Homebirth and pediatrician?

[Adamsmama]

I wasn't sure if this is the right forum ... so Mods please move if it is wrong.

We are planning our first homebirth (4th baby) and I remember the last births at the hospital our pediatrician would visit the babies at the hospital and check them, etc. Then we scheduled visits at 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks, etc. What do you guys that homebirths do? Is it necessary to have a pediatrician look at the baby right away or even within the first month? I do want the state recommended testing (thyroid, PKU, etc.) but that is done by the midwife and sent away ... we are planning on delaying an vax, too, so I'm not sure if it is necessary to go to those visits (mostly weight checks, right?) Any one have any input?

[Gena 22]

Assuming all is well, your midwife could do it all. We had a very mainstream pedi who insisted on seeing our babes at 6 days old, which I was a little cranky about. We went in but it was totally unnecessary. I would have liked to wait and let my midwife do all the newborn exams.

[TyrantOfTheWeek]

It's controversial, I think. We took Derek at 48 hours old. Some say it is unnecessary, but we felt it was important.

[frenchkissed]

My midwife is doing the newborn screening when my baby is 5 days old, and since we'll be seeing her again around 2/4/6 weeks postpartum, she can do weight checks on the baby then. I just transferred our family care over to a new doctor, so my DH, DS and I all just had our initial appointments with her. She was very supportive of our homebirth plans and said as long as our midwife is doing the PKU and we're successful with breastfeeding, we should wait until about 4 week to bring the baby in for a meet & greet visit. I live in upstate NY and was very nervous about finding a doctor but so far, so good! I really think it's up to you; if this is a doc with whom your family has already established a relationship, you could always play it off very nonchalantly and call two weeks after the baby is born to schedule an appointment for a week or two later, or whenever you want. I doubt the receptionist would even question it.

~K.

[Belle]

Our midwives did a newborn exam at birth, 1 day, 3 days, 2 weeks, and six weeks. They also did the PKU. We brought the baby to the Ped at 2 weeks mostly to get her into their system and to make it easier to get a Social Security card. The SSA wouldn't take our midwives exams as proof of existence. The Ped's office really rolled their eyes at the idiocy of the SSA but copied the paperwork for us anyway.

[aloneinid]

Your midwife will do well baby checks at 1 day or 3 days, two weeks, and six weeks. You can take the baby to the pediatrician after that. We take our kids at two weeks just to get established with the ped, but we have a doctor that is homebirth friendly and don't get any flak from her. We found her by contacting a midwife in our area for a recommendation (our midwife is in another town). Our midwife does the newborn screening (heel prick) and sends it out. She suggested we avoid the ped until jaundice has passed because they tend to freak out about it. Both of my boys were jaundiced and we set them in a sunny window for several hours a day until it cleared with absolutely no problems whatsoever. It made me feel bad for all the moms who have their babies taken and placed under bili lights for no reason!

I also want to add that our pediatrician identified a heart murmur in our second baby that the midwife missed on two occasions. Luckily it has turned out to be minor, but I was glad to have the ped catch it so we could have it checked ASAP.

[thenaturefreak]

Our midwife does checkups for both mom and baby until 6 weeks pp. But in our contract we signed witht the midwife, we agree to see a pediatrician within 48 hours. The only thing the ped does that my midwife does not do is a hearing test.

I like to do it to cover our behinds. That way my child is in the medical records of the pediatrician in case anything were to happen. I have heard stories of people who didn't have any mainstream medical records who had trouble when their baby had an accident.

[MyFillingQuiver]

I think it's a very individual and personal decision. I understand either choice! One of the most bothersome aspects of my last few hospital births were all the "check up's" and interference of ped's. I don't view pediatricians or Dr's as "evil", of course, but sometimes they just aren't needed.

My midwife is so experienced and trained, and will be visiting so many times in the post partum, that I have no desire to take our baby to the Dr. I have dumped 2 different pediatricians now, after constantly brow-beating me or at least bugging me about no-vax'ing, giving me grief with breastfeeding weight gain issues, charging $30 co-pays for dumb re-check's, etc. I don't go to well-baby/child check up's because I simply don't see the need without vax'ing. I weigh/measure all my children, and if I have a health issue with them, I'll first consult a naturopath anyway, and then our DO.

I have a working relationship with a NP and one of the ped's at one ped's office. If we need anything, or I have ANY concerns, I will take our babe then...other than that, no need to jump in the car and head out when we should be recovering and bonding.

I understand why people do visit the pediatrician for visits, as well as understanding when people use them for illness/problems and not for wellness.

[jeslynmo]

Our midwife does all the baby care up til 6 weeks post partum too. I'd really rather avoid the pediatrician altogether this time though... I wish we could see the midwife til after 12-15 months... you know once all the vaxing is "supposed" to be done!
I don't think I live in a, um, progressive? enough area to be able to find a naturopath. What about a chiropractor? Are they similar?

[Galatea]

We went to the ped's office at 3 days or so. It was fine and our ped is pretty respectful, so no big deal.

[averlee]

I took baby to the doctor as soon as my sutures were good enough to sit on...5 weeks! No way could I have sat in a car on day 2, that's crazy.

[dogmom327]

Both times the MW provided care until 6 weeks. With DS I made an effort to find an MD--saw three different FP over the first 20 months of his life and then gave up. DD has never seen an MD. If we need something, we see a naturopath but as long as they are healthy and growing, we don't see anyone.

[fruitfulmomma]

Our midwife does the PKU and check-up up to 6 weeks on both me and baby.

We don't vax and don't do wbv, so the children have met the doctor when they've needed a doctor.

[jorona]

I plan to let our midwife handle the baby's care until 6 weeks, she's going to do the PKU for us. With DS we were asked to bring him in within 48 hours of hospital discharge and that really bothered me. Now we see a family practitioner, I asked her when she'd like to see our new guy and she said 2 weeks would be fine - but if I wanted to wait that was fine too, so we'll be doing that.

[Adamsmama]

Originally Posted by jorona

I plan to let our midwife handle the baby's care until 6 weeks, she's going to do the PKU for us. With DS we were asked to bring him in within 48 hours of hospital discharge and that really bothered me. Now we see a family practitioner, I asked her when she'd like to see our new guy and she said 2 weeks would be fine - but if I wanted to wait that was fine too, so we'll be doing that.

Can family practitioners give vaccines to babies/kids - I mean do they have the shots in the office? We are going to do a selective delayed vax this time and we were thinking of switching the kids to a family practice instead of a ped.

[laughymama]

Originally Posted by Adamsmama

Can family practitioners give vaccines to babies/kids - I mean do they have the shots in the office? We are going to do a selective delayed vax this time and we were thinking of switching the kids to a family practice instead of a ped.

Ours does. He has to order them ahead of time but he administers the vaccines.

[Paige, CPM]

Here's what I say to clients...

We do the newborn exam (same or more thorough I have noticed, sometimes, as the docs). We do 1 day, 3/4 day, 7-10 day, 4-6 week mom and well baby visits (more if nessesary) and refer to pedi or family doc if nessesary. PKU, etc. We are not doctors, so if you feel more comfortable take the baby soon after birth. I do recommend that you at least are established with someone before birth who is hb or ap and breastfeeding friendly so that if you need assistance you know you have a good person to help you out. Now pedi's are used to seeing the babies in hospital w/in the first 24hrs, that is the rule here in MA and I suspect elsewhere. So for some who don't know about hb and what kind of care is given they will say to you they want to see the baby right away, but most who are told about our care are much more flexible about when you bring the baby in.

One thing I wanted to mention, that previous posters have not, is that you want to schedule your newborn hearing screening with a hospital w/ in the first two weeks after the birth. If you don't do it in that period you may have to go for more extensive testing later as that particular test only works well on newborns, so might as well do it earlier. I think it's a good idea, as a baby who has some hearing loss may have some developmental issues if they are not worked with early on...I reco it to my clients.

[Adamsmama]

Originally Posted by Paige, CPM

Here's what I say to clients...

We do the newborn exam (same or more thorough I have noticed, sometimes, as the docs). We do 1 day, 3/4 day, 7-10 day, 4-6 week mom and well baby visits (more if nessesary) and refer to pedi or family doc if nessesary. PKU, etc. We are not doctors, so if you feel more comfortable take the baby soon after birth. I do recommend that you at least are established with someone before birth who is hb or ap and breastfeeding friendly so that if you need assistance you know you have a good person to help you out. Now pedi's are used to seeing the babies in hospital w/in the first 24hrs, that is the rule here in MA and I suspect elsewhere. So for some who don't know about hb and what kind of care is given they will say to you they want to see the baby right away, but most who are told about our care are much more flexible about when you bring the baby in.

One thing I wanted to mention, that previous posters have not, is that you want to schedule your newborn hearing screening with a hospital w/ in the first two weeks after the birth. If you don't do it in that period you may have to go for more extensive testing later as that particular test only works well on newborns, so might as well do it earlier. I think it's a good idea, as a baby who has some hearing loss may have some developmental issues if they are not worked with early on...I reco it to my clients.

Thank you for that info. That is good to know about the hearing screening. I would like to avoid drs. and hospitals for a little while so I'm not really happy to hear I would have to go to get a hearing screen done. I guess there is no way around that...

[IAMommy]

About the hearing screening - it depends on where you live. Here, we can go to the Area Education Association and they do the newborn hearing screening. An audiologist does it - no doctors are involved, but they do send the results to the doc of your choice.
Also, we see a FP doc and he (well, his nurse) does the shots. We delayed/selective vax and haven't gotten any flak for it.

[sattygirl99]

I must be lucky.. My pedi will do a home visit. Their standard is within 48 hours of birth but she said sometimes, they come out right away if the MW feels there may be a need for an 'actual' medical profession. We have to pay a small fee ($100) for the home visit because we're more than 20 miles from the office but I find it well worth it! She will also sign our birth certificate form (we're using a CPM) so that we don't have to go through the county home visit stuff.

We don't do WBV so she's used to that. We don't vax either. Chances are, we'll be under the care of at least 1 lactation consultant (we had a lot of issues with DD and nursing and weight) so I'm not concerned about monitoring weight gain. As well as our MW and doula, both who assure me they can assist with bfing!