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For us, I'd rather have a pediatrician b/c they are specialized in all things baby and kids. They deal with it all day every day, so they really know what they're doing.
Our hospital has a thing where they have lots of local pediatricians all in one place so pregnant couples can go around and talk to them, ask questions, get to know them, etc. That's how I found mine, maybe you can see if your hospital has something like that. We picked a couple that we were interested in, researched them online, and then went into the office to interview them and to get an idea of what the office was like.
We didn't have to do any paperwork or anything before going to the hospital. We just told them when we got there who our doctor is, and they called them and the doctor came to visit the day she was born, and every day she was in the hospital.
We are from a very small town right now. We chose a doctors office that has both family physicians and pediatricians. We went with the pediatrician because all of my friends (and many other people in town) recommended her. As a first time mom you want someone who will help you and the baby. This pediatrician had better breastfeeding information than the OB. Since it is so small the pediatricians does regular rounds in the maternity ward (there is only 1 hospital).
I would choose the doctor that you feel most comfortable with. Make sure that they respond to any questions/concerns you have. It was very important to me that if we came in the doctor wouldn't just tell us that is normal and send us away. We came in for our 2 week well baby and she diagnosed and treated our baby for GERD. I know a lot of other pediatricians would say that 12 hours of intense screaming was colic. That was when we really felt good about our choice.
We're also from a small town; there are only two pediatricians in our town, and originally, we chose the one who was closest to our house and work (not a great way to pick a doctor, lol). However, we ended up not agreeing with his advice, and we switched our daughter over to the FP my husband and I also go to. I think there pros and cons to either choice, but the most important factor is that you trust your doctor and feel comfortable with his/her decisions. No matter who you choose, you will tell your hospital who the baby's doctor is when you get checked into L&D.
Some advice I was given while making this decision, is that if your child is generally healthy, and does not have special needs/medical conditions, an FP is just fine. We switched our daughter over to our FP at about 6 months, and since our daughter is pretty healthy, our FP has been wonderful. :)
I grew up going to a family physician (small island, no other choice) and am just fine. I personally have chosen to take my baby to a pediatrician but I wouldn't have a problem taking him to my family physician if needed.
We asked friends, co-workers, and our family physician for recommendations, did research, and then did interviews with our top 2 candidates and love the pedi we selected.
When I went to the hospital in labor they asked me during my intake who our pediatrician is/was going to be and I gave them his name. They called him and he came to the hospital to check our son about 2 hours later and again the next day. Now if our pedi didn't have priviledges at our hospital, one of the pedis that did would have been called and would have checked the baby and then we would have gone to our pedi after we were discharged.
Ask your OBGYN for suggestions of pedis or family physicians (s)he'd recommend too. I promise you, they will have suggestions.
There is an earlier thread where we talk about this a bunch. Hopefully you can find it through search, because we all had a pretty extensive discussion about it.
thanks for all the input!
@Mrs. DG: I found the thread! I should have searched it before I posted a new one! Thanks!
I think I posted on the old thread, but I will add here. I grew up in a small town and had the typical FP experience. We moved to a larger city and still stuck with family practice. I think it is more important to find a doctor that you have a good relationship with more than anything.
Our FP knows all of us well and if he wouldn't feel comfortable treating something he would refer us in a second. If there are more comlications then you might prefer to go with a peditrician to start with.
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So, I probably should have this figured out by now but I don't. Just wondering if any one has considered using a family physician instead of a pediatrician? I'm from a small town and so when we had to go to the doctor you just went to one place, no one was specialized in any area.. but now we are living in a bigger city and I'm not sure what the best choice will be. I'm considering a family physician since my husband and I don't have one yet... and that way the whole family can go to one place for dr. visits.
Whats the process for getting the baby's dr. to the hospital?
Does the hospital call the dr when we the baby needs to be checked out?
advice please?