(no subject)

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

sorry if this is off-topic, but hopefully it's allowable because i'm pretty clueless.

i've never been to a gyno before for various reasons, but am planning on conceiving relatively soon and want the *thumbs-up* from one (just making sure i don't have any serious problems that could hurt a pregnancy).

that being said, i have no idea how to go about finding one. i mean, there are about 100 in my local phone book.. some are private practitioners, some are groups of a few, some are groups of dozens, some men, some women - where do you even start trying to pick one? is there some gyno-review website somewhere? lol

or even - i'm in northern NJ (specifically, butler - north morris co.) anyone have any suggestions? ;)

Comments

[eilanhp.livejournal.com]

I just picked mine from the phone book :) Works most times, I guess.

Do you have any female friends that could recommend one?

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

nope, none of us currently see one. my mother's the only person i know here that regularly sees one, but he's some archaic old man i don't like the sound of. ;)

[eilanhp.livejournal.com]

Understandable :) Maybe you could ask another doctor you trust? A 'general doctor' (don't know whether there is a special English word for it) you sometimes go to maybe?

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

yeah, we have a word for it.. PCP - stands for "primary care physician." ;)

[rainwen.livejournal.com]

I didn't have that problem... my family doctor is my gyno. Gotta love small towns.

Well... you could ask your family doctor now if he/she has any recommendations. Female friends are a good place to start, too. Think of what you would be more comfortable with... a man or a woman? Personally, I'm more comfortable with a female gyno (I've had both). You could look at things like how far away from you they are... that's always a big issue for me, because I don't drive and therefore walk everywhere (I abhor the bus). I know that's no indication of quality, but it certainly makes it more convenient if your doctor's near you. You could also just start calling around and asking about fees, and if they're accepting new patients... I find that's a big problem with doctors nowadays, at least it is here. That's why I still go to my old family doctor, about 80km away! It's a hassle to find a new one.

[at-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I found my doctor with the help of my FIL, who's a doctor. He suggested calling the local hospital, speaking to the main nurses' station, and then asking who they would want to deliver their baby if they were having one. (I was pregnant at the time.)

Good luck with the baby-making!

[rainwen.livejournal.com]

That's a really good idea!

[at-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It worked really well for me. She was the best I've had to date. :-)

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

does your ob/gyn actually go to the hospital with you and deliver your baby him/herself???

[at-the-stars.livejournal.com]

She's actually a family doc who specializes in obstetrics & women's health - so yes, she did deliver the baby. That was the great thing about it, versus the clinic I'd gone to before. She knew me, knew about my pregnancy, all that stuff.

[thevargasgirl.livejournal.com]

i took care of a baby that was delievered by my gyno, but the babies sister was delivered by a gyno at the clinic i used to attend. i chose my doc over the clinic because my doc has a private practice, and i was tired of being treated like cattle at the clinic. they had sooo many patients that i was required to see a nurse practitioner (not a huge deal or anything) but i felt that since they were always so busy i didnt have the access to the doctor as often as i needed ( i was having serious problems with the birth control i was on)
you can call some offices and ask to meet with the doctors before you make an appt.

take a list of questions you want to make sure of your doctor that are important to you such as:
(my personal questions)
will they prescribe birth control pills
will they insert and remove an iud or even prescribe me one if i choose to have one (im 20 and no children)
if i get pregnant and do not want the child, can they help me find a reputable safe place to get an abortion (no one in my town will give an abortion)
are the comfortable with genital piercings (i have one)
are they comfortable with homosexual relationships (im bi)

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

i live in a very liberal, populated area - suburb of NYC. i don't have the problems of an above commentor about distance, as there are about 45 within 5 miles of me, and i cannot imagine anyone professional around here being pro-life, anti-birth control, homophobic. i'm sorry you have to deal with those kind of things by you, from DOCTORS even! :/ but i can definitely think of a lot of my own questions, thank you very much.

[dragon-demon212.livejournal.com]

wow . . . lots of doctors! I see my therapist in a different town than my hometown and my pcp is in a different town than those! I cannot imagine having so many docs in my town or within 5 miles of me. My therapist and pcp are within 5 and 6 miles of me and that's important because I can bike to and from if I need to.

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

yeah, honestly, i did some serious research today for dentists, therapists/counselors, and ob/gyns and these are the results within 5 miles: 37, 52, 14. within 1 mile: 7, 15, 1. you can see why i'm so confused with all my options. ;) i think i'll start with that 1 closest ob/gyn and go from there though!

[dragon-demon212.livejournal.com]

are these all in private practice? Crazy stuff. I called around for my therapist and went with the one who treated me like a person, was close and I felt comfortable with over the phone . . . she called me back TWICE in one night (was in the shower) and offered me an appt with a therapist within a week of me calling to set things up! I randomly picked them out of a phonebook because they were close to me. I had never heard of them before and my school adjust. counselor never heard of them. My PCP was because my parents went to the practice and I was lucky that they had ONE woman doctor who is nice so if I had to I could get a gyn done (college health services sound better b/c of my age). I cannot imagine having all those choices! Good luck! You have plenty more to pick from if you want to switch :) Always a good thing.

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

well, my starting place has always been "who's covered by the insurance and accepting new patients", because that tends to narrow down the crowd. probably not the nicest way of doing things, but the pragmatics do help sometimes.

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

a very, very good suggestiong, lol. as you said, that will likely do a lot of cutting-down for me and should make the decision less daunting at least. do many places often not accept new patients? :x

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

yeah, i think doctors have a patient limit of some sort. i know when trying to get a PCP, i only had a few options who were accepting new patients.

[ourika.livejournal.com]

Are you planning on having a midwife for the delivery? If so, perhaps you could contact the midwife and get a check-up from her. It might be a good idea to have the same person checking you over just so that you can get to know the person better. Or, she may be able to recommend a doctor for you.

For my gyno, I just picked someone that my insurance covered, and I got lucky. For a midwife, though, if I didn't have friends to recommend someone, I'd call and arrange an appointment to get to know the person – just to chat and see if your styles matched up (I'd do this even if the friends had recommended her just because she's going to be with me during delivery, we better have compatible ideas!).

You'll probably also want to be sure to pick an ob/gyn and not just a gynecologist (not all do ob!) since you're seeing someone specifically to ensure a healthy baby.

[jawblader.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest a midwife too. I had a midwife for my pregnancy & birth. Midwives, ime, will actually talk to you, like for more than 15 seconds. The first time I saw my midwife she sat down and talked to me after the exam for an hour. She answered many questions and brought things up to me that I never would have thought of. The ob/gyn I saw was a completely opposite experience (and I never went back).

good luck!

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

I had my first appt last month and I was equally overwhelmed with all the choices I had. I went to my insurance web site and printed a list of all the available GYN's who were 1) accepting new patients and 2) within 20 miles of me and 3) female, because I figured it'd be more comfortable for me. I have Cigna, but maybe your insurance company has a similar web search feature.

Anyway, after all that , there were stil about 40 doctors. I called one and asked for when they could see me, and they said "You won't get to see the doctor on a routine visit, just a nurse."

NO. We're not paying huge insurance premiums to see a nurse. I want a DOCTOR. I should get to see someone with an MD, not a nurse. I know they're well trained too, but I'm there to see an MD.

They also offered me an appointment about 2 months in the future. No. I don't want a MD that has SO many patients that they can't see me in a reasonable amount of time.

Too many patients means they may not be able to provide you with all the time you need to ask questions, or just discuss things, because you're just another of the crowd, not your own person with your own concerns. If they've got to see 10 other women that day, they're not going to give you the time and attention you deserve.

Other advice? ask to speak to the doctor before you decide on a place. If they're nice, helpful, willing to spend time with you on the phone, they're probably a good choice.

I also chose my current one because after looking her up in the phone book I noticed she had a website, which was really nice and professional looking, and mentioned the 'personal attention' approach, which I like. When I called about an appointment, they offered me one the VERY next day. I didn't bother calling anyone else.

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

thank you very much! ;)

[dragon-demon212.livejournal.com]

an appt the next day? with my new pcp I got an appt almost 2 months later! but hey, what can you expect with one woman doctor in the place? I was not pleased with the wait but the doc's nice enough and I got my school forms filled out on time.

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

wasn't a pcp, was a gynecologist only (she doesn't do obstetrics). I was suprised to get an appointment so soon too.

(I need a regular well checkup thing with my new PCP and the wait for that is 2 months.. so yeah :-/)

It really depends on how many patients the doctor has I guess. My GYN must not have too many.

[dragon-demon212.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of an appt the next day except for an emergency .. . I thought a 2 month wait was normal and acceptable! I think, if I were to go to a gynecologist instead of my pcp when I go, I would have a 2-3 month wait. I actually cannot name a single gynecologist in my city so that could definitely be a reason why I don't have one.

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

maybe my GYN is just supercool. :-P

[cailin-t.livejournal.com]

two months? lol, lord.. i cannot imagine waiting for than a few days for an appointment for anything remotely medical around me, but there are dozens of all sorts of doctors within a few miles, so i'm sure that has something to do with it!

[pure-chaos.livejournal.com]

i have a great one if you're willing to drive to morristown or denville! Women's Care Source...Locatelli and Ferrante are both good, and there are women there too if you're more comfortable. good luck!

[willow-starr.livejournal.com]

Ask friends who they see and what they're like. That's how I found mine.

[corinnelee.livejournal.com]

i use to use my mom's gyno, but he was this old man w/VERY cold hands and kinda creeped me out. so when we switched insurances, i just got a referral from my PCP. she's really nice and had all these pictures of baby's on her walls that she's delivered and such. good luck on your baby making! :)

[dragon-demon212.livejournal.com]

I've never been either but when I do I'll go to my gp or at college. I found my gp mainly because she's the only woman doctor in a 4 doctor practice and the practice is the closest to me in the next town over.

I find my doctors and therapist by having them within 5-6 miles of me! Besides that I have no clue how to go about finding doctors.

[elysian-spirit.livejournal.com]

Man, you're lucky you have that much selection. I only have about 2 in my local yellow pages, and one is my general practitioner (which was a no-no for me) so I had no other choice.

[lifeisacabernet.livejournal.com]

Dr. Manfred Strott in Montclair is wonderful, but having moved out of the area some time ago I cannot say with certainty that he is still practicing.