A Guide To Choose A Doctor During Pregnancy

A Guide To Choose A Doctor During Pregnancy

24 Apr 2019 | 4 min Read

vani

Author | 82 Articles

Once you miss your periods and start experiencing signs and symptoms of pregnancy, a home pregnancy test kit can help you confirm pregnancy at first level. But as a next step you will probably choose a primary care doctor or a family doctor to further confirm your pregnancy with the help of an advanced blood test. This is just a beginning and you have a long way to go till your baby comes into this world. This means you need a doctor who can monitor your health and your baby’s health for next nine months and may be a little more. Finding a doctor depends on multiple factors like:

 

  • Your Medical History
  • Your Financial Ability
  • Your Health Insurance
  • Your Comfort and Convenience

 

Keeping in mind the above factors, one can choose to go with either of the following doctors:

 

1. General Physician or Primary care Physician:

Many women go with their general physician if they are not well equipped with one or many of the above mentioned factors. A general physician will be an expert in internal medicine or general health issues and not an expert in pregnancy and birthing. If you have a worrisome health history then a general physician alone may not be a workable choice. A general physician will be a good choice to address general under the weather kind of health issues or sickness that you could face during pregnancy.

 

2. Midwives:

 

Community Midwives are specially trained professionals in mother and baby care. They are trained to care throughout pregnancy,labour and child birth. Most of them are also trained for postpartum care. Midwives help with labour and delivery in the comfort of your home and are budget friendly. If you have a healthy pregnancy you can opt for a midwife, however if complications arise during or after delivery, you might have to go to the nearest hospital.

 

3. Obstetrician:

 

They are the board certified doctors who are specialized medically in pregnancy, labour and birth. They are generally affiliated with certain clinics or hospitals which will ease your effort of prenatal tests throughout pregnancy. If you have a medical history of complications or if your pregnancy has been troublesome, it is better to go with this doctor. Before you choose an obstetrician make sure you go through the following checklist:

 

  • The doctor is preferably recommended by an experienced patient
  • Check with your insurance company if the hospital that he or she is associated with belongs to the list of hospitals in your insurance plan
  • Check with your insurance company if the doctor you are choosing is listed in their network of doctors
  • Choosing a doctor outside the network could make the entire insurance experience painful
  • Make sure your health plan has coverage for all the major prenatal scans and tests along with labour and delivery
  • Ensure that the hospital with which the doctor is affiliated has a good neonatal care facility. This is typically essentially for women with complicated pregnancy.

 

4. Gynaecologist

 

A Gynaecologist is a doctor who is an expert in treating health issues related to your reproductive system. We rarely find doctors who are only gynaecologists. Majority of them are also medically certified Obstetrics. A Gynaecologist will work in coordination with Obstetrics during your labor and delivery.

 

5. Pediatrician

 

Pediatrician is a children’s doctor. This is not a doctor who will help you during pregnancy unless there is a rare scenario where his intervention could be required. He will be required in the labor room during birthing to check on the newborn. He will also be the one you will be going to very often once your baby is out. It would be a wise thing to choose this doctor during the later stages of pregnancy.

 

You may choose any of the above health care professionals. Just be sure that you feel comfortable with your doctor since you are embarking on a journey where you will have to shed all your shyness and inhibitions and get comfortable in your skin because you have a new  life at stake.

 

Also read: Pregnancy And Safe Medication

 

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