Doctor care once baby is born

[RunawayBunny]

Ok, so stupid questions here for you. DS was born in a military hospital. While we were in the hospital he saw whatever doctor was on call. After we were released he was transferred to a clinic (also military) and given a primary care manager. It was all out of my control and he saw who I was told he would see. In a way it was very nice. Upon discharge I was told where to bring what papers and when to show up at our 2 week follow up. Easy-peasy.

So with this baby I am very, very far from any medical treatment facilities and will be using all civilian docs/hospitals. How do I go about arranging care for him? DS will have a ped and I am choosing him/her based on the hope that the baby would be seen by the same doc. Do I just ask if they'd accept a new baby/patient as time got closer? Or do I wait til baby is born?

And in the hospital, is there a ped/family doc on call or will my ped make rounds? Or does it depend on the doc/hospital?

Please forgive the clueless questions... I have been using military medicine since I moved out of my parents house... And I know, I'm way ahead of myself since we are only 4 or 5 months pregnant, but I have to pick DS's ped tomorrow so its on the brain. =)

[canadianbakers]

I have no idea how it works down there. Up here, most children just see the family Dr, not a specialized Ped, unless it's needed. Whereas it seems the norm for all children to see a Ped for everything down there.

Here, there is a Ped on call at the hospital that checks out baby after birth (maybe not right after, if birth has no complications and baby is fine, but before baby is discharged), then you can either try to get baby in with the Ped in town, or just have your regular family Dr take baby on as a patient - which is what we have done with all our kids.

[rverrone11]

I was completely clueless about this the first time, and had a home birth the second time, so I'm kind of clueless again. There is usually a ped on call in the hospital that does the newborn stuff before you leave the hospital. Then you schedule an appointment with your pediatrician or family doctor.

[dagmomma]

They see the Dr that is on call then you set up an appt with your ped once you get out. If you are looking for peds, I would ask local moms or even your ob.

[mommy2sammy]

Ours came to the hospital each day after birth. We chose the ped around 6/7 months and the hospital notifies the ped of the birth, then they show up either the day of or the next day, depending on your time of birth. Both of ours were next day, as they were born later in the day.

[Mom2Connor]

Originally Posted by RunawayBunny Ok, so stupid questions here for you. DS was born in a military hospital. While we were in the hospital he saw whatever doctor was on call. After we were released he was transferred to a clinic (also military) and given a primary care manager. It was all out of my control and he saw who I was told he would see. In a way it was very nice. Upon discharge I was told where to bring what papers and when to show up at our 2 week follow up. Easy-peasy. So with this baby I am very, very far from any medical treatment facilities and will be using all civilian docs/hospitals. How do I go about arranging care for him? DS will have a ped and I am choosing him/her based on the hope that the baby would be seen by the same doc. Do I just ask if they'd accept a new baby/patient as time got closer? Or do I wait til baby is born? And in the hospital, is there a ped/family doc on call or will my ped make rounds? Or does it depend on the doc/hospital? Please forgive the clueless questions... I have been using military medicine since I moved out of my parents house... And I know, I'm way ahead of myself since we are only 4 or 5 months pregnant, but I have to pick DS's ped tomorrow so its on the brain. =)

I'm in Indiana, here is how it worked with our DS.

We had a ped picked out ahead of time already, so he was listed as a patient. Our pediatricians office actually is right by (in the same complex) the hospital we deliver at and use, and they are the peds on call for the maternity ward at this hospital. When we delivered, it was another ped from the same practice who had rounds that day, so he was the one who did the hospital stuff initially. Whichever ped was on call each day from our clinic is who did the daily assessment (we were there four 4 days due to complications with me). DS had, I think a TOUCH of jaundice (sp?) and as such, when we checked out on a Monday afternoon, he had to go to his ped for a checkup the next day to check that. Then he had an appt a week later for the routine one week checkup (it's not two weeks at our peds office like your military practice).

You would not want to wait until delivery to get on with a practice. You need to have it lined up ahead of time because dr's may be full/not accepting new patients. We let our DS's ped know when we were out of the first trimester that another baby was due in April, so they already have a heads up.

[Mom2Connor]

Originally Posted by canadianbakers I have no idea how it works down there. Up here, most children just see the family Dr, not a specialized Ped, unless it's needed. Whereas it seems the norm for all children to see a Ped for everything down there. .

Pediatrician vs family dr is personal preference down here. I personally perfer pediatricians because down here, they have to specialize in peds vs a family dr who does a much more condensed version of each age group.

[MrsCrafty]

How it worked for me was I chose a ped, I worked with him at the hospital so I asked him about it ahead of time. But the hospital has a ped that rounded and they saw DS, then I made his appointments to follow up with my choosen ped. I'd ask friends for rec's, and then call the clinic to see if they are accepting new patients.

[mibarra]

Here, there is a doctor who specifically works in the 'nursery' to see to newborns. It is a rotation. After the baby is born, I call to make a 2 week check up with our ped. You can start calling around ahead of time, seeing who is accepting new patients and your insurance, and let them know you're due date so they know about when to expect you.

[MrsStripe]

Here our pediatricians make rounds at the hospital too. So one from the clinic we use now will come to the hospital to see the baby. It may not be our preferred one just depends on who is on rotations that day.