5 Tips for Finding a Great Pediatrician!

1. Get recommendations from other families and your midwife! Ask other families that have similar parenting styles. They’ve most likely done research too! Your midwife is also a great resource because we often get feedback from our clients about who they’ve had good experiences with and who wasn’t so great.

2. Schedule a meeting with them prior to starting care. This will give you a chance to ask your questions and get a feel for their personality and practice style.

3. Ask questions! How do they feel about bottle feeding and breastfeeding? Getting baby to sleep? Alternative medicine? Antibiotics? Immunizations/delayed schedules? What parenting practices do they encourage?

4. Find out how their practice is set up! Is it a solo or group practice? If it’s a solo practice, who covers them when they are out of office? If it’s a group practice, how many other doctors are there? How often will you see the doctor you choose or the other practitioners? Do they have separate sick and well waiting rooms? Do they offer same day sick appointments? Evening and weekend hours?

5. Lastly, what does your gut say? Did the pediatrician take time to answer your questions? Did you feel rushed? Were you comfortable talking with the doctor? Do you feel like they will support your parenting choices? Were the staff and nurses friendly?

Always remember you are the one hiring your care providers! You are free to change providers to someone else who would be a better fit.