WWYD - Changing OB (possible trigger)

[summer]

H and I are hoping to start trying for baby #3 soon.  Since I had DD, my OB's office has undergone a big change.  When I first started there were five OBs in the office.  You had to see all of them because whoever was on call the day you went into labor was your delivering OB.  Of the 5, there was only one I didn't like, so I took the chance, which ended up being a moot point because I was induced with both kids with "my" OB. 

Since then, one doctor has retired, and two others left to start their own practice with a third OB.  So, the only docs left at my office are my doc and the one I hate.  As I was in for my well-woman appt today, I asked the nurse practitioner how the delivery setup worked now with only two doctors.  She said it was the same setup (whoever is on call delivers you), but they shared with another office of three doctors that I would probably never meet before delivery.

So here's my issue: I really love my OB.  I like her no-nonsense manner, and she's done a great job with my past two deliveries.  She is very understanding and finds a good balance between what she thinks is best and my wishes.  I also really like the NP who I regularly see there.  But is it worth the very real possibility of being delivered by someone I don't like at all, and/or possibly even someone I've never met?

The other option is going to the office the other two doctors defected to.  I like the two who I know there a lot.  The third is a guy, which...I've kind of gotten over (I prefer to see women), and I've heard good things about him.  They get great Yelp reviews.  But then I'm leaving a doctor and an NP that I really don't want to. 

WWYD?  And what would be most important to you?

[brachysira]

I don't know. Seems like you have 2 pretty good options. For my first delivery it was doctor who was just the on-call doctor and the doctor from my practice was a doctor I had never met even though I'd seen about 5/8 and she barely got there in time and so they did it together. The second time I had a nurse doing 99% of the work until we gave up and did a c-section, and then it was the doctor who did my first delivery doing the surgery (although I hadn't seen her since my previous delivery and she had no memory of it) and apparently she did a great job as people kept complementing her on the quality of the incision... So either of your options are better than mine. I guess it depends on what specifically you dislike about the doctor at your practice and whether you'd have to see her other times besides perhaps the delivery. Also, you'd have to learn more about the other doctors who might be involved if you have specific things you want that aren't standard. For me, it's always a high risk situation and it doesn't really matter to me although I'm starting to feel like going to a practice with a ton of doctors is not the best.

[aydee]

Congrats on making the decision to TTC! Very exciting.

The fact that you're asking about this seems to suggest that you're not really comfortable with the current arrangement at your OB's office, and I can understand why. Labor/delivery can be a high stress emotional time and I think you want someone there who you feel comfortable with and who you feel is supportive. I would find it anxiety provoking to go through a pregnancy entertaining the possibility that the doctor delivering on that day might be the doctor I hate, or possibly someone I've never met.

Could you make an appointment with the doctors that defected and see how it goes? Going in for one appointment doesn't commit you one way or the other and might help you make a decision more easily.

Good luck with TTC!

[crimsonandclover]

So right now you've got the following chances:
- 1 OB you like
- 1 OB you really dislike
- 3 complete unknowns you wouldn't know until delivery
That means your chances are 20% of having the OB you like, 20% of having the OB you hate, and 60% of having an unknown OB

In the other practice you'd have:
- 2 OBs you like
- 1 unknown OB

That means: 66% chance of having an OB you like for delivery, 33% chance of having one you don't know now but would by the time you deliver (I assume)

If the birth experience is the most important to you then it sounds like the second option is better. However, if you really like your OB a lot more than you like the 2 who moved to the other practice, then it turns into more of a toss-up.

FWIW, here the regular OBs have nothing to do with deliveries. If you deliver in a hospital then the hospital's OBs and MWs are the ones who deliver you. At my c/s I always had an unknown OB and MW (although for my 3rd c/s I knew the OB a little bit from rounds since I had been in the hospital for over 2 weeks before delivery). I didn't find it to be a big deal. I was concentrating on so many other things that I didn't really care who was cutting me open. I had an anesthesiologist with a bad bedside manner for DD2 and that was really crappy, but it didn't ruin my birth experience or anything.