Searching for a Pediatrician

A few weeks ago i started to tackle the remaining big tasks associated with having this baby-- finding a pediatrician, attending childbirth classes and locating childcare. Finding a pediatirican was the first thing i really tackled. Current wisdom is that you should interview your pediatrician before your baby is born so that you have "chosen" your child's care provider.

I was given a list of pediatricians associated with the hospital we plan to birth at. My first cut was to run each address through mapquest and determine how far each office was from our house. Narrowing the list down to those closest, i started calling around. One office didn't let you talk to the Doctors before your baby was born-- you were supposed to just pick one by name and then i guess make your decision after your baby had already been assinged to this doctor. Although this pediatrician practice was close by and had a parking lot, i moved on down the list.

The next practice was also relatively close so i gave them a call and was able to schedule an appointment. The practice is just one pediatrician and his physician assistant. When it came time for my appointment i did internet research on what i was supposed to ask and consider when making my choice.

The appointment consisted of me mainly talking with the P.A. and reviewing a whole packet of information they had. The majority of my questions which focused on things like office hours, procedures, availability etc. and were answered by the P.A. Then it came time for me to meet the Doctor.

Basically the point of meeting the Doctor is to sniff him out. But it seems you can't just chat with him and make your decision; you have to ask pointed questions. The only questions i could find were things like "what's your approach to breast-feeding" and "how often do you prescribe antibiotics." The second question actually provoked a good response but to the first the doctor jokingly replied "Breastfeeding is evel, I only support formula-feeding." He then went on to tell me that he had been a la leche league educator going back 15 years so i think he's fairly knowledgeable.

I liked the P.A. a lot and the practice seemed very efficient and the Doctor appeared to really like kids but also be good at keeping things on track. So, he became our Doctor. It was just a difficult process to go through since we don't even have our baby yet, let alone really know what medical care he'll require.