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[modestmothering]

For the past few weeks I have meeting with NDs in our area to discuss primary care for our little one, when s/he comes.  We are really on the fence about vaccinations and will most likely not vaccinate or will do so very selectively on a delayed schedule (I am still in the process of conducting research, which I started doing months ago ).  Because of this, there is not a single traditional MD who will take on our child, which is fine since we are most interested in NDs and chiropractic and acupuncture care.

BUT

I wonder about the arguments for employing a traditional pediatrician versus an alternative practitioner.  Does anyone have experience with alternative practitioners as primary care for babies?  Has anyone out there just not had a pediatrician? 

[sjdragonfly]

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I already have an ND that I love and I'm hoping she'll agree to take on my little when s/he comes as well. I had to get a GP for myself for just in case at the urging of my midwife, but the first time I saw her (I was already pregnant), one of the first things she said was "Once you have the baby, primary care will be transferred to me and we'll get all of your vaccinations done." Uh... yeah, no. I'm still researching the vaccine issue, I have 3 books on it to read through. Even if we do decide to selectively vaccinate, it won't be until after 2 years old anyway. 

I'm kind of confused about how it all works here in BC, anyway. Someone told me that you only see a pediatrician if you need a specialist for some reason which means you need a referral for that. I don't really know, I need to look into it a bit more. I don't think I'm going to take my kid in but so often anyway. I don't really see the point of the well baby visits after a certain stage anyway if I'm not vaccinating.

[dogmom327]

Our ND is our PCP for our whole family. We love it that way but we are fortunate to live in a state where ND's are considered licensed medical providers with the same authority as a family practice MD (so they can order tests, prescribe, but not do surgery).

I looked for an MD for our kids but since neither is vaxed, it's almost impossible to find someone to take them (even in this area where not vaxing is common).

Edited by dogmom327 - 4/5/12 at 3:10pm

[Jodie]

We just have a regluar ped, we don't vax.

After a bit we don't do well child checks but maybe once a year.

My big kids just had a check up and it had been years since they had one. There is a new doc so we wanted to meet him and talk a bit about the new baby coming in july.

Would love to have a family doctor but haven't done the leg work yet and some around here don't take babies.

Besides my kids are the only ones with insurance. So would have to find a family doc that takes their insurance and would let us pay out of pocket.

I don't know of any NDs here. :( Wonder if there are any?

[giddiegoof]

Hi Jodie,

Did your new doctor get upset with you at all that your kids hadn't had well visits?  We see a former pediatrician (so she is an MD) who now only practices naturopathy.  She doesn't do well visits like a regular ped with weights & measures or even a thorough "poking, prodding" exam - she checks what she feels she needs to, but says we should have a regular pediatrician for well child visits, who has hospital priveledges. 

I am currently taking my infant to an additional ped for well checks, but my older children haven't had well visits since they were babies.  They have all had regular medical care with my NMD, just not a regular ped.  My oldest recently had stitches in his cheek in the ER, and the NMD thinks we should see a plastic surgeon for an opinion because the ER didn't do the greatest job stitching.  She doesn't have connections to surgeons in my area (she's about an hour's drive from us) so she said to ask our ped.  I'm a little afraid to though, because my oldest really isn't established with my infant's doctor, and I don't really have a "normal" medical history for him, just "alternative" stuff.  I guess I'm afraid of being accused of neglect, even though that isn't true. 

Any thoughts?

[cheryllynn]

I think the answer also depends on which state you live in as the vax laws are different from state to state.  In MN we can state we have philosophical issues against vax and while it is not common, it is available.  We lucked out so far as the PED we saw in the hospital before we were discharged has ended up being pretty cool about non-vax.  She was at first pretty upset, but after our first couple of visits, she doesn't even mention them anymore.  She also was very up front about NOT doing any vax in the hospital on a newborn, which was such a relief.  We did continue with the well visits to establish our DD as a patient in case we needed an MD. 

Finding an ND is an interesting option and one I might look into.  Our first lines of defense are:  natural foods, essential oils, chinese medicine/acupuncture, homeopathy.  So far DD has had only minor colds, once with a fever of 103.  She turned three last week. 

We plan on taking our son to this same OB as we feel the path has already been paved and she mentioned she would be OK with taking him on as her patient already knowing we don't vax. 

One book that I found very interesting in this vax conversation is "How to Raise a Vaccine-Free Child."  I liked it because it cited a lot of information plus it gave strategies for each childhood disease in case baby does get sick. 

I also am on Facebook and friend NVIC or National Vaccine Information Center, which has a ton of information including links to youtube videos/documentaries. I watched Shots in the Dark yesterday.  I also watched The Greater Good, which was on tv recently.  I have to say though that the stories in these documentaries are heart-breaking and you're like me, you need to be able to walk away or turn it off when it becomes too disturbing. At least Shots in the Dark focused more on older people and toddlers/children.  In The Greater Good you'll meet a mom who lost her infant child who stopped breathing after a standard vax shot I think around four months.  I wasn't warned and when I saw that I sobbed for hours.  So - researching is a very challenging effort esp while pg. 

It's nice to know that Oregon has some flexibility.  I have an aquaintance who is moving there.  She just has refused to take her children in to see any doctor/well baby/well child visits as she doesn't want to be forced or bullied into vax.

The issue with vaccines goes beyond just autism as well.  There is a huge number of health challenges that children are facing now that didn't 40 years ago.  while the autism rate is now reported at 1 in 100, the rate at which children are developing lifelong diseases and disabilities is cited as 1 in 6 and includes asthma, allergies, auto-immune diseases such as arthritis, rhematoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes,  ADD, ADHD, etc. 

Good luck in your research and hope you find your answer that works best for you and your family.

[modestmothering]

Thanks for the helpful feedback, ladies!  We are still exploring our options, but it looks like we're going to settle in with an ND as our primary care physician. 

[Jodie]

Originally Posted by giddiegoof 

Hi Jodie,

Did your new doctor get upset with you at all that your kids hadn't had well visits?  We see a former pediatrician (so she is an MD) who now only practices naturopathy.  She doesn't do well visits like a regular ped with weights & measures or even a thorough "poking, prodding" exam - she checks what she feels she needs to, but says we should have a regular pediatrician for well child visits, who has hospital priveledges. 

I am currently taking my infant to an additional ped for well checks, but my older children haven't had well visits since they were babies.  They have all had regular medical care with my NMD, just not a regular ped.  My oldest recently had stitches in his cheek in the ER, and the NMD thinks we should see a plastic surgeon for an opinion because the ER didn't do the greatest job stitching.  She doesn't have connections to surgeons in my area (she's about an hour's drive from us) so she said to ask our ped.  I'm a little afraid to though, because my oldest really isn't established with my infant's doctor, and I don't really have a "normal" medical history for him, just "alternative" stuff.  I guess I'm afraid of being accused of neglect, even though that isn't true. 

Any thoughts?

I think you should be fine. Your child has seen someone when they needed to be seen. The doctor didn't say anything about mine not having had more well checks. If you want to start your oldest with a ped just schedule an appointment, if they are taking new patients. It shouldn't be a problem. You will probably just fill out a new patient history and /or get a copy of the records from the NMD.

[fruitfulmomma]

We use a family practice doc which I have been seeing since I was 10 or so. Never saw the need for a ped. He is okay with our not vaxxing. We did wbv with our oldest but not with the our girls. Since we are not using the midwife this time, who did checks at 2 and 6 weeks, we will see him for a couple of times at least.