I received lots of advise before I became a mum but somehow no one told me this.
"Find a good paeditrician for your baby even before your baby is born."
So there I was, my baby born and my gynae whom I had been seeing for 9 months asked me. Do you have a paeditrician of your choice? I said "No." and she asked "So is it ok with you if we put you on one of the hospital's panel of paeditrician?" to which I said "Ok." I was to go back to see the paeditrician again in two week's time (and many more times during baby's first year for immunization jabs and check-ups. That was something I didn't realise until I became a mum and nobody told me so).
At the second week's check-up. My baby had lost a lot of weight (instead of regaining her birth weight as babies are supposed to) due to my problems breastfeeding. (She had lost a shocking 25% of her weight to be precise). I was in a state of stress. Baby was not feeding well. The paeditrician came and told me to "just give baby milk powder" and he treated baby like a slab of meat the way he undressed her and put her on the cold examining table and turned her this way and that. I was horrified and never went back again!
Fortunately, I found a good paeditrician after that. One who taught me how to breastfeed, who was good with children and answered our questions, fears and doubts (of a new parent) patiently.
I can't believe it but in a blink of an eye, we have been seeing this paeditrician for 5 years now. We have to wait a long time to see her each visit but we don't mind because we had been given that much time with her too when our babies were newborn. So, one advise I have for new parents or parents to be is.......
"Find a good paeditrician for your baby." You're going to be seeing this person a lot during the first year of baby's life.
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thanks very much for this post... i didn't know this too..
ReplyDeletehi there,
ReplyDeleteyour blog looks very professional leh. i love it. good job.
I agree with you.I had change alot of paedrician ever since my elder daughter was born.It's not easy to find a good one.Once we find a good paedrician we should stick with him.
ReplyDeletedaniel,
ReplyDeleteYou can ask around friends or relatives to recommend one.
shern's mom,
Thanks very much for the compliment. I just used a standard template that is all. :)
sweetiepie,
Fortunately we've not had to change. We just have another one to go to as a backup in case this one is closed for whatever reason.
Actually, I think a lot of times, it depends on the chemistry between the doctor and the patient. I have tried going to one particular paeditrician who is quite popular but I just can't seem to find it comfortable with her. So, I moved on to another. Human chemistry is a funny thing sometimes. :)
ReplyDeletetot's mom,
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Chemsitry plays a part too. You must click and be on the same wavelength.
hi :) you know what, this is a great piece of advice that all first-time moms must ponder about! we were lucky that because our baby had problems when he was born, we managed to get hooked up with the best paed for him. a blessing in disguise indeed!
ReplyDeletebabybooned,
ReplyDeleteI guess this is just something that everyone takes for granted and never really give a thought about even though its really quite important.
Hehe.. I never bring my girl to PD cos it was way too expensive. Luckily, the GP located around my house was a really caring doctor. I only started to see a PD in France since it was covered under medical insurance. ;P
ReplyDelete