If you’ve been following the previous posts, you know that we’ve been talking about birth plans and how to talk to our OB provider.
Trust
Here’s one of the most important aspects of OB care. Trusting your provider. I believe that providers earn their patients’ trust by doing the following:
• Listening to concerns, fears and priorities
• Remembering that each patient has a unique life story
• Tailoring care to the patient’s individual priorities, whatever they are
• Remaining non-judgmental
• Providing recommendations based on education, experience and the patient’s unique circumstances
• As much as possible, taking the patient’s desires into account when making decisions.
When you don’t trust your provider
Hopefully you have one of the many warm and caring midwives or OB doctors who love their jobs, are great communicators and excellent care providers. Hopefully you trust them and feel comfortable. But if your instincts and the little whispers we all hear at night are nudging you and telling you that this is not the right situation for you, then look for someone else who you are more comfortable with.
What Works for me
This is what I do in my practice.
About 6 weeks before the due date, we schedule a longer OB appointment for a woman and her partner to go over what typically happens in Labor and Delivery, how we handle the most common situations, when to come to the hospital and what happens when they arrive. Only, after we review our typical process, do we look over the birth plan and 9 times out of 10, find that, as it turns out, we’re all in agreement about how things should proceed.