pediatrician

[Ash]

You know, it never hurts to try. The personal touch is the best. Meaning, certainly YOU talking to them rather than trying to get a referral though somebody else is perhaps a better option.

 

Sometimes things come from the most unexpected places. I think you'll be able to tell on the phone if you have a sympathetic sort of person and they'll give the best info. If you doctor is in a family practice with a nurse practitioner, talk directly to the practitioner if you can.

[Ash]

You know, not really at all the topic of this thread, but concerning pediatricians, you really have to feel for them.

 

After the first couple of visits, no matter whether your baby is ill, or well and getting booster shots or whatever, they see the doctor and start to cry. Must be really disheartening. Apparently it gets a bit better after the first couple of years though. At least, according to our pediatrician it does.

[BellaDonna]

I'm glad this question about pediatricians was raised.

 

My ob-gyn told me I should have one picked out by my 16 week visit. I thought that was kind of early, but I guess they want to get the ball rolling. Since I'm having a planned c-section- this doc would have to be present on the day of the delivery.

 

A friend at work highly recommended this one doc. My friend has a son with autism and said this doc is very good about vaccinations- keeping them minimal and spacing them out when she had her daughter recently. She requested minimal vaccinations, etc.

 

I like the idea of "interviewing" the pediatrician. I will deifinitely be doing that. lol

 

I found a site that allows you to search for docs by name, location, gender, etc. The best thing about this site is that patients & parents give testimonials and rate them. link removed

 

BellaDonna

[rocio]

I found a site that allows you to search for docs by name, location, gender, etc. The best thing about this site is that patients & parents give testimonials and rate them. link removed

 

BellaDonna

 

Great site!!! One problem - I've been calling around to every pediatrician in the city and they all refer me to a certain Dr. Joly. On that website it she gets a low rating and people say she discourages questions and makes you feel like a bad parent! She's supposed to be very knowledgable though, so maybe I could just try to ignore her rudeness and lack of people skills.

[BellaDonna]

I'm glad you found the site useful.

 

people say she discourages questions and makes you feel like a bad parent!

 

Perhaps if you set up one of the interview-type appointments with her you will be able to judge this for yourself. If she seems annoyed or short with you when you ask her questions during that appointment, then you'll know that the people who rated her were presenting a clear picture.

 

Were there a lot of ratings like that on her?

 

BellaDonna

[Ash]

Great site!!! One problem - I've been calling around to every pediatrician in the city and they all refer me to a certain Dr. Joly. On that website it she gets a low rating and people say she discourages questions and makes you feel like a bad parent! She's supposed to be very knowledgable though, so maybe I could just try to ignore her rudeness and lack of people skills.

 

Some doctors are indeed like that. Guess it means you have to separate the medical skills from the people skills and go with what is most important. Although it seems obvious to take the ones with the greater medical skills, sometimes it is important to be able to sit down, talk about issues and actually get an understanding for whether your doctor feels he or she is on the right track. On rare occasions, one's with a rather abrupt bedside manner can be in error but have such confidence you'd never suspect it.

[rocio]

Normally rude people don't bother me so much. I'm able to see through that and laugh it off. But parenting is such an overwhelming responsibility. I would hate to have her telling me something stupid like that I'm starving my child when I have trouble breastfeeding (apparently this happened with another patient).

[Ash]

Yep, you're right. It's a monumental responsibility.

 

Part of what will happen is you will know your baby better than anybody else after the first couple of days. (Until then, it's all new to you to and you may not be up on all the generalities like the nurses and the doctors will be). But after that to some extent you have to trust your instincts. That means when you talk to your pediatrician, regardless of his or her manner, rudeness, etc. you should make it known what you think.

 

A good example of this is M's first baby. She tried to breastfeed. He wasn't putting on weight. Eerybody said he was perfectly okay and all was well. But he just wasn't growing and upon insisting she was right they finally listened to her and discovered he basically was getting nothing at all from her. Yeah, they would have caught it in a while, but her first instinct was that something was amiss, but since she was "new" to motherhood she wasn't as forceful as she would be now.

 

I sort of suspect this won't be an issue with you! Just wanted to say not to hold back on speaking your mind and making sure your doctor hears you.