Introduction
Are you planning on visiting a family Physician? Like is the case with any medical appointment, there are certain questions you will need to ask your ob-gyn. Some of these questions border on their competency while others are purely about your individual concerns so join me as I take you through some of the questions you should ask your OBGYN Chicago IL in your next visit.
May I know A Little about Your Background?
This question is one of the basic ones but trust me, it is enough to put some doctors in a state of nervousness. Ideally, you would like to know how long your doctor has been in the medical practice as by a general rule, the longer they have been practicing, the more you stand a chance of being offered better services.
Some of the pertinent questions about background would include wanting to know the births they have delivered, the number of births they attend to in a month as well as any provisions of emergency access to them. You might also want to know whether they work solo or in a team and if they are alone, who covers for them while they are away.
Remember, we are not necessarily advocating for a doctor who has been practicing longer, you may just land into the hands of one whos fresh from training but also equally competent.
May I know If You Are Certified?
Another question you might want to ask your obstetrician is whether they are a board certified ob-gyn or whether they are a board certified in maternal fetal medicine in the case of a perinatologist.In case you are seeing a family physician, ask them whether they have been trained beyond their family medicine residency, whether they perform c-sections and in the event of complications beyond their scope, who their backup obstetrician is.
Evidently, these questions are meant to determine the competency of the medical practitioner in question and perhaps one more question you should never forget regardless of whom you visit and their response to the above questions is what hospital you will give birth in. This will be key in deciding your chances of a safer birth.
How Do You Go About Prenatal Care?
Prenatal care is a significant requirement during pregnancy so remember to ask the doctor about the kind of services and expectations to look out for. Ask them the duration each prenatal visit takes and what the visits cover. Also, find out the kind of tests they offer during these visits. You might also want to find out their policy on developing birth plans and what they would recommend in the event your pregnancy turns out to be high risk.
What about My Birth?
When it comes to labor and child birth, ask the doctor whether they will be with you during the labor period and the kind of drug-free measures they would recommend for your labor period. Ask them about the number of their patients that end up in epidurals and whether the hospital policies are flexible enough to allow you to walk around or be alone in your delivery room.
Last but not least, ask them if they would be comfortable working with doulas in the event you hire one, and also their opinion on induced labor, vacuum assisted deliveries or c-sections.
What Is Your Policy on Postpartum Care?
Not so many family doctors will give enough thought to the postpartum care so you will need to find out the opinion of your ob/gyn before determining whether they are the best fit for you. The most important questions to ask in this category are whether you will be separated from your baby after birth and for how long. You may also want to find out the hospitals policy on your partner seeing you after the delivery.
Lastly, ask the doctor about any options they have in the event your delivery develops complications and how much time you would ideally spend in the hospital even in the event of a safe delivery.
And there you go, the next time you visit your ob/gyn, remember to have all the above questions cleared out as they will help you determine the competency of the doctor as well as let you predict the outcome of your pregnancy.