PG / Midwife WWYD?? Maybe a little TMI.

[Jacksmommy2b]

Okay so Fri night on one of my hundred trips to the potty i started to hurt when I peed. Made it to Sun afternoon, still hurt so I sent an email to my midwife who is on vacation until the end of the month. It basically said 'here is what is going on - who am I supposed to see for this sort of problem? My usual primary care or my old OB/GYN?

She came back with 'I am your only OB/GYN when you are PG, go to your Primary and keep me posted.'

So I go to the primary who takes a sample, gives me a precautionary abx, and sends me home. Yesterday the primary calls and says 'Not a UTI - stop the abx and call your midwife for care because you are PG and basically we don't want to touch you.' (Paraphrased, of course )

I send her another email telling her all that and asking her where I go from here as it is Wed and still having pain.

I get an email from her this am that says 'if it isn't a uti, then it could be a kidney stone, a scratch or irratation of some sort or just a pregnancy side effect you have to live with. No uti means it's not dangerous to you or baby. I'll be out of cell/e-mail range until I get back from vacation.'

So that is apparently the last I'll hear from her until she comes back from vacation at the end of the month.

I'm obviously no Dr. but I don't see how you can be so sure everything is fine if you still have no idea what is going on? Based on one urine sample and not actually seeing a medical professional she is confortable telling me that everything is fine and she'll see me in three weeks? And I can't help but be seriously irratated that I have no alternative than to wait for her to come back as I can't see another Ob, Gyn or Midwife, and that even though she is the one that asked for an update, and I was reffered back to her - I still get this whole 'you'll live - stop bothering me' vibe from her last email.


So - am I being over-emotional and over-sensative over this whole thing?

[Octobermommy]

I would not hesitate to go to another ob/gyn or midwife b/c you are still hurting. To say you might have a kidney stone and say in the same email that since you don't have a uti it is not dangerous is kind of crazy to me. The whole "I am your only ob" would make me lose confidence in her. Is she afraid you will switch providers? When will she be back from vacation? 3 weeks is a long time to wait with a problem. Does she have call partners? I would definitely see someone else if you are still hurting.

[kijip]

See someone. It could be a kidney infection, or turn into one.

If she is going on vacation for 3 weeks I assume she has someone backing her up? If not, I would frankly get a new midwife. My midwife had backups for all her time off and she was honestly never out of cell/email range for emergencies, even if it was just to reassure and direct to her back-up (I have friends who used her too so I got a number of opinions of her based on a range of experiences).

[buddyleebaby]

You decide who to seek treatment from, not her. You have an acute problem. I understand she is on vacation but that doesn't mean you should not see anyone for a month.
I too would be pretty annoyed by the tone of her e-mail.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Your midwife should have a back up person! That's crazy! She has to have connections with someone- what if you needed a c-section? Do they just use the on call Dr. at the hospital or does she have a practice/ Dr. that backs her up? All of the midwives I know have fall backs.

I would not be happy with your midwife leaving you with no care. I would probably take myself to a hospital with a good maternity ward and get checked out by an on call careprovider there to make sure all was well.

I don't think I would want to continue with a person that bailed like that. If she says she is your go-to, well, then she needs to be there or get you in touch with someone who can help!

I hope all is well.

Beth

[MommyofAmaya]

Wow, she will be out of town for three weeks? At our initial meeting, I specifically asked my midwife what would happen if I needed assistance and she was unavailable or on vacation. She replied that she doesn't take vacations and she would only be unavailable in case of true medical emergency on the part of her or her children. I don't expect every midwife to have the same policy, but a 3 week vacation while expectant moms are in her care is unacceptable IMO....especially without a back-up OB. I'd consider finding another midwife during her vacation. Maybe she will initiate better policies in response.

[LBW]

Call or email her again and ask her for the contact info for her backup midwife or OB. Explain that you are in pain and not able to wait until she gets back from vacation to deal with this.

If you do not hear back from her, or if you get another unsatisfactory answer, make an appt with your old OB/GYN.

Either way, if I was in your situation, I would start looking for a new midwife. To me, part of the benefit of seeing a midwife is getting EXTRA care and communication.

Sorry you have to deal with this!

[bubbaray]

I don't understand. Your OB said s/he wouldn't see you unless you are PG, but you ARE PG, right?

Call your OB back and tell them your primary and MW won't see you and you NEED to be seen.

GL!

[Jacksmommy2b]

Originally Posted by bubbaray

I don't understand. Your OB said s/he wouldn't see you unless you are PG, but you ARE PG, right?

Call your OB back and tell them your primary and MW won't see you and you NEED to be seen.

GL!

The MW is on Vacation and can't see me. The primary won't touch me because I'm pregnant and according to the MW, I am not allowed to see another OB/GYN because the MW is my OB/GYN per my insurance.

And according to the MW - I don't have to be seen. She said because the UTI was negative it isn't anything that could hurt me or baby - even though she does say she doesn't know why it still is painful.

Originally Posted by LBW

Either way, if I was in your situation, I would start looking for a new midwife. To me, part of the benefit of seeing a midwife is getting EXTRA care and communication.

Thanks for that! That is what I thought when I switched to MW care and I am less pleased now than I was with my OBGYN that I wasn't wild about anyway!

Originally Posted by SnuggleBuggles

Your midwife should have a back up person! That's crazy! She has to have connections with someone- what if you needed a c-section? Do they just use the on call Dr. at the hospital or does she have a practice/ Dr. that backs her up? All of the midwives I know have fall backs.

She has a backup MW, but as she has stressed to me - the backup is for emergencies only. She is backed by OBs at the hospital - but she told me I wouldn't be meeting them unless we had to schedule a c/s.

Basically what ticks me off the most is that according to the MW, I don't need to see another medical professional. She thinks as long as it's not a UTI, that there is nothing to worry about.

Thanks for all your opinions. Since I read the last email from her I had the feeling that I no longer really had enough faith in her care to have her deliver my (vbac) baby. So I think I am off to find another MW - OB, thanks for reassuring me I'm not over reacting!

[trales]

I am shocked that your Primary Care would not look into the situation more considering you MW if being unreasonable. Yes you are PG, but you are more than a host for the baby, you are also a living person.

She should have a back up for situations like this. There has to be someone better out there.

BTW, are you sure about the insurance thing. You might want to call them. I think she is wrong on that one. I saw a few OB's during my pregnancy, back up and specialist, the insurance never questioned it.