Choosing an OB- how important is it

[Bernadine]

to you that the OB be able to do u/s in the office? I need to call my office and see if they do. One of h's friends recommended a different office that definitely does to u/s in the office.

[swiftlyirun]

Personally, I can't imagine not have an in-office u/s. However, I came from an RE for the first few months and had weekly ultrasounds. This soothed my neurotic soul- I worry about every.little.thing.

It's really personal though. I think you have to decide what's right for you!

[Bernadine]

Nov 12, 2015 14:46:33 GMT -5 swiftlyirun said:

Personally, I can't imagine not have an in-office u/s. However, I came from an RE for the first few months and had weekly ultrasounds. This soothed my neurotic soul- I worry about every.little.thing.

It's really personal though. I think you have to decide what's right for you!

I was with an RE too, and I got spoiled. I was going for u/s every 10 days, and now I have to wait 3 weeks for my OB! What kind of crap is that! Lol.

[callmehales]

Nov 12, 2015 14:50:14 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

Nov 12, 2015 14:46:33 GMT -5 swiftlyirun said:

Personally, I can't imagine not have an in-office u/s. However, I came from an RE for the first few months and had weekly ultrasounds. This soothed my neurotic soul- I worry about every.little.thing.

It's really personal though. I think you have to decide what's right for you!

I was with an RE too, and I got spoiled. I was going for u/s every 10 days, and now I have to wait 3 weeks for my OB! What kind of crap is that! Lol.

i've seen my 10 week old fetus more than a friend of mine ever saw her baby at a regular OB.  she had 2 u/s her whole pregnancy....i've had 4 already.

[dcn]

Eh. This kind of stuff doesn't really bother me. But I am used to having to go to a different clinic/office for things like ultrasounds, immunizations etc.

[Susie]

It wouldn't be that important to me. My OB's office does do u/s's in house, but I had to go to other facilities for a bunch of other stuff: cystic fibrosis carrier screening, triple screen blood draw, all the million blood tests that they do when you're first pregnant, both 1 hr and 3 hr glucose tests, blah blah blah.  I think I've gone to labs for that stuff about as many times as I've had u/s's (which is currently 6 as of almost 39 weeks).  Plus now I see a whole separate endocrine group for managing gestational diabetes as a component of prenatal care.   The u/s thing is just not that big of a deal IMO - especially compared to things like:
- how quickly they return phone calls
- how quickly you can get an appt if you have a concern
- how they handle rotating through doctors in the practice/being on-call
- how well you like your not-favorite doctors in the practice, and whether you're ok with them being the one to see/deliver you
- what their c-s rate is
- whether they are supportive of vbac's (if that is relevant)
- whether their philosophy on various interventions aligns with yours
- what hospital(s) they're affiliated with
- how long they keep you waiting on average in the waiting room and exam room.  (This seriously adds up in 3rd tri when you are there biweekly, then weekly, then semi-weekly.)
- how convenient they are to your home/office

[mary]

It would bother me only because I have had some scans that have had problematic measurements that the doctor wanted to verify themselves and then see the surrounding area. At my OB's office after our NT scan, she pulled me right back into the ultrasound room to double check. At the MFM, she always comes in at the end of the monitoring and finishes the ultrasound/ gets different angles/ goes back and looks at things that may have been off. Before the scary scans it is not something I would have even considered, but there's a lot of peace of mind behind knowing your doctor saw exactly what was going on for themselves and they're making the best treatment decision based on that information.

ETA: Both of my providers do everything in house- from labs to glucose monitoring to procedures like CVS tests. 

[jd15]

wouldn't bother me at all. you know i don't think i have ever had a scan done at the OB! i do think they have a machine though for initial dating, but i was with an RE initially both times and had 1-2 scans with them before getting released...NT, anatomy scans, etc. are all done at the MFM office at the hospital...i think that is where everyone goes from my practice...better equipment.

[amaranth]

Having easy access to ultrasounds was important to me, but in office wasn't a concern. I was low risk and only needed a few last time, and fewer still this time. I had to go to a different floor of the same building and it was no big deal. Having to go through a separate business off site would have sucked.

[Deleted]

My only concern would be that there is a doctor at the office to explain or answer questions. The ultrasound technicians have told me that they can't answer questions or explain too much substantive stuff, so I would be stressed waiting to talk to the doctor on potentially a different day.

[lostarz]

I honestly didn't even know that some offices did them in house and some didn't so it never crossed my mind when picking an office. A lot of the people I know had to go somewhere else to get theirs U/S done, but mine was actually in the office. I'm also not getting that many. I had one at like 11 weeks, then one at 20 weeks and I think I might get one more.

[SKP82]

I wouldn't like it. At my first 2 appts with the OB, he couldn't hear the HB with the Doppler. He went into the next room and asked the ultrasound person if she was free to do a quick ultrasound on me.

If they didn't have it in office, I probably would have had to wait a couple of days to get an appt somewhere else and would have been really stressed during that time.

[jessnpaul]

I have to go to Maternal Fetal Medicine for my u/s. However the early ones (transvag) they did in the office.

From what I know, all OB's that are out of my hospital have their patients scanned at MFM. I don't mind and have never had an issue getting an appointment.

[PennyCandy]

I don't know if it would be a deal breaker if I really liked the practice, but it's so nice to be able to go from u/s to seeing your doctor who has already reviewed the scans. I would worry if I had to wait for the results.

[cactuscookie]

For my experience, it wouldn't be a big deal. I had 3 ultrasounds with the RE, 2 with an MFM, and just one with the OB. The OB scan was in office, which was convenient, but it wouldn't have been a big deal to go somewhere else.

However, mary and SKP82 make good points about onsite ultrasounds being valuable when there are possible complications.

[loira]

I would prefer an in-house u/s but it doesn't seem to be a thing here. The first 20 weeks of my pregnancy, I had all my scans at the same hospital, performed by doctors, and I vastly preferred it (also because I loved my high risk team). I'm just trying to deal with it as best I can here. I didn't have a lot of time to choose a doctor after I'd moved, and the one I found seems great otherwise.

[Aquatica]

I really like have an house u/s but I understand needing to send out since another hospital in the area has better u/s equipment. The way my midwife explained it is, they are only able to assist up to tier 2, and would refer out to a baby specialty hospital that does the rest.

In my first u/s, they couldn't get a good look with their equipment and sent me to another hospital.

[Deleted]

I couldn't care less. We don't get U/S until the NT scan unless there is some reason to suspect an ectopic before then and they don't try with the doppler until 12 weeks at my dr.

So I didn't even see a dr until the day of my NT scan and had my first midwife appt 2 weeks later.

I don't like unnecessary U/S, so I don't see the need.

[Blackout81]

My first OB had u/s in office, but I still had to get sent to MFM place for NT and A/S.

My midwives don't. I have had a ton of u/s - fist for a subchrionic hematoma then for hypertension - going someplace else has been NBD at all. Plus, you really want a tech who is actually trained in everything to be doing the u/s.

[speyedr]

My OB did all of my ultrasounds. The entire practice of Ob's I went to all did their own, there was not a tech on staff. I loved it. I got immediate answers during my a/s and a more in depth discussion about what was being seen.

[bcv513]

My ob has an ultrasound in his office, but it's older and they only use it if they can't find the heartbeat with the doppler. All of my ultrasounds have been with the mfm or outpatient at the hospital. It's never been an issue for me. I say if you love the doctor, stick with that one. It's much harder to find a good ob than an ultrasound

[july]

I have it at the practice, but it wouldn't be a big deal to go somewhere else. The have a small one on a cart for quick scans, but have a seperate machine for the scheduled ones.