If and when did you bring baby in for check up after birth

[BaileyB]

Wondering what people have done or are planning to do when baby is born. If you re not vax-ing or circ-ing are you still bringing in baby for postnatal check up?

[lia_joy]

#1 was born at 8am and I had him a pediatrician appt by 3 for a check-up.  In retrospect, that was too much of a disruption for a baby that was perfectly healthy so with our second and third we waiting a couple of days (3-5 days, I think) by then we had a family dr which I prefer.  I'm in WI and the birth certificate requirements include having a medical professional sign the form (basically identifying me as the mother) and the paperwork needs to be filed within 7 days.  after that there's more hassle. can't remember exactly what. Just that we didn't want to deal with it so that factored into the decision to get the check up in the first week. 

our first and second sons had some vaccinations (no circ) and our third had none, but we did opt for the PKU test for all of them which our family dr scheduled (if I remember correctly it was a week or 2 later) With this baby we'll do the same -- assuming there are no complications or concerns we feel should be addressed immediately -- take her in a few days after birth for a check up & to get the paperwork taken care of.

[sam pearson]

To me taking a freeborn baby to hospital would only be if they needed medical assistance and a healthy baby doesn'ty need medical assistance after birth.

The day after my daughter was freeborn I had an independent midwife come to visit and check bub and myself.  She was with me for an hour and only charged me for that which was $70.

[tracymom1]

I brought my 2 HBAC/UC babies to the doc a couple of days after they were born. Mostly for 2 reasons - one was peace of mind for DH and I - we completely love our kid's ped and wanted him see them and establish care for the new baby, just in case of emergency. Sometimes there are things that could be overlooked by new parents that a doctor can pick up on right away. Although I am not one who normally runs to conventional medicine as a first line of defense, I felt it important for the babies to get a looking over just in case I missed anything. Eased my mind. We do not vax or participate in most *routine* testing.

The 2nd was for the birth certificate. In our state/county, you need the baby's first medical record to be submitted with the paperwork. So if you aren't getting a BC right away, I guess the only reason would really be for establishing care.

[RoseisRose]

2nd baby, 1st UC didn't see the FP MD until she was about 4 months old. 3rd baby, 2nd UC was the day he was born...to which the FP MD asked, "what the hell are you doing here? he is perfectly healthy, go home." LOL!

[BaileyB]

Good info so far! I have to get on top of how to get a BC in our state. I'm only 4 weeks pregnant but I know I will procrastinate.

[jljeppson]

We take ours in the next business day after their birth for pku and establishing care, so it has ranged from 1-3 days after birth.  Are you in MN still?  If so, I can tell you what to do to get a birth certificate there.

[BaileyB]

Oh yeah I can see you are in Moorehead! Yes please tell me I have no idea.

[jljeppson]

I actually just moved to Idaho, haven't figured out how to change that yet!  But, I just did the birth certificate paperwork for my daughter a few wks ago, so the memory is still fresh.  It's really not all that hard to do.  Call the health dept and ask for Roxanne.  She deals with all the ooh births.  She'll ask a few questions and fill out that info on the paperwork, then send it to you to complete.  You send it back in with everything signed and notarized (can't be you signing it, has to be a 2nd party.  Can be your husband or partner), something showing proof of pregnancy (almost anything will work, a letter from your chiro, a letter from your doc, etc) and a check for $26.  They'll send you the birth certificate and, if you checked the box asking for a ssn, a ss card will come in the mail around the same time.

[BaileyB]

Oh my gosh thank you sooooo much! That saves me a ton of work!

[Multimomma]

Hey Bailey,

I always bring mine in for a check up at about a week old, mostly as a CYA type of thing. However, we have a good pediatrician will see the kids without vaxing. 

[jljeppson]

No problem, happy to help.

[Almi]

We brought the twins in at exactly one week old to see the pediatrician.  Someone (possibly jljeppson) had given me the name of a good pedi but she was on vacation for several weeks at the time, so we got whatever doctor was available (CPS was on our ass about getting them in ASAP).  Turns out he's awesome.  I'll be bringing our next baby in for a checkup within a week or two after birth this time, too.

[BaileyB]

Did the staff just about crap themselves when you brought in home birthed twins?

[Almi]

LOL.  Amazingly, no. :)