7 Questions to Ask When Choosing an OBGYN for Pregnancy

It might be your first preg­nan­cy, and you need an obste­tri­cian. Or maybe it’s not your first, but you want to switch providers. You might even just be plan­ning for the future and want to find one ahead of time.

What­ev­er the rea­son, you’re on the search for a new obstetrician.

Obste­tri­cians (OBs) are physi­cians who spe­cial­ize in deliv­er­ing babies and pro­vid­ing care before and dur­ing preg­nan­cy and the few weeks after child­birth. They’re dif­fer­ent from gyne­col­o­gists, who are physi­cians that focus on care for the entire female repro­duc­tive sys­tem. How­ev­er, most OBs are also gyne­col­o­gists, which is why you will often see providers referred to as OBGYNs.

Whether you’re already preg­nant or hop­ing to con­ceive in the future, find­ing the right OBG­YN is one of the first steps you can take to make sure you and your baby get the care you need.

So, how do you find the one that’s right for you?

Here are sev­en ques­tions to ask when con­sid­er­ing a new OBGYN:

1. Do they have expe­ri­ence with high-risk pregnancies?

Every preg­nan­cy is dif­fer­ent, and one of the most impor­tant things to look for in an OBG­YN is some­one who can meet your indi­vid­ual needs.

Some women ben­e­fit from see­ing mater­nal-fetal med­i­cine spe­cial­ists (also known as ​“peri­na­tol­o­gists”). These are providers who have spe­cial­ized, advanced train­ing in car­ing for women with high-risk preg­nan­cies. You may be con­sid­ered high-risk if you:

• Have an exist­ing med­ical con­di­tion, like dia­betes or high blood pressure
• Are car­ry­ing mul­ti­ple babies at once (twins, triplets, etc.)
• Had com­pli­ca­tions dur­ing a pre­vi­ous pregnancy
• Know you will need to have a C‑section, or have had one in the past
• Smoke or have an alco­hol or sub­stance use disorder

Even if you don’t begin your preg­nan­cy care with a mater­nal-fetal med­i­cine spe­cial­ist, your OBG­YN may rec­om­mend work­ing with one if you have com­pli­ca­tions dur­ing your preg­nan­cy. For exam­ple, they may refer you to a spe­cial­ist if you devel­op a con­di­tion like ges­ta­tion­al dia­betes (dia­betes that occurs while preg­nant) or preeclamp­sia (high blood pres­sure and high pro­tein lev­els in your urine dur­ing pregnancy). 

Also read: What to Expect at Your Pre-Natal Doc­tor’s Appointments

Whether or not you choose to work with an OBG­YN who spe­cial­izes in high-risk preg­nan­cies, make sure that they are board-cer­ti­fied by the Amer­i­can Board of Obstet­rics and Gyne­col­o­gy. Board cer­ti­fi­ca­tion shows that a provider meets a cer­tain set of stan­dards and is an expert in their field.

2. Are they in my insur­ance network?

Preg­nan­cy can bring plen­ty of finan­cial stress, so the last thing you need is sur­prise bills. If you are using insur­ance, con­firm that your provider is in-net­work before mak­ing your first appoint­ment. To avoid any mix-ups, check direct­ly with both your provider and your insur­ance com­pa­ny to make sure every­one is on the same page.

Even with insur­ance, there may still be some costs to pay your­self. It’s crit­i­cal not to let that stop you from get­ting the nec­es­sary care for you and your baby. If you are wor­ried about mon­ey, check out finan­cial aid options. Many hos­pi­tals and health sys­tems offer pay­ment plans where you can pay in small­er amounts over time.

3. Do we have the same beliefs and philoso­phies about preg­nan­cy and childbirth?

Preg­nan­cy care isn’t just about keep­ing you and your child healthy. It’s also about mak­ing sure that you are as emo­tion­al­ly and phys­i­cal­ly com­fort­able as possible.

As you look for an OBG­YN, keep your per­son­al pref­er­ences and beliefs in mind.

Being on the same page from the get-go can help avoid sur­pris­es and make you feel less wor­ried or stressed dur­ing pregnancy.

Also read: Pre­na­tal Genet­ic Test­ing Explained

4. Who will be deliv­er­ing my baby?

Babies arrive on their own sched­ule, and it might not be the same sched­ule as your OBGYN’s.

Your OBG­YN may be the one to deliv­er your baby, but it does depend on when your baby decides it’s time to make their debut. Many prac­tices have a rotat­ing sched­ule of OBG­Y­Ns who are on deliv­ery ​“duty,” so it might be some­one besides your own provider.

If this is the case for a prac­tice you’re con­sid­er­ing, find out if you’re able to meet the oth­er OBG­Y­Ns ahead of time. This can make it much more com­fort­able and put you at ease when it’s time to go into labor, even if your OBG­YN isn’t there.

5. Can they help with infertility?

Not being able to con­ceive right away is fair­ly com­mon. While it can be excep­tion­al­ly frus­trat­ing and emo­tion­al­ly chal­leng­ing, there is good news if you’re strug­gling to get preg­nant. Most peo­ple and cou­ples fac­ing infer­til­i­ty can even­tu­al­ly become preg­nant. And while some lifestyle changes like los­ing weight or quit­ting smok­ing can help, the abil­i­ty to con­ceive is often due to med­ical care.

Cer­tain med­ica­tions, treat­ments, or surg­eries can improve your chances of get­ting pregnant.

When preg­nan­cy is on your mind but you haven’t been able to con­ceive – or you have a med­ical con­di­tion that’s known to affect fer­til­i­ty – look for a provider who spe­cial­izes in infer­til­i­ty care. If you decide that you want to try in vit­ro fer­til­iza­tion (IVF), your OBG­YN may refer you to an IVF specialist.

6. What are oth­ers say­ing about them?

Still not sure who to choose? Hear­ing from oth­ers who worked with the OBG­Y­Ns you’re con­sid­er­ing is a great way to learn about them on a more per­son­al lev­el. Review­ing web­sites, local social media groups, or sim­ply tex­ting a friend to ask who she used can help you find a trust­wor­thy and well-liked provider. Hear­ing from oth­ers can also help you dis­cov­er ques­tions to ask or fac­tors to con­sid­er that you hadn’t thought of before.

Just remem­ber to take advice from oth­ers with a grain of salt, espe­cial­ly if you don’t know them well or can’t ask fol­low-up ques­tions. Since everyone’s needs are dif­fer­ent, a provider who didn’t jibe well with one woman might be per­fect for you. It’s okay to let oth­ers’ opin­ions steer you in one direc­tion or anoth­er, but at the end of the day, choos­ing the right OBG­YN is all about your own per­son­al preferences.

7. What is my gut saying?

Even if an OBG­YN checks all the box­es and has great reviews, they still might not be the right fit. Some­times, it sim­ply comes down to whether or not your per­son­al­i­ties mesh. When you first meet a provider, make sure you feel like you can speak open­ly with them, that they clear­ly explain every­thing, and that they make time for you. You will be see­ing them a lot dur­ing your preg­nan­cy, so it’s impor­tant that you have a good rela­tion­ship with them.

Go with your instincts and choose an OBG­YN who makes you feel com­fort­able and safe and who you trust to keep you and your baby healthy.

At Duly Health and Care, our OBG­Y­Ns and their care teams pro­vide per­son­al­ized, com­pas­sion­ate care tai­lored to your unique needs. Our com­mit­ment is to be with you every step (and kick) of the way, offer­ing con­ve­nient OBG­YN appoint­ment times and bilin­gual ser­vices to ensure you receive the high­est stan­dard of care. Find an OBG­YN and make an appoint­ment online at Duly Health and Care.