.

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