plymouth, ma pediatricians

[thebeekeeper]

hello all,
i posted a few months ago that i would be moving up there soon. it will prob be in the next 4 months or so. anyway, i'm wondering if anybody could recommend a pediatrician in south plymouth/manomet/cedarville. preferably one thats ok with declining or delaying vax and b-fing. thanks so much.

also, while i'm at it, could you also recommend an ob/gyn. dh and i are planning on ttc shortly after the move. i used to go to ss women's in duxbury a long time ago and liked them but that was only for gyn not ob. anybody have any ob exp with them?

thanks and see you soon!!!

[capeatheart]

I just moved here also and my new son and 2 year old are seeing Dr. Saluti at PMG Pediatricians. She is young and we've only seen her twice so far (my son was born less than 2 weeks ago) but I've been happy so far and their practice was willing to work with me on adjusting the vaccine schedule. I've been to both the Plymouth office (near Jordan hospital) and the Sandwich office at exit 2. http://pmgphysician.com/

I also highly recommend Dr. James for an OB. http://www.pilgrimshoresobgyn.com/Dr...usan_james.htm
The office is a lot of miswives (all amazing!) and I really like Dr. James. Their practice is very holistic when it coimes to delivery, etc.

Welcome to the area!

[rhiasmum]

Can't help you on peds but wanted to comment on the ob group. I was with them for my 2nd pregnancy (my dd#2 is now 14 months so it was just last year). They were far from holistic. Also I believe the midwives listed on their page, at least 2 are no longer with them.
I ended up transferring at 37 weeks to South Shore Midwifery. They were amazing. I believe they have an office in Hanover and one in Weymouth across from the South Shore hospital.
There are numerous women here who swear by the midwife Louise who delivers her patients at Tobey hospital in Wareham. Certainly check everyone out who interests you. If you're interested in why I transferred out of Dr. James's group please feel free to pm me.
Good luck in your search!

[jessjgh1]

I have not tried the drs at PMG. I don't have any great recommendations right now for other doctors that are within Plymouth or next to it. Many parents here have gone up to Pembroke to Dr Smith or Dr Wood at Harbor Medical- and they are fine with no vax and really don't offer their opinions, they are very laid back.

Would you be interested in recommendation for midwives and not just an OB? There are several wonderful midwives in the area.

I've not met Dr James, but the male OB that I saw at the Plymouth office was horrible. He made me feel completly uncomfortable and then when I eventually voiced my concern that the exam was uncomfortable (physically) he didn't do much to accomodate me or acknowledge my discomfort.
I also have mixed feelings about the midwives. The one that I loved was leavng (but I believe she is there occasionally now) and the other one and I had scheduling isses with(ie. my appointment got changed, double booked, etc.). Twice I waited more than 40 minutes. So that's when they were short 1 midwife.
The office staff runs the gamut from rude to quite lovely, but the wait and the male ob were enough to solidfy my decision to check Louise out at Tobey.

I found Tobey is more like a birth center within the hospital and Louise is truly supportive of natural birth. Stats at Tobey are much better than at Jordan, too. Plus Karen at the front desk is wonderful and the wait was always kept to a minimum.
I've also heard pretty good things about the OB's that Louise works with when needed(Triad OB/GYN)- they seem very supportive of natural birth- but again some people have clicked with some of the drs and not with others.

As an aside, there are 2 midwifery practices with similar names: South Shore Midwifery and South Shore Women's Health. I've had experience wth SSWH and just would say that I felt I ended up with someone I didn't click with. I've generally heard good things about SSM- at least that people are happy with their experience afterwards. In general it might be that South Shore Hospital is less supportive of natural birth. Of course, we've had others here who have had amazing births there, too. And who hadn't been given the option of Tobey, for example (for a while the VBAC options were extremely limited at Tobey, but it appears they might be allowing Louise to assist with VBACs now).

That probably doesn't sound too helpfuL (I'm a bit tired, too, which doesn't help), but those are some of the options, not to mention the many homebirth midwives.


Jessica

[grumpyshoegirl]

I have experience with Jordan, PMG, SSH, and SSMW, so here goes...

Dr. James is very NICE. However, I did not find the practice as a whole at all supportive of natural birth. If you have a straightforward completely uncomplicated pregnancy and go into labor by 41 weeks, it's possible to have a good natural birth with them, and one of the midwives does waterbirths, which is a plus. Go to 41 weeks, though, and all that goes out the window. One of the male OBs was great with me; the other was not only a dinosaur but just terrible-- PM me for more info if you want. Now, my older daughter will be three this winter, so things may have changed, but I'd shop around.

I do give high marks to Cindy Hoar, the IBCLC at Jordan, and Sue West, one of the CCE's there. I had one or two absolutely AMAZING nurses while I was there as well, but overall Jordan was too much of a mixed bag for me to recommend them strongly.

I, and at least one other MDC mom, were "fired" from PMG for not vaxing on schedule. We do vax, but on a very delayed, very selective schedule. I was "fired" at the two-month visit when I merely questioned the CDC schedule. Again, things may have changed in the past three years, but we switched to Harbor Medical in Pembroke and haven't looked back since.

We went with South Shore Midwifery (NOT SS Women's Health!) for the second baby (VBAC attempt) and have been absolutely thrilled. If you do a search through other posts by me you'll find one where I go into lots of detail. I ended up with an emergency c-section but it absolutely not due to a cascade of interventions. On the contrary, when my water broke I was advised to stay home as long as possible (I went in 18 hours later), I was monitored intermittently, I labored in the jaccuzzi, and my nurse worked around and with me to monitor with the doppler. She got into some pretty weird and uncomfortable positions (for her) so that I wouldn't be disturbed while I was in labor.

They have five midwives at SSMW and I'm in love with four out of the five. I don't hate the fifth or anything, but one is much more businesslike and colder than the others.

South Shore hospital does have sky-high CS and epidural rates, but the midwives are very pro-natural birth and pro-VBAC. At no time through my pregnancy or labor was I treated any differently than a non-VBAC mom. I've continued seeing them for my gyn care, too. And I must say I was treated very well postpartum by the nurses. It was also convenient for us because Harbor Medical is affiliated with SSH, so the baby's exam was easy to get done.

If you're closer to the south coast and not VBAC, I really would recommend Tobey over South Shore, though. When I was pregnant, Louise had been banned from doing VBACs totally and she's actually the one who recommended South Shore Midwifery to me. As I said, I've been totally pleased with South Shore Midwifery, but it's just a fact that Tobey overall has better rates for natural birth and from what I hear Louise is AMAZING.

This got long, so feel free to PM me for more info.

[boobyfeeder]

I, and at least one other MDC mom, were "fired" from PMG for not vaxing on schedule. We do vax, but on a very delayed, very selective schedule. I was "fired" at the two-month visit when I merely questioned the CDC schedule. Again, things may have changed in the past three years, but we switched to Harbor Medical in Pembroke and haven't looked back since.

That's me. All I did was question vaxes and I was told by Dr. Bodie that I would need to either vax or find another practice. I, too, switched to Harbor Medical and Dr. Wood, and haven't looked back either.

As for Pilgrim Shores, DD1 was born in 2004 and I used them. However, the m/w I saw has since left the practice, and I can't recommend them since I don't care for most of the other drs/midwives in the practice. For my most recent birth, I used Kelley Faulkner, a homebirth m/w. I can't say enough good things about her. So if you're open to homebirth, I would definitely meet with her.

[thebeekeeper]

thanks for all your suggestions, ladies. we are FINALLY making the move in about 4 weeks. we have decided to put baby #2 on hold for another year but will def. use the suggestions for peds.

[mamainmass]

We saw Dr. Ramsey Fountain at PMG. I'm pretty mainstream after the birth of my children so I don't know about the vaccination scheduling at the practice. She was, however, the most wonderful doctor. My son was not well and even after we went to Children's she'd call us from home to check in and would see me even when she knew I was overreacting to the silly things. I can't say enough about her. At the very least, she'll listen to your concerns and work with you to her best ability.

I see the midwives at South Shore Women's Health. They do have OBs but they've just had several midwives leave the practice within the last few weeks so I'm questioning what's going on over there. Maybe nothing, but something to ask about if you do end up going again.

Good Luck!
Erin.

[jessjgh1]

Originally Posted by mamainmass

I see the midwives at South Shore Women's Health. They do have OBs but they've just had several midwives leave the practice within the last few weeks so I'm questioning what's going on over there. Maybe nothing, but something to ask about if you do end up going again.

Good Luck!
Erin.

That's interesting. SSHospital was just stated as having the highest c-section rate in the state (I think I ran across that while checking an article in teh Patriot Ledger).
I went to SSWH with #1 and have mixed opinions of the different midwives. I choose NOT to go back there and went to Tobey with Louise (Wareham Nurse Midwives).
I just wonder if the midwives leaving are a result of culture shifts with the practice and/or hospital. I do know that several of the midwives and many of the nurses at ssh are supportive of natural birth and have voiced concerns that the culture there was less suppotive.
Crossing fingers that maybe that will change.
Jessica

[thebeekeeper]

so i looked up harbor med in pembroke but it seems that they are family med. i was hoping for a strictly ped. office. do they have JUST pediatricians there?

[thebeekeeper]

what about south shore medical? anybody have an opinion either way about them? i just found out the PA i used to see at kingston family practice is there now so i was looking into going there for me as a primary. they have peds too. just wondering if anybody had exp. with them.

[capeatheart]

I just wanted to repost about Dr. Saluti and PMG Physicians because DS is 5 months old now and I have had NO problems with them and my vaccination schedule. I brought her the schedule I wanted to use and she was totally ok with it because I was vaccinating. Also, I am choosing not to do certain ones (HepB and Rotovirus) and they are fine with that. My schedule has my DS going to the doctor every month for the first 8 months instead of about 4 times...and again she was fine with it. I'm not sure if it depends on the doctor you see, but I'm very happy with them!

[Chamsia]

This is the dr you want

I lived in Middleboro when my baby was born (2006). We went to Stephen Mendes at Wareham Peds. He was tolerant of my delayed vaxing, though I don't think he'd encountered it much before. My daughter was his first homebirth patient. I can't complain about him, but he certainly didn't take a holistic approach.

We were moving when I met her, but if we were staying I would have switched to:

Dr. Vanda Blinn Md - Marion Pediatrics
[phone]
404 Huttleston Ave
Fairhaven, MA 02719

I met her at an organic farming conference--need I say more? She is very nutrition focused. She is fine with non-vaxing, and recommends a very delayed schedule with all sorts of suppliments for her patients who do vax.

If you call and are told she's not taking new patients, I'd try sending her a hand-written letter. I bet she'd take you if you beg.

If we still lived up there that's where we'd go.

Best wishes!

[Chamsia]

PS--I also heard great reports from 2 families whose tots were Dr. Blinn's patients.