My OB Is No Longer Doing "Deliveries"

Get a doula/midwife. This is someone who will be with you throughout your pregnancy and delivery and is there as your main support. Though I personally have not experienced this, my good friend had a doula with her first and the same with her current pregnancy and says it is the best decision she ever made!

My birth plan was completely interrupted. I was rushed by ambulance to Abott Northwest(not my hospital I was suppose to deliver at) I was having complications so my regular hospital wouldn't do. I became a highrisk pregnancy then so I got a new obgyn a specialist, then when it came to deliver my daughter emergency c-section it was another obgyn specialist who was on call that day. So my first obgyn had nothing to do with me from week 31 of my pregnancy til birth. I did get to go back and see him at my 6week post partum check up.

My point being that things were soooooo not how I expected them and in the long run I am very very pleased with how things went. I have my beautiful daughter, and everything worked out in the end and I ended up liking the delivering doctor better than my first obgyn anyways.

You may just want to find a whole new doctor or clinic to begin with anyhow. If you know your running into this problem already.

I've had two babies at United (one three weeks early and one a week overdue) and my OB was on vacation both times, so I ended up with a doctor I didn't know each time. The way I see it, the nurses do all the work anyway, and mine were just great both times. You'll have to do what makes you the most comfortable. Good luck!

If it were me I would find another doctor to go with. You need to feel comfortable or you will be tense during the delivery process. I recommend Dr Carolyn Barrow- She is really good. She is @ the Allina clinics in West St Paul & Eagan. You may have to wait a bit to see her during a scheduled appointment. This is because she is really focused on the care of mother & baby. She delivered both my granddaughters. She is wonderful. Best wishes to you. Oh she does deliveries @ United.

Hi E.-

I had my first son while living in Arizona, with an OB in a smaller practice who I saw for every pre-natal check-up and who also did my delivery. A very good experience. It felt to me as though my baby was being delivered by a friend rather than by a doctor with whom I only had a minimal relationship or past interaction.

I'm now 38 weeks pregnant and scheduled for a c-section next Thursday. I really like my current OB, but she's in a large practice and in the event that I go into labor early there's no knowing which doctor in the practice will do my delivery. I had a hard time with this idea for a long time earlier in the pregnancy, but am feeling better about it now. One of the things the practice encourages, and which helped me, was to schedule pre-natal visits with some or all of the various doctors in the practice, so that my odds of having a stranger deliver my baby would be greatly reduced. This seemed like a fairly lame solution to the problem when I first heard it, but it's actually helped a lot.

If I go early and have a doctor I've not yet met deliver the baby I'll have to check back in and tell you how it felt.

Good luck- I can imagine how difficult this situation can feel for you!

M.

My experience at United was great and my OB is at Parkview OB GYN right there at United. I feel they have a great practice there and it too is large and you can't gaurantee that your doctor will be the one attending at he birth. I was really nervous about it, but looking back having another doctor deliver was not an issue for us at all - she was literally only with us for about 20 minutes. I think the care, nuturing and support of the entire pregnancy and then again after the birth is so important and if your doctor can supply all of that, I'd stay with him. I think that's such an important bond.

E.-
Although my doctor did all my pre-natal visits, she didn't deliver either of my two children...it wasn't her rotation at the hospital. And although I would have liked her to do it, both doctors who did do my deliveries were great. I gave birth at Children's/United St. Paul (on Smith Ave.) and I had two smooth experiences. The thing is, for the majority of your delivery, it is the nurses who really make a difference. The labor and delivery nurses at Children's are wonderful, and they are the ones who are there with you...not to minimize their role, but the doctors are only present for a portion of the experience, albeit the really important part. If you like your doctor a great deal, having that connection during the pre-natal part of your pregnancy is really important. For me, the unknown doctors were just fine. I've yet to meet an OB I didn't like! Good luck and congrats on #3!

I'd just like to add that I saw a group of midwives during my pregnancy, and when I was about to go to the hospital was when I found out which one of them was on call. Even though I had seen 4 of the 9 midwives, it was a brand new one. It still turned out to be wonderful (minus the hours and hours of pain). I'm just saying that most likely members of the same group have relatively similar philosophies. Don't worry too much about not being able to choose which doctor will be there. To tell you the truth I didn't even know there was another way! If you are anything like me, during labor you don't notice who is waltzing in and out of the room as long as they are friendly and calm.

Both of my babies were delivered by doctors I didn't know and I didn't find it to be a problem, although both of my deliveries were fast and uncomplicated. In fact, the second one was so fast that the nurses had to call in a doctor out of his clinic (in the middle of routine appts.) from across the street and he barely had time to get his tie off, catch the baby and stitch me up. The doctor on call was doing a C-section and the back-up on-call doctor wasn't answering his pager! I found the labor and delivery nurses to be much more important than the doctor--they spent more time with me and their mood was more of an influence on me. Congratulations and good luck.

Switch to midwives! You'll get much more individualized attention. Check out:
www.cfmidwifery.org
and
www.mnmidwife.org

I had an OB with my first and a midwife with my second...I thought I'd had great service and support the first time...then the second time I learned what real support for preg. and birth is about.

I have Dr. Fisher in Eagan at Allina. I absolutely love her but have yet to have her deliver my baby. I have 2 kids and both were at United. With my first baby, I didnt like the doctor I got because she wasnt as informative as I would have liked being that it was my first baby. With me second, the doctor was great. My delivery was also extremely fast so I didnt have as much interaction with her but I liked her.

I am currently pregnany with #3 and am going back to Dr. Fisher and am hoping I will have her deliver this one. I may be induced due to the fact that I was so far dialated with my second and she came so fast they dont want me delivery at home. My doctor really enjoys her practice and the doctors who are with her so I guess it makes me trust them too.

If you really like your doctor stay with your OB and talk to your OB about the other doctors. Your OB will be able to help ease your mind.