As you approach the end of your pregnancy you may want to start looking around for a paediatrician if you don’t already have one. We have some of the top questions you will want to ask a potential paediatrician.
It may be a good idea to setup an “interview” with a potential paediatrician. You may want to book an appointment 3-4 weeks before your due date. When you book your appointment be sure to tell the receptionist that you are expecting a baby and are interviewing potential pediatricians.
- What is your philosophy about child rearing?
You may want to include in these types of question as part of the child rearing philosophy:
- Do you support breastfeeding?
- Should babies sleep in the same bed as their parents?
- At what age do you think you should begin to wean your baby?
- What are your thoughts on medicating children and antibiotics for children?
- How much are your hospital charges and fees for office visits?
- Does a pediatric nurse practitioner work in the office?
- Do you charge for phone consults?
- Do you return every call?
- In some cases the paediatrician will return all calls and others may have members of staff return the calls.
- How long are your appointments? The shorter the appointments are, such as 10-15 minutes the more chance you have of waiting around, and also be rushed through your appointment. A good appointment time is 20-30 minutes.
- How frequently do you see baby in the first year A good paediatrician will also schedule ‘well child’ appointments, rather than just seeing your baby when he/she is sick all the time.
- Do you have a “sick-child” waiting room? If your paediatrician also has ‘well child’ appointments, then they may need to have a different waiting room for healthy children and sick children. If you share a practice, will I always see you?
- Do you have evening or Saturday hours?
Paediatrician Q&A
