Continuing on in my journey of becoming educated in natural childbirth (read about how it began here), the topic of choosing a caregiver kept coming up over and over in my reading.
When I discovered we were expecting baby number two I set up an appointment with an OB that was recommended to me from a few other women. Since moving to Omaha, I hadn’t seen an OB (shame on me) so my first appointment with a new OB was also my first appointment for my second pregnancy.
I liked this OB well enough and felt that we could be a good fit. Even though I hadn’t completely decided that I wanted to try for a natural birth at the time of my first appointment, I find it interesting that one thing that stood out to me was that this OB seemed to be pretty liberal in her use of medication even in pregnancy. She was quick to suggest medications for various pregnancy symptoms.
As I mentioned, the more I read about natural birth the more I questioned whether I was seeing the right kind of caregiver. I decided to approach my OB about my desires for natural birth and see what her thoughts were and if that was something that she would support.
I met with my OB for a regular check up on February 8, 2013. I expressed that I had been reading and learning and had a desire for a natural birth. I asked my OB the how she felt about that and if it was something that she would support.
Her response, “You can feel as much pain as you want,” then chuckled.
That rubbed me the wrong way. Actually it really bothered me and I felt that it was even slightly disrespectful. Of course she followed up with all the “right” things to say but her knee jerk response was what stuck with me as I walked out of the office that day.
The more her words swam around in my head the more confident I became in the fact that I needed to find another caregiver. One of my other good friends was seeing a group of midwives at the Methodist Women’s hospital and she had nothing but good to say. I decided to set up a meet and greet. I met with one of the midwives on February 12, 2013 (I was 16 weeks) just a few days after my visit to the OB.
Marilyn was the midwife that I met with; she was warm, kind, and considerate. Forty five of her precious minutes were spent with me simply to answer questions and better understand my desires. I was floored. Never before had any kind of caregiver taken that amount of time and given that kind of attention to me and my needs.
I set up my next appointment for the midwives before leaving the office and it felt amazing.
Has anyone ever had to switch physicians? Was it awkward or no big deal?
No comments:
Post a Comment