Who would you believe, the doctors office or the ICAN group?

[Lisa1970]

I had a nasty run in with one of the on call doctors for my OB. I posted about it here already. I told the OB office that I will not have him in my care ever again. The OB office informed me that my OB is only on call 1 weekend a month and any other day, I will have to just take whomever is oncall. The local ICAN group says that that is not true, when it is a VBAC, the OB does all those deliveries. But I even spoke to the office manager at the OBs office and she has assured me that he only has 1 weekend a month oncall and if he is not oncall, I HAVE to deal with whomever is oncall.

There are a lot of women on the ICAN local group. They keep insisting he delivers his own babies. But the office keeps insisting he does not, he only delivers the one weekend a month. The other doctors in his practice might or might not be vbac friendly. I have not found that out yet. One of the other doctors is horrible and nasty so I will not deal with him. So if he is on call that day, I will have to take my chances with whatever random doctor who is on call and practices at that hospital, which leaves me in a very bad situation.

So who would you believe...the people at the local ICAN group or the office manager and staff at the actual OBs office?

[bobandjess99]

Choice C: ask the OB personally.  

[Lisa1970]

It is going to be another few weeks before I can ask the OB personally. I saw him at 18.5 weeks. I was supposed to see him again today, but had to reschedule and they could not get me in again until June, when I am 24 weeks. So meanwhile, I am wondering what is going on and what I am supposed to do.

[Lisa1970]

I just do not like sitting around wondering if, in a few weeks, close to my 3rd trimester, I am going to be calling around trying to find a new provider. This is so frustrating.

[kltroy]

I agree - you'll need to speak directly with the OB to clear this up.  Usually you can call and leave a message for people and they'll return your call, so this is one option if you're going to spend the next 6 weeks worrying about it.  You can also ask those within the ICAN group whether they were told one thing by the office and another by the doctor -- especially anyone who has birthed with this OB within the last year.  Ultimately, you need to talk to the OB though.

[Monkey Keeper]

In my situation, my OB does not routinely deliver her own clients outside the normal work week. She shares call with three other OBs.  However, in my case, I begged her to be there for my delivery, and when I arrived at 3AM, instructions were in my chart that all contact was to go through her, not the OB on call. Perhaps that is how this particular OB handles it, on a case-by-case basis? It certainly wouldn't be something he publicizes or even shares with colleagues since it's somewhat undermining or discrediting them, but it may be something that he does to give his patients the best care possible.

[Lisa1970]

Turned out, the ICAN group was correct, not the office staff. I went and spoke to the actual doctor today.