Question about OB and delivery hospital

[requiressnacks]

Good morning....question for anyone that has any knowledge on this. I have a regular OB/GYN that I've been seeing for years. She is close to my work, which is why I originally chose her, but I really like her. The hospital that I will ultimately deliver at is closer to my home, about 45mins-1 hr from work and my OB. So obviously my OB has no affiliation with the hospital I want to deliver at.

Can I continue with my regular OB and still deliver at any hospital I want?

Should I find a new OB who is affiliated with desired hospital?

Thanks ladies.

[beebe918]

I mean technically you can deliver at any hospital you want, like if you go to the hospital and are in advanced labor they're not going to turn you away, but your ob isn't going to come there, someone you've never met is going to deliver you. Also, if you told your ob you were going to deliver at a different hospital I don't think they would continue seeing you so you would have to keep it a secret.

Basically I highly recommend finding an ob affiliated with the hospital you're going to deliver at.

[dscarr]

I agree with Beebe918. The only other thing you could consider is delivering at the hospital that your OB is affiliated with. If you are super attached to your OB it may be worth the trade off.

[mugster]

I'm thinking about delivering 45 minutes away so I can go with some crunchy midwives

[sarcaztic10]

Nov 22, 2015 9:02:12 GMT -5 mugster said:

I'm thinking about delivering 45 minutes away so I can go with some crunchy midwives

I loved my midwives and my birth center for DS and I am totally bummed that I can't go there again because we moved away. The closes midwife practice to me is about an hour and a half away and I may think about going there just because I loved seeing a MW the first time.

OP, I have no experiance with hospitals and OB births but FWIW we drove 45 minutes to the birth center to deliver DS and it wasn't too terrible. I have also known people who drove an hour and a half for a Dr/MW that they really loved.

[chknma]

Is there a reason you don't want to consider the hospital closer to work? My OB for DD1 was closer to my work and not the closest hospital.

It's important to have a good relationship with your provider. I see a MW practice now so only have 2 providers, but my old ob had about 7 that I rotated through to get to know before delivery. Even for a "simple" delivery, your going to want to trust the person overseeing both baby and your health :-)

[icaughtfire]

If you like your OB, deliver at the hospital farther away. If you're not induced you'll go to L&D after you've been in labor for a bit. If you know it takes longer to get there, leave sooner.

There is a hospital five minutes from my house. My OB is not affiliated with them so I'm delivering at the hospital downtown 30 minutes away.

[requiressnacks]

Thanks ladies. I feel really strongly about delivering at the hospital near my house because it's one of the best in the country. But I honestly didn't research alternate options so I think I need to think about this more.

[rungirlrun]

For my son, I felt the same way about delivering at a certain hospital because it also was also one of the best so if I was you, I'd find an OB practice that is associated with that hospital. I'd go for a practice where you feel comfortable and not necessarily where you like 1 OB in particular because there is a chance that a certain OB won't be the one who actually delivers your baby (vacation, off, sick, busy with other patients, etc). I'm not sure how flexible your job is, but it would be annoying to have appointments that are not near work so that is one downside. But with my son, I'd book 3 appointments at a time to make sure I got the first appointment of the day as to not have to take too much time off of work. Good luck with your decision!

[beebe918]

Since you like your OB so much I would ask her for a referral, she likely knows affiliated with the other hospital that might be similar to her.

[TnT10]

I went to the hospital my OB delivers at with DD- it is 45 minutes from our house and about 15 minutes from work for both of us (we work about 5 minutes from each other). However, I went into labor after an atrocious snowstorm so it took us an hour and a half to get there. At least I was at 5 cm when we arrived so I was halfway there! We will be going to the same hospital this time since we had such a great experience. I would go wherever you feel most comfortable but maybe have a backup plan if you can't make it that long in the car.

[roccobabyk]

If you really like your OB, make the drive. We did a 2hr drive with our first because we moved when I was 30 weeks. We are actually planning to see the same people this time, so making the 2hr drive. However, we plan to move back to that area in June. I really like the hospital/birthing center and the OBs and midwives at this practice.

[tikoberry99]

Nov 22, 2015 11:13:16 GMT -5 requiressnacks said:

Thanks ladies. I feel really strongly about delivering at the hospital near my house because it's one of the best in the country. But I honestly didn't research alternate options so I think I need to think about this more.

I'm with you on the hospital situation. I want to deliver at a specific hospital due to its reputation so I'm currently looking at OBs affiliated with the hospital. Unfortunately my current OB is not affiliated so I won't be contacting him about my pregnancy. Ugg picking a new OB is sooooooo stressful! I don't want to make a mistake.

[honeybee434]

With my DD I had a specific hospital that I wanted so I found an OB in that hospital network.

For this baby I had plans on doing the same thing, but my OB stopped delivering babies. I decided to use the only hospital in my city that allows VBACs just so I would have that option, so I once again had to find an OB with good reviews that works at that hospital.

[allison7]

I aligned my OB/GYN with my hospital choice when I picked them. There is a hospital I could deliver at 15 minutes away, but I felt strongly about delivering at a certain hospital in the city - I was born there and it is one of the best women's hospitals in the country. When we move, we will once again be driving past a hospital I could deliver at to go to the one I want to deliver at.

And with my OB's offices - they have 4 of them, but I like one office better than the others. So I go across the city just to go to a certain office.

I know it can be upsetting to change OBs, but people do it all of the time. And if you go to one and don't like them, then just pick a different one for the next appointment. It is okay to shop around for a doctor you like at a hospital you can to go to

[harlowjune1984]

If you have the type of insurance where your OB will most likely deliver, I would switch. That being said, as a STM, I can tell you at that point you don't can who is at your crotch. Haha!

With my insurance, you can see the same Ob your whole pregnancy. But come delivery time, you get a midwife as long as you aren't having issues. As soon as you have an issue, you get whatever doctor is working their rounds at that time. It most likely ends up being someone that you didn't see you whole pregnancy, and very rarely, you actually get your OB (if you are having complications). With my DD, I lucked out. I was going to be induced so I scheduled my induction 12 hours before my OB was on shift. Then I had complications so she did my c-section. This time, it is at a different hospital because I am choosing the hospital in another state that is 30-45 min away, instead of the one 10min away. Still have the same insurance, so I picked a doctor affiliated with that hospital in hopes that I can schedule my c-section when she is working her shift at the hospital.

[harlowjune1984]

Oh and the only reason I didn't pick my same OB, is because she stopped delivering babies about two years ago.

[g-unit1515]

I live about an hour and a half from civilization. The only medical in the area are community hospitals at least 30 minutes away full of horror stories with friend. There is no hospital and no medical care in the town I live. I loved my doctor in the city so I picked the hospital I liked best that she delivers at. It's 1 and half hour drive from the house and 2 hour drive from work. We ended up being induced, so it was no big deal.