Reply to Why did you pick a midwife over a doctor?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"My argument is that inconveniences like long waits and office environment are not the markers of bad patient care, which, up until you responded was what we were discussing."

I'm not going to copy and paste the whole thing, but [b]why do you think the above is true[/b]?  To people who don't have hours to wait for their healthcare providers, yes, long waits become bad care.  If the office environment is such that it ignores patient privacy, or doesn't facilitate communication between front office staff and providers, yes, it becomes bad care.

The quality of healthcare is, to me, comprehensive (and most organizations who research that construct agree).  Some aspects of care may be more salient than others, but it all goes into determining quality.  Also, if you look at the first page of this thread, most of the women described some version of wanting personalized attention/being listened.  One woman on the second page talked about wait times, clearly mentioning that she had experience working as a medical assistant in an OB practice, i.e., it was an informed decision.  Why are you focusing on wait times as the reason to argue that the women on this thread can't tell what defines quality care when what PPs are actually mentioning is providers paying attention to them?[/quote]

Because things long waits can be indicia that a doctor is spending more time with each patient and therefore falls behind as the the day progresses?  Not convenient for the patient waiting to be sure, but it is something you would want if you were the patient being seen, yes?   Do you ever notice that you rarely wait when you are the first or near the first patient of the day?   This is because the extra 5 minutes the provider spends with each patient throughout the day has a cascading effect throughout the rest of the day’s schedule.  Before you argue that the provider should just schedule more time between appointments, insurance doesn’t allow for that to be economically feasible.   This is why more physicians, including OB/GYNs, are turning to the concierge model and/or no longer take insurance.  You can have the beautiful office and no wait time, but there is a cost to that and that cost sometimes ends up being that fewer people have access to care.

I’m also the poster that said earlier in the thread that my good friend used midwives and I used an MFM and that each of our choices are equally valid based on our circumstances.  She got the long appointments, the warm and welcoming provider, and the comfortable office visits.  I got the interminable waits, the dumpy office, and gruff doctor.  But I’m more than happy with that because I needed the best medical care available and those factors were not relevant to the competency of the care I received.  My poorly mannered doctor was capable of listening and did listen everything I said but didn’t do anything if it was against his medical judgment, even if I wanted it and argued for it.  I’m not denying that listening is important.  I’m saying that warm and fuzzy does not necessarily mean good medical care and unpleasant does not mean bad medical care.

I’m not going to belabor this any longer because I’m sure that others on this thread are sick of us and, frankly, our conversation is not productive.

What I will say to OP, as an older mom who has been through this a few times before, is this: choose the care that is appropriate for you balancing what you want and your medical needs.   Comfort is important, but it is not paramount.  What is paramount is finding a provider you trust and who is appropriate for your medical needs.  Most pregnancies are low risk and don’t need the level of intervention that is standard for a traditional OB practice.  If you do need more care, it’s ok to acknowledge that and it’s ok to go with the @hole OB if she has the skills you need to keep yourself and your baby safe.  Getting an epidural or c-section is not a failure and if you need them, don’t let anyone make you feel badly or “less than” about it.  My best wishes to you for an easy pregnancy and a healthy baby.  [/quote]

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