Ob office keeps assigning me to PA or other obs, is that normal?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I went to capital women’s care at bethesda and usually saw dr Kleinerman. But since I got pregnant, I haven’t been able to see her for my three visits so far. The front desk either told me she was not available or that they need to rotate the obs. But so far I’ve only seen one ob who barely start working last year. She is great but I just want to see my doctor. Is that normal practice for ob office ? Also Can you recommend other providers ? Thanks

[Anonymous]

This is annoying but in reality you may not be delivered by your usual OB, so it's a good idea to get to know others in the practice. I liked my doctor who did all my checkups but she broke an ankle right before I gave birth so she wasn't able to do any deliveries. Surprises happen.

[Anonymous]

Yes, normal. I went to a different CWC and they rotate you through all the OBs. It’s a good thing, because then you are familiar with whoever you get when you’re at the hospital to have the baby.

[Anonymous]

I went to a different practice and their standard was to rotate you through as many of the staff as possible so you wouldn't have a stranger at delivery.

Once it became clear I would need a scheduled c-section then I saw the provider who was going to do my surgery for the rest of my appointments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, normal. I went to a different CWC and they rotate you through all the OBs. It’s a good thing, because then you are familiar with whoever you get when you’re at the hospital to have the baby.

Yes, same here. I am at CWC Rockville and their policy is to rotate through all the OBs in the practice. I switched to CWC from Kaiser, which did not have an outright policy to rotate (you could see your primary OB, if you preferred), but I ended up seeing a bunch of different OBs at my home Kaiser office because that's who happened to be available on the schedule. My two kids were delivered by the Kaiser OB on call at the hospital, which--both times--were from different Kaiser locations than the one I normally attended for appointments.

[Anonymous]

I go to CWC as well and am also “on rotation.”

I get it, but it isn’t my favorite. Definitely feels like my visits are checkbox exercises for the doctors.

For my first, I went to a small practice and saw the same doc at every appointment so was really able to develop a relationship. I cared more about feeling comfortable asking questions, etc. through those 9 months with my provider than whether or not I had met the doc who would deliver my baby once or twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I went to capital women’s care at bethesda and usually saw dr Kleinerman. But since I got pregnant, I haven’t been able to see her for my three visits so far. The front desk either told me she was not available or that they need to rotate the obs. But so far I’ve only seen one ob who barely start working last year. She is great but I just want to see my doctor. Is that normal practice for ob office ? Also Can you recommend other providers ? Thanks

Most practices operate in a similar fashion. Unless you're really displeased with the other doctors in the practice, it would not be worth the trouble to switch.

You never know who will deliver the baby, anyway, outside of a scheduled C.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you’re not even being rotated amongst all the OBs if they keep scheduling you with the new OB only. This happened to me too when a new OB joined. My guess is the new OB has a ton of openings and they try to steer patients over.

See if you can schedule your appointments further in advance and just be persistent in asking about your preferred dr’s availability.

[Anonymous]

This was standard in my practice as well. I had scheduled a c-section with my usual OB but then my water broke at 34 weeks. I also had a good relationship with the doctor on call that day after many visits with her, I'm thankful that she knew my history well and made a stressful situation a little bit less so.

[Anonymous]

Seeing another OB, fine, that I understand. I would never tolerate being relegated to a PA for my checkup, never.

[Anonymous]

I went to the WHC OBs and I saw a different provider every time, and then one I never met actually delivered my baby. That was fine though and my preference really because all I cared about was scheduling.

I don’t believe they remember us anyway especially if it’s a routine pregnancy. They just read the chart. And I feel like more eyes means less chance for someone’s mistake or bias or whatever to have an impact.

But I know for some people it’s really important to have the same person so just advocate for what you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seeing another OB, fine, that I understand. I would never tolerate being relegated to a PA for my checkup, never.

I’ll never get this. Why not? It’s all very routine and if anything gets flagged they can escalate it. I don’t see why an MD is necessary for a routine check in.

[Anonymous]

I went to CWC for my last oregnancy and I scheduled all my remaining appointments with the same OB once I had seen the other one's one time.

[Anonymous]

op here
This is my impression. They are trying to schedule me with just this new ob and when I asked to see other obs the front desk was very rude and said «  we only have five providers, or I can offer you to see midwife or PA »

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you’re not even being rotated amongst all the OBs if they keep scheduling you with the new OB only. This happened to me too when a new OB joined. My guess is the new OB has a ton of openings and they try to steer patients over.

See if you can schedule your appointments further in advance and just be persistent in asking about your preferred dr’s availability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeing another OB, fine, that I understand. I would never tolerate being relegated to a PA for my checkup, never.

I’ll never get this. Why not? It’s all very routine and if anything gets flagged they can escalate it. I don’t see why an MD is necessary for a routine check in.

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