When you're preggers, your ob-gyn plays as important a role as your baby daddy—but maybe your gyno doesn't practice obstetrics, or she's pro-epidural and you're a natural birth kind of gal. Whatever your concerns are, when it comes to snagging the ob-gyn of your dreams, no need's too small to take into consideration.
Here's what you should keep in mind when you’re looking for your own real-life Mindy Lahiri:
The Qualities You Want in a Doc
Consider this like setting up a dating profile but for your uterus. Narrowing down your search might be as simple as finding out which ob-gyns are available through your insurance plan. "For some women, minimizing any out-of-pocket expenses is their number one priority," says Stephanie McClellan, M.D., a California-based ob-gyn. On the flipside, if your carrier doesn’t offer many choices or you’re just not happy with the choices your insurer has available, you'll have to look into what you can swing financially.
It's also important to decide on the qualities that are most important to you in an ob-gyn, such as gender, credentials, track record, after-hours availability, or access to a specific hospital. Knowing your deal-breakers will give you a leg up in planning your birthing experience (pun totally intended).
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Recommendations from Your Regular Gyno and Friends
Spread the word that you're in the market for an ob-gyn: Start by asking your regular gyno or general practitioner if she recommends the services of a specific doctor and, most importantly, why, says Antonio Pizarro, M.D., a board-certified gynecologist in Shreveport, Louisiana. Snag a list of available doctors through your insurance provider, too, or the hospital or birthing center you'd like to deliver in. Check in with friends who've given birth recently for the inside scoop on the doctors they felt in sync with—given that you're besties, maybe her doc will be right for you, too.
Online Reviews from Other Patients
There's no better time to put your Internet-sleuthing skills to the test than when you're ob-gyn shopping. With your trusty list in hand, visit each doctor's website and read up on their credentials, philosophy, roster of services, and testimonials. Doctor review websites like Health Grades, Share Care, and Vitals can also give you a sense of what each doctor's like in person since reviews are written by patients who've been there, says Pizarro.
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How Easy It Is to Get to the Ob-Gyn’s Office
Now your real work begins: Schedule introductory visits with your top picks, and bring along a list of three or four questions to ask each doctor as they relate to your needs and wants.
Take note of how hard it is to get to their office from your home or work since you're going to be stopping in a lot over the next nine months. Also take note of the office itself and how it's run: How difficult was it for you to make an appointment? How long was your wait time? Did you feel welcome and comfortable or awkward and rushed? There are times when you're not going to reach your ob-gyn directly, says McClellan, so make sure to get a feel for the office staff, too.
Once you're chatting up your potential doc, getting the answers you want is only half the battle. "The point of the questions aren't necessarily the answers but to find out how easily you're able to dialogue with your doctor," says McClellan. "Are you having a conversation that's bidirectional, effective, and open? Can you picture entrusting your pregnancy with this person?" If you find the doctor's personality, tone, or belief system don't match your own, no problem—just scratch them off the list and move on, says Pizarro.
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The Fact That Everything Might Not Go As Planned
You can do all the planning and go-with-your-gut decision-making you want, but you might still find that after a few sessions, your relationship with your ob-gyn is a little...off. Keep a list of back-up doctors on-hand just in case, and if you do decide to make a switch, be completely open with your new doctor as to why, especially if you're further along. "From a doctor's perspective, it's difficult to switch practices mid-care because you're always worried that you're not getting the whole story," says McClellan. "You don't want to jump into something extreme and not be able to please the patient because what they want isn't clear—not even to them."
Like with any relationship, sometimes things don't click, and that's okay. You should never feel obligated to continue seeing a physician you don't feel comfortable with, says Andrea Jazbec-Lake, M.D., an ob-gyn at Kaiser Permanente. You should feel comfortable, have confidence in their abilities, and most importantly, feel listened to.
