Looking for doc in SLC area

[charityj]

I'm in SLC, trying to conceive my second (may already have succeeded...just waiting out the luteal phase now). I thought I had a great family practice doctor for all of us, but he's been giving some inaccurate breastfeeding advice to people I know, and I would like someone more knowledgeable about BF before I give birth. I had problems with BF my first, but got through them with the help of some great docs and LCs in CA. Now I need someone great here in SLC. I would be fine with a great pediatrician, would prefer a great family practice doc (I like one-stop shopping).

Also, I'm planning to give birth at home with a midwife (so would love some CPM recs), but need some monitoring for thyroid issues by an MD/DO. Anyone have someone they'd recommend for just following me through pregnancy for only the labs and meds part? Internist, family practice, endocrinologist preferred. I'd consider OB/GYN, but I'd prefer not to go that direction.

[JMJ]

For breast feeding, nobody knows their stuff better than the La Leche League. They can help you with everything from preparation to dealing with problems, etc. A lot of physicians and midwives will recommend that you get in contact with them because breast feeding is really all they focus on, and they know a lot more about it than a lot of physicians. The salt lake group can be contacted at [e-mail].

As to home birth midwives, I've been pretty happy with Chris Miller and Melissa Mayo at Full Circle Care downtown so far. I'm only 11 1/2 wks along, though, so I don't have much to base that on yet. They did meet with me and my husband for something like an hour and a half just to see if we clicked before I committed to going with them. Then, they were cool with me calling late on a Sunday night, freaking out because I was spotting, also before I committed to going with them. They both have a quite impressive amount of experience, including dealing with some of the more tricky situations.

As far as medical care is concerned, I can't help you. I can't think of any MD's, PA's or NP's that I have ever visited that I can say I would really trust. Considering I'm pregnant, I'll need to change that because I need to trust my child's pediatrician. So, I'd like to add my own question to the discussion. Does anybody know any great pediatricians who believe strongly in the ability of parents to take the information they are given and make good decisions for their children, even if that means home birth, no or selected vaccines, fewer antibiotics, more natural treatments, etc? In addition, I would want a pediatrician who is personable and fun to be around and strongly pro-life.

[kitkat5505]

I also need a pediatrician. We have a family doc, but not really attached to him.

For a homebirth midwife you can check out Rebecca Williams (www.greatexpectationsbc.com). She does home births as well as just opened up a birth suite. I just switched to her and she has been wonderful.

[Contrariety]

Originally Posted by kitkat5505

I also need a pediatrician. We have a family doc, but not really attached to him.

For a homebirth midwife you can check out Rebecca Williams (www.greatexpectationsbc.com). She does home births as well as just opened up a birth suite. I just switched to her and she has been wonderful.

: Ooo! Looks nice. DH and I are considering another, and If we do I'm homebirth all the day. I like the looks, here!

[charityj]

Funny you mention LLL, JMJ...I'm actually very active in the SLC group. I love LLL, but my worry is that, if I have a doc who's not supportive of and knowledgeable about BF, I'll end up with a difficult situation if new baby and/or I have problems. My daughter was born in the hospital after a homebirth transfer, and while I'm committed to birthing my next child at home, I recognize that there are a lot of things out of my control. I really fear a situation in which an unsupportive doc doesn't let us leave the hospital without giving baby formula or something. Before my first birth, it didn't matter to me what my docs thought, I figured I'd just fight them every step of the way. Then I figured out I'm more a lover than a fighter when I'm pregnant, birthing, and postpartum, and I want to head off any potential fights before we even get to them.

A friend recommended pediatrician Sarah Johnson...does anyone have experience with her?

[JMJ]

Good for you, charityj, for having the courage to give home birth another try after having to transfer the first time, and I can understand your concern. My midwives said that their preference if I have to transfer would be for me to go to the University Hospital. They said that I could be transferred directly into CNM care there, using an OBGYN only if necessary, and they could still be a coach and an advocate for me.

I also have a friend who is a nurse there and says that they have been making amazing strides to get a nursing friendly certification, not giving parents formula, getting rid of all education materials, etc that are sponsored by formula companies, providing for better mother-baby-togetherness, building new birth suites, etc. Some of these changes are complete, and some, such as the birth suites, aren't done yet, but if you're barely pregnant, they'll probably be done by the time you give birth. I don't know specific practitioners, but I do know that changes like that don't happen unless somebody there really believes in it.

[Mommy2Liz]

I don't have any personal experience with him, but I have seen Dr. Louis Borgenicht (850 East 300 South Suite 5) mentioned on here several times as being a good pediatrician who is educated about vaccinations, circumcision, BF supportive, etc.

My sister lives in SL and is TTC. She will be looking into Dr. Borgenicht when the time comes.

HTH!

[charityj]

Apparently Louis Borgenicht is in practice with Sarah Johnson. I suppose that may be a positive sign for the whole practice.

[delfuego]

We just switched our DS's pediatrician to Dr. Borgenicht and really like him. The practice is small and very personal. I would definitely recommend them!

[charityj]

I've not met Louis Borgenicht, but I interviewed Sara Johnson who also works in their office. Not sure if other people are as turned off about this as I am, but they had a basket full of free formula samples in their waiting room. That to me doesn't say BF-friendly (at least not BF-friendly enough for my tastes).

Has anyone worked with Matthew and Rachel Burnett? They're naturopaths in downtown SLC. I just found out that NDs can prescribe in Utah, so they're now on my list of people to consider for PCPs, but I'm looking for personal recommendations.

[tappinerp]

We go to Dr Lou. I will not take ds to Sarah Johnson. We made that mistake- once. I think she is a decent doc- but she told us that she wasn't as "loosey goosey" as Dr Lou is about vaccinations...Totally turned us off to her.

Dr Lou has been very supportive of our extended breastfeeding- He has been amazingly supportive of parental decisions.

[bmhpke96]

I'm sorry to hear that about Sarah Johnson. I like our ped just fine - Dr. Hurley. We switched to him after Heather Winsett recommended him when she was leaving. He is fine with no vaxing, so that is what I was most interested in.

[Ianthe]

I take my DS to Dr. Suzanne Holbrook at Alpine Medical Group. I really like her.. she has never pushed us to do vax, she is very BF friendly (she BF all her kids), and she is also un-circ friendly and vegetarian friendly (if that is a concern of yours).

Dr. Lam in her office is also all those things, from what I hear.

[moonygoony]

I agree with everyone above the Dr. Louis Borgenicht is the best. I also had a hard time with Dr. Johnson though. When my son had pneumonia and was at primary children's she was on call. He was sweaty from us snuggling in the hospital bed (he had a fever as well) and she freaked out saying he should be tested for cystic fibrosis (there were no other indications). The other time we had to see her she was also very quick with a prescription pad. However, Dr. Lou really helped when my son was having severe insomnia and has always been very respectful with what we (my husband and I) decide to do when it comes to our boys' healthcare.

I also love Melissa and Chris for midwives. I have chosen to apprentice with them because of how amazing and experienced they are. Melissa was my midwife for my first homebirth and now that I am pregnant again, I will now see both of them (yay!)

As for lab work during pregnancy, Chris and Melissa share their Salt Lake office with a really good naturopath, Leslie Peterson. Other moms who see us often go to her as well for things like thyroid issues or hormonal balancing. She is excellent with both.

[Captain_Crunch]

Dr. Thomas Metcalf of Wasatch Pediatrics @ St. Marks is amazing!! He is totally supportive of attachment parenting, He high-fived me when I said I wasn't circumsizing my son and encouraged baby-wearing and bf... he was amazingly supportive during those difficult first weeks of bf-ing, I would have ended bf a lot sooner if not for Tom



Can you tell I love this guy?

[purplepetal21]

We take our DD to Dr. Matthew Burnett and give him . My DD is 5 so I dont know first hand what his BF, Vac and other such views are but I would imagine that if he suggests getting my DD to eat Kale he is probably down with the other stuff! (and yes we got her to eat it)

I see Leslie Peterson and will probably switch our DD to her practice once she gets older, but for now Dr. B is great!!!

A plus is that Utah Natural Medicine where Dr. B is located accepts Regence Bluecross Blueshield!!!

[SaveTheWild]

I have seen most of the peds on this list and used Melissa Mayo for my homebirth, so I had better chime in!!

First the Peds:
Dr. Borgnicht --

PROS

I have been seeing him for a while and I largely like him. He is definitely friendly to "alternative parenting" issues, if you want to call them that, e.g. no vax, etc. I have not done any vaxes and he has never once challenged it, yet when I do have questions and thoughts about it he is willing to discuss. I also love that his practice is small and personal. I despise waiting in a waiting room full of sick kids. The last thing I want to do is go to the doc with a healthy kid and leave with a sick one. He does the visit himself, and does not have a nurse or other staff member do all the prep work, give shots, etc.

CONS

He isn't as available as some other peds because he doesn't work everyday and leaves relatively early. He also isn;t as "organized" in the sense that I do not receive print-outs with info like size, weight, height, at each visit like I have at other larger practices. This is the downside to the small practice. Also, he is a bit too "loosey goosey" in some ways. i.e. he doesn't do very thorough exams and is very much a "the chances are that there is never anything actually wrong" type (which for the most part always turns out to be true, but sometimes it makes me nervous. Finally, on the vax issue -- I really wanted to consider the option of doing a separate measels shot, and both myself and another friend who is a patient of his asked separately about it and he said no, because he would need 10 people interested in doing it. I have a strong feeling that he could easily find 10 of his patients interested, so I was bummed that he didn;t make more of an effort to accomodate.

All that said -- I am actually considering switching to another ped. We'll see.


Sarah Johnson I have seen her a number of times as she is Dr. Borgnicht's partner, and often when I need to go in on short notice Dr. Borg. isn't available. Not a big fan of hers. Much more mainstream, and I just don't really love her vibe. All of the other issues of small practice, good and bad, as discussed above apply to her as well.

Matthew Burdette I took my dd to him early on (but got tired of paying out of pocket as he wasn't covered by my insurance). Very thorough, very pro "alternative" parenting, has a vax situation that I like -- he is very supportive of no vax, but if you want them he has a program and schedule available, always does separate single type vaxes, etc. Downside -- not covered by as many insurers, and can be a little [B]too[B] thorough -- e.g. a few visits he made me nervous about things that were totally non-issues and worried me for nothing.

Dr. Tuan Lam PROS -- Super nice guy, very easy to get along with, CONS -- really really busy practice, lots of sick kids in waiting room, very short visits where he often seems like he is rushing (because he is, as there are rooms and rooms of people waiting to see him). Often it felt like he wasn;t really listening. Since he has heard it all before, he can go into a bit of robo-doc mode. The nurses do a lot of the actual hands on stuff, weigh, measure, give shots, etc. He clearly knows his stuff though and is a fine choice, I ultimately left though due to the cons mentioned.



Midwives -- I used Melissa Mayo and really liked her. She is very experienced, knows her stuff and is easy to get along with, accommodating, etc. She does not really have a hippy, mother-earth vibe, which at first I found surprising, just because I was more used to that model of midwifery, but she is very comforting and easy going. Chris Miller, her partner, is slightly more crunchy seeming in terms of vibe, but she too doesn't scream earth mother. Again though she absolutely knows her stuff and is great at what she does. I wish Melissa did visits at home rather than most of the visits being at a clinic, just because that is more my style/preference, but I did love her and am going to use her again.

[SaveTheWild]

oh, and as far as hospital practice midwives -- though I have not seen her, around here the always mentioned go to midwife is Danielle Demeter. Everyone says she is fantastic and supportive of homebirths, etc. I think her practice might be in Park City, but she has hospital provileges at St. MArks, so she may have clinic hours down in SLC as well.