CincyBabies

Interviewing a doctor or a midwife to help you when you give birth is one of the most important interviews that you will ever have. During this relatively brief period of time you need to have a lot of questions answered and yet have a sense of your ability to trust this person in important and fast paced matters. That said there are many mistakes that can be made in the interview process that can alter whether or not you have the information you need. Here are some of the most common mistakes that are made by families when picking a practitioner.

Not interviewing practitioners at all.
Many women never even think to interview prospective doctors or midwives. They erroneously assume that the gynecologist that they have used for years will be the perfect obstetrician. Others simply go to a care provider their sister or friend used. This is a dangerous way to choose the person who will be assisting you through one of the most important events of your entire life.

Asking questions that don’t get you the answers for which you are trying to get.
This basically means that you are attempting to get an answer, let’s say it’s the practice’s cesarean rate and you want to know how often cesareans are performed. So if you ask how often do you do cesareans and you get the answer, “only when necessary” this doesn’t tell you if they believe it to be necessary 10% or 40% of the time. When asking questions, be specific. For example, “What percentage of first time mothers have cesareans in your practice?”. This prevents any misunderstandings and later disappointment, frustration, or anger in the care you’ll ultimately receive during your labor and birth.

Not writing down the answers.
Jot down the responses you receive so you can refresh your memory later when comparing care providers. Taking your partner with you can also be helpful. It’s good to hear what someone else interprets the information given as being. Come prepared with all your questions written down, as well, so you don’t forget to ask all of them.

Not getting to the important topics.
There are so many important topics to discuss when choosing someone to provide your prenatal and birth care. Only you can decide which questions are the most important to you. Start with the questions that you consider to be the “make it or break it” questions. Why waste your time engaging in a long discussion, if within the first 3 questions you immediately feel this particular practitioner does not have the same birthing philosophy as you. Examples might be:

Do you allow women to complete a full 42 weeks of gestation before considering inducing?

Do you agree that women should eat and drink during an unmedicated labor?

Is your cesarean rate within the WHO’s recommendation of 15% or less?

Asking only details about the practitioner you’re interviewing.
Many practitioners work in larger groups. It is an incorrect assumption that all care providers in one practice have the same philosophies. Many doctors and midwives work together simply to lessen their on-call time.

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