Advice Needed!

[the_moonmoth]

Anyone have any tips on how to find an OB (in the USA)? Once again, I am at sea in a foreign medical system I don't completely understand.

ETA: all done! Thanks, all.

Comments

[thornsilver]

Your insurance provider would normally have a Very Thick Booklet (or these days probably a website) which would list doctors of all specialties that take your insurance nearby. Alternatively ask for recommendations from people and then call and ask if they take your insurance. (Or get a number from a shingle, call and ask if they take your insurance.)

[the_moonmoth]

Thank you! I don't know why I didn't think of that *headdesk* My insurance people are actually very helpful most of the time.

[sandy_s]

Honestly? I asked my friends for recs (and found one that a friend of a friend used)... Once I had recs, I called their office and asked if they took my insurance. Living in a big city, there are way too many OB's to just go to the insurance and guess if one is good. If you're worried, you can also look up their reviews online, too.

[the_moonmoth]

Well I only have one friend here with a kid, and she didn't like her OB! She did recommend a hospital to deliver at, though, which was a big help, since that narrows the search somewhat :)

[sandy_s]

Oh no! :o( Well, that makes it harder... At least you can rule one out though!

And oh good...a good hospital is awesome. :o) So exciting!

[gillo]

Does that mean all went well this afternoon? :-D

[the_moonmoth]

It does! Check out the post below this one for the obligatory ultra sound pic :)

[tei_lj]

I recently decided to get an IUD and have never seen an ob/gyn before, so I actually asked on the subreddit for my city and got a lot of answers! I'm not usually a huge fan of reddit, but when you need to crowdsource location-specific recommendations for pretty much anything I've found it's invaluable.

(I haven't actually seen the doctor yet, so, results not guaranteed :P)

[the_moonmoth]

That's a good idea, but as it turned out, having already chosen the hospital I want to deliver at really narrows the options so it wasn't that hard any more :)

[feliciacraft]

OK, because you're looking for an OB for delivery, this is a little complicated. Take a deep breath

[the_moonmoth]

Thank you! This was all incredibly helpful. This system of hospitals with doctors-in-orbit is very mysterious!

Anyway, realising I needed to choose my hospital first was actually very helpful as it really narrowed down the options (to my surprise). I've been getting my fertility treatment at Brigham & Women's and we're pretty happy and familiar with it, so wanted to stay there (big bonus is the state of the art NICU and children's hospital attached) - after that, there were only about 10 OB's practices with privileges, and we went with the most convenient in terms of access. Done!

[feliciacraft]

Glad it was helpful.

Last I heard (2011), my Cambridge coworkers had great things to say about Brigham & Women's, including nice and up-to-date facilities, attentive doctors and nurses, and the added bonus in convenience in have restaurants nearby. One mom thought the beautiful, private room was large enough they must've expected your extended family to come and stay with you. ;)