If you took your LO to the Ped within a week or two after birth instead of to the OB/Midwife/hospital, what was required or what paperwork did you need to bring to see the Dr.? I'm in San Antonio, using a hospital midwife, and wondering how much of a hassle it is to see someone after a UC- or if it's easier to go the "oops" route and head in to the hospital right after to get the birth certification etc.
Why do you need paperwork just to see the care provider?
I haven't UCed in Texas yet I think it would be pretty easy. Call your local vital records office and they should be able to help you.
Bessedwithboys- I don't know, that's my question... I'm wondering if I would need any kind of proof of delivery or paperwork in order to see a pediatrician. When I had my daughter I'm thinking I had to bring her hospital paperwork or birth certificate.
vegemamato- Ok I'll try that, I thought about calling around to some Peds around here but didn't know how much I would have to explain that decision to them.
I had my DS1 at a birth center and DS2&3 at home in Texas. When we went to the pedi, all we had was a little fact sheet from the midwife with anything important from the pregnancy (like GBS status, etc) and then the low down from the birth - hrs water broken, length of labour, and the baby's stats (weight, length, head circ. etc). They didn't not require anything in the way of a birth certificate. We went to the pedi at Day 2 and let the office staff know we were coming in for the 'initial newborn exam', that the baby wasn't born in a hospital and that we didn't want to have to sit in the waiting room. They were great and let us come straight in to a well-child exam room until the pedi came to see us. In fact one time they had us just go wait in the pedi's private office.
Good luck!
mumofmak- Thanks for the info! I just want to be prepared for any situation.
Before I found a midwife who would work with my insurance I was considering UC in San Antonio, all you need for the birth certificate is proof of pregnancy (you can get if for free at many clinics that do pregnancy testing) and a witness who will "swear" to it that they saw the live birth of your child, or proof of live birth such as video/pictures with some sort of dated item like a news paper/etc. You have to bring that to the county records office to get the birth certificate. I'd advise against the "oops" method. I spoke to a friend of the family who is a practicing OB at BAMC and she said that if your determined to UC, it's probably better to wait a week or two before seeing someone, rather than going in right after the birth, just because a lot of hospitals will then assume that something must have gone wrong and want to keep either the baby or both of you for observation/testing etc
... Hope that helped!
KateDavies- Thanks for the birth certificate info, that sounds easier than I thought it would be.
I just wanted to say GL! I am going to be having my 3rd UC, 1st in Texas in May, and so far everything I have read looks like it's all fairly simple...
I live in Texas and I'll be doing my first UC. I found this information while googling around about what I would have to do to get the birth certificate and such. I've never had to have a BC to take with me to the pediatrician for an initial newborn exam so I would think you would be fine there. Hope this helps!
Rainystar66- Thanks! I'm thinking the same thing.
jshannyn519- thanks for the link, I found that one too a few days ago and it sounds easy enough!
Thanks for everyone's reply! Definitely good info.
I UC'ed our twin boys at the end of Oct. And honestly, it has been DIFFICULT to get anybody to see them. ALL ped offices assume that ped was the one that saw the babies in the hospital and want to know when he/she recommended their 1st appt so they can go ahead and pull their newborn file that was started. So, despite calling around for 4 straight days and figuring out very quickly what info I needed to omit from my story the homebirth info had to come out each time in the questions they asked. I did not even begin to tell them we UC'ed. Most offices, when I stated they were born at home, asked incredulously if it had been an accident to quick to make there arrival and who my OB had been. Then they asked why I didn't immediately come to the hospital after they were born so everyone could be checked over. So,then I finally state they were born at home and that I had been under the care of a midwife. I was treated with absolute disdain by each and every office. Several went as far as telling me that I had willingly jeopordized my babies lives by such acts of ignorance. Ugh. No, people. You're jeapordizing their lives by mandatorily cutting me open and ripping them from me 4-5 wks too early! But...they don't get that part. So, the only ped we could find is located 4 hrs away from us and actually backs up my old mw located 4 hrs away in Denton. He is large family, no vax, homebirth friendly. So, we make the drive when we need to see a dr for anybody. But, thankfully, they are rarely ever sick and we haven't had need for a dr in a good 2 yrs.
We're located in central west Texas. I was born and raised in the DFW area and we moved out here 4 1/2 yrs ago. I would think in most of the larger cities it would be easier to find a ped that will back you up in your parenting decisions and understand the homebirth/paperwork issue. I'd just tell them you homebirthed and omit the UC part. Most dr's...OB's and peds alike....flip about that little bit of info. We're pretty rural. The closest "bigger" city is Abilene so the choice in dr's is fairly limited there.
I UC'ed our twin boys at the end of Oct. And honestly, it has been DIFFICULT to get anybody to see them. ALL ped offices assume that ped was the one that saw the babies in the hospital and want to know when he/she recommended their 1st appt so they can go ahead and pull their newborn file that was started. So, despite calling around for 4 straight days and figuring out very quickly what info I needed to omit from my story the homebirth info had to come out each time in the questions they asked. I did not even begin to tell them we UC'ed. Most offices, when I stated they were born at home, asked incredulously if it had been an accident to quick to make there arrival and who my OB had been. Then they asked why I didn't immediately come to the hospital after they were born so everyone could be checked over. So,then I finally state they were born at home and that I had been under the care of a midwife. I was treated with absolute disdain by each and every office. Several went as far as telling me that I had willingly jeopordized my babies lives by such acts of ignorance. Ugh. No, people. You're jeapordizing their lives by mandatorily cutting me open and ripping them from me 4-5 wks too early! But...they don't get that part. So, the only ped we could find is located 4 hrs away from us and actually backs up my old mw located 4 hrs away in Denton. He is large family, no vax, homebirth friendly. So, we make the drive when we need to see a dr for anybody. But, thankfully, they are rarely ever sick and we haven't had need for a dr in a good 2 yrs.
We're located in central west Texas. I was born and raised in the DFW area and we moved out here 4 1/2 yrs ago. I would think in most of the larger cities it would be easier to find a ped that will back you up in your parenting decisions and understand the homebirth/paperwork issue. I'd just tell them you homebirthed and omit the UC part. Most dr's...OB's and peds alike....flip about that little bit of info. We're pretty rural. The closest "bigger" city is Abilene so the choice in dr's is fairly limited there.
That sounds awful! Luckily you don't need to make that drive too often. Some people just don't understand that giving birth is not automatically a medical emergency.. especially in a smaller town where everyone has the same thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about just about anything they are told! And it's probably what I would have had to deal with if we still lived in east Texas, and exactly what I was worrying about here. Thankfully I got the nerve to finally call around to the Peds around here (San Antonio) that are covered by my insurance and none of them even flinched 
. I just told them that we would be having a home birth and would like to bring him in shortly after to see a Ped and wanted to make sure that the Dr. didn't have a problem seeing him- being that we wouldn't be affiliated with any hospital.. no problem for any of the ones I talked to. Very happy we moved.
medicinemansgirl That's just terrible! I'm sorry you've been having such a difficult time! The small town I live in in California is the same way. My own Ped. whom I love is in a whole office full of idiots... They gave me such a hard time when I came in with my first UC, whom they all only knew as a home birth that he took us out in the the nurses station, and said, "Excuse me, I need the attention of my staff... I would like you all to take a look at this beautiful baby who was born at home the way a child was meant to be; You could all learn something from this woman." He loved that I UC'd, but my ped's a rare breed, he was a midwife who became a Dr because he felt the medical field was too medicalized, and wanted to try and fix at least a small piece of it... I'm going to miss him for sure!
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