Do you wonder if you should change your OB/GYN during pregnancy? This post discusses 5 signs you should switch your pregnancy doctor.

During pregnancy, there are a lot of decisions you have to make. One of these is if you should keep your OB/GYN that you had prior to pregnancy or if you should take the needed steps to switch your pregnancy doctor.

This is important because the OB/GYN you stick with will most likely be delivering your baby. And you’ll be visiting their office for all of your routine prenatal appointments until then.

So without further ado, here are 5 signs you should switch your doctor during pregnancy.

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1.) If You Don’t Feel Your OB/GYN is the Right Doctor to Deliver Your Baby

Even if it’s early on in your pregnancy, you want to think about this now.

Just because someone is a good Dr./midwife doesn’t mean they’re the right Dr./midwife to deliver your baby.

This is nothing against them; there is a big difference between treatment you receive for regular female visits versus prenatal care and delivery. And each doctor has their own strengths.

2.) If Your OB/GYN’s Office Hours Don’t Work With Your Schedule

This is especially important if you’re working and your work schedule conflicts with your doctor’s office hours.

You have a lot of appointments to schedule during pregnancy, which generally become more frequent as you get closer to your due date. I would hope your employer would be lenient with letting you go to doctor’s appointments, but this is unfortunately not the case for all expecting moms.

On the other hand, you may have other things to consider about the hours your OB/GYN offers for your appointments.

Depending on how far away you live from the office, you may need to factor in substantial driving time. You may rely on a car you share with your spouse/family, or perhaps you have to use public transportation.

Regardless of your personal situation, you will want to take into consideration the hours your OB/GYN offers prenatal appointments, among other factors.

3.) If Your OB/GYN Delivers at a Facility Where You Don’t Want to Go

Some women have been under the impression that their doctor will just show up after they call them during labor, at whatever hospital they are at. But that’s not usually the case.

Most doctors are not credentialed to deliver at all of the hospitals or birthing facilities in their area. So you may have 4 different hospitals nearby, but your Dr. might only deliver at one of them.

Some OB/GYN offices will actually have you sign an agreement that you’ll deliver at the facility they’re credentialed at. So you will want to consider if you’re comfortable delivering where they go.

4.) If Your OB/GYN isn’t Supportive of Reasonable Labor & Delivery Decisions You Want to Make

Granted, if you’re in early pregnancy right now, you may not have fully thought out your birth plan yet. And that’s okay!

But you will want to consider how lenient your Dr. will be of certain things.

Find out if they’re supportive of natural birth or declining certain procedures, if you think these options will matter to you later. Some things will also be influenced by your personal pregnancy and the policies of the facility you’re delivering at (unless you’re planning a home birth.)

But you’ll definitely want to consider the typical practices and policies of your Dr./midwife.

5.) If You’re Uncomfortable with the Doctors/Midwives at Your OB/GYN Who Deliver

Unless you have a Dr. working out of an office without other doctors in the practice, it’s pretty common for an OB/GYN office to rotate different physicians or midwives on call at the facility where they deliver.

So if you normally have one Dr. you like to see and there are other doctors or midwives in their group, you may not have a good chance of your own Dr. delivering your baby.

You can ask which doctors deliver at your OB/GYN. Most places allow you to make appointments with the different doctors throughout your pregnancy. This way you hopefully won’t have a stranger delivering your baby. But it’s good to ask about this in advance.

My Experience (The Short Version)

For me, #5 in itself was a deal-breaker in my first pregnancy.

The person I normally saw for my prenatal appointments (who I really liked) didn’t actually deliver babies. And one of the doctors that did deliver at my OB/GYN office was extremely rude to me.

I didn’t want to chance her being on call when I delivered, so that was one of the main reasons I switched to a midwife practice, where I went on to have a great experience. And the midwives I switched to were also credentialed at the hospital I wanted to go to.

Things to Remember About Changing Your OB/GYN During Pregnancy

Even though I personally ended up switching my OB/GYN, I don’t recommend anyone take this decision lightly.

The 5 points we just talked about are all important things to consider. However, you still want to look at the big picture. Even if one or more of these are true for you, you may still be better off keeping your OB/GYN.

If you do want to switch, you’ll want to make sure that the place you switch to will provide the solution for whatever reasons you’re switching. And you’ll also want to make sure you don’t miss any of your prenatal appointments in the process.

You’ll also want to make sure your new OB/GYN takes your insurance!

So those are 5 reasons you may want to switch your OB/GYN during pregnancy.

Whoever you have deliver your baby will have a big impact on your birth experience. So you’ll want to think it through either way.

Are you looking for more tips on being prepared throughout pregnancy? You can sign up for my free pregnancy email course here- we’ll also send you 5 days of pregnancy printables. .

Thanks for reading. Have a great a day!

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