How much time do you spend with your OBGYN?
Categories: Just for moms, Pregnancy & birth, Places to go, Health & safety, Chores
Don't worry, I'm not referring to getting coffee. What I mean is, when you go in for a visit, say your annual exam or for a specific reason--like you're pregnant--how much time does your OBGYN spend talking with you? Is it enough? I've read countless articles over the years about how doctors in general are not spending enough time with their patients. Due to the pressures of insurance companies to ever-expand their businesses, for example, doctors are seeing more and more patients and able to give them less and less time. The really good doctors seem to have endless waiting rooms full of eager patients as well, which could mean that you get only a few minutes of his/her time once you actually secure an appointment.
The reason you're seeing an OBGYN might determine how long he or she spends with you. When I visit my OBGYNs, for example, I'm there for pregnancy check-ups. These don't normally take very long at all, and they're very by-the-numbers: Weight taken (fat!), blood pressure checked (low, good), belly measured (sure due date is good, why not), that kind of thing. Then comes the time for questions. How am I feeling, are there any problems, and I resting enough and drinking enough water? Then we check the baby's heartbeat and off I go.
The whole thing takes probably less than ten minutes. It's a whirlwind, but I'm not really designed to be sitting there gabbing all day. Were it an annual exam, it would take longer. There are more tests and questions and most likely the doc wouldn't have seen me a week ago, and then be seeing me next week, and so on. But, do you think you're getting the attention you deserve when you visit the OB or are you just another in a line of vajayjays?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jamie 9-17-2008 @ 11:29AM
My OBGYN is wonderful. I never leave with an unanswered question. He takes his time to explain everything to me and my Husband. I am done having children and he even took the time to go over the different options we would have, permanent and otherwise, to keep us from getting pregnant. He and his brother both practice at an office that used to be their Father's. I have never felt like a number.
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Courtney 9-17-2008 @ 11:55AM
I feel the same way as Jamie. It may take a little longer to get in to her, but it is so worth it because I never feel rushed.
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Crystal 9-17-2008 @ 12:50PM
When I see the OB/GYNs in the practice, its quick and to the point. In and out, so to speak.
When I see the Nurse Midwives in the office, for both prenatal visits and annuals, it is much more relaxed. The spent double, if not triple, the time the OB/GYNs do. The answer every question, and give you a wealth of info the OB/GYNs do not.
Ofcourse the wait in the lobby is longer to see the midwives, for that reason. But, I dont mind spending the extra time waiting to get the medical attention that I deserve.
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Baron 9-18-2008 @ 10:12AM
While I can't speak for my wife's annual exam as she hasn't had one with this new doctor yet, I can speak for the once every 4 weeks, then once every 2 weeks, then once a week exams she and I went to together while she was pregnant. Outside of the standard weight, measure, heart beat, etc. we probably spent about 30 minutes with him each time. I don't think any visit was (in total when you factor in talking to him, the checks, and the ultrasounds) less than an hour long. We went to him after our original ob/gyn had us in and out of his office in about 10 minutes, didn't offer a chance to ask any questions, etc. He wasn't mean or rude, but just a typical doctor (working in a hospital myself and being around a lot of docs my whole life I say the typical doctor is one who gets you in and out as fast as they can because they either don't want to deal with you very much, have a lot of other patients - more than they should - scheduled to see, think they have better things to do, etc. it is very rare today to know of a good to great doc that takes time with you. I know a few, this ob/gyn is one of them).
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