Did Your OB Deliver, or Someone Else?

My ob/gyn was actually on maternity leave when I had my oldest, but that did not matter because my daughter decided to come in the middle of the night. The doctor on call delivered her so I had never met her before. That was a little upsetting, but she did great and I ended up needing an emergency c-section. With my second daughter my ob/gyn had a fever so she could not do my c-section as planned, but two doctors in her practice did just fine! Finally, my third daughter was delivered by my ob/gyn which was great also. All deliveries went great so I don't think it really matters.

Both my boys were early. My son was delivered by the OB's partner. Which was fine....she doesn't have the best bedside manner - but she did great in delivering Greg.

Nicky was delivered by my normal OB...

If she trusts her partners, i think you will be fine...

CONGRATULATIONS and good luck!! Hope you have a smooth delivery!!!

My OB didn't make it and another doctor delivered my daughter. The doctor that I had was FABULOUS. If I ever have another baby, I will choose that doc.
I wish you the best of luck!

O. of the doctors in my group delivered my son. Not the O. I was hoping for, but I was there so long, several shift changes came into play!
Truthfully, by the time I had pushed for an hour, I didn't care if it was the janitor that was "catching" my baby!
Good luck!

My OB office had 4 doctors. They set up all the prenatal visits so that patients would see each doctor at least twice. So that no patient would be delivered by a stranger. I liked them all, but had my fave of course. She only delivered one out of three.

Congratulations! (It's funny the things we worry about, isn't it?) May you and the new little one be happy and healthy!

:)

Nope, it was whomever was on duty. But really, the nurses definitely do all the heavy lifting. They alert the doc when you're pushing. I have a pic of the doc, but I remember the NURSES. Wonderful ladies to this crazy lady who was hellbent on birthing "au naturel" (i.e. no epidural) :)

I hear your concern but I don't think it matters. The nurses are the most important!!

With my second my OB was out of town so another doctor in his practice delivered her. I was nervous at first but no big deal.

With my third he came very quickly and had to be delivered by the house OB. What I learned from that is at that point you could care less who catches you just want the child out!

Seriously my mom asked if I got references for the doctor before I let her deliver the baby. Yeah, excuse me, I have no epidural, no pain meds what so ever, the nurse is holding the baby's head in, could you perhaps prepare me a resume! Can you tell I was adopted?

I don't think it's that big of a deal. The doctor is only in there at the very end, the nurses do everything else. My three babies were all delivered by different practices/different doctors and I was fine with that.

My OB was not on call on the day my daughter was born. The hospital did call him, but my labor was so fast, he only made it for the episotomy (lucky him, but he wanted to be there). At the point where I was ready to push, I didn't care who they pulled out of the hallway - she was ready go GET OUT. The OB was in the same practice, but I never had any check ups with him! I would actually have to look at her birth records to remember his name!

Mine were both delivered by someone else. I had never met either of the new doctors. The first one was awful. I'll spare you the details! The second one was awesome. It's the luck of the draw, I guess! Good luck with your VBAC!!!! I'm going to have a VBA2C this time around and I am SOOO excited!! I do not understand your doctor's policy of having a c-section at 39 weeks. ?

3 babies, 3 different OBs and only one who did not make it to my delivery and I was not disappointed...the office had 3 Doctors on staff at that office and I had appointments with all of them so I would not be delivering with a stranger. Honestly, it was with my third pregnancy and he JUST made it, a few minutes later and it would have been the nurse practitioner who delivered my baby = ) Really I think liking your attending nurses is the bigger deal, and you really have almost no control over who they are! I have never had an attending nurse who was not amazing, so I am either really lucky or it takes a special person for that position = ) Good luck, I would not worry too much! You will be so excited to hold the baby that who delivers the baby will not seem as much a big a deal once it is over and done with = )

With my 1st and 3rd, I was delivered by people I had never met and they were lovely. Great experiences. My actual OB delivered my 2nd and I was glad that she got to be there for at least one of my kids. My 4th delivery was with a different OB who handled that pregnancy and it was a scheduled induction specifically to fit her schedule, but there was a long back story to why it was important that she be the one to deliver.

Try to not let this worry you - you'll be in good hands no matter whose hands they are and whatever will happen, will happen. Congrats and good luck!

L.,

You will be in good hands no matter what. Your husband should be your best advocate for your birth plan and it will be fine whether you have your ob or another doctor.

I had my Ob deliver both of my children beause I am high risk. But its good to meet everyone in the practice so it isn't a suprise when you deliver. GL!

M

I delivered last year during all those pressure changes. Even the news teams were warning all pregnant women who were expecting soon to have their bags packed because they predicted the pressure changes to cause a lot of women to go into labor. Well, my water broke and I called my hospital to tell them that I was on my way in. They were completely full. I didn't even know that was possible! The thought of my doctor not being the one to deliver the baby had never even crossed my mind. I started crying. Lol.

I ended up being diverted to a different hospital, and the whole way there I was just kept repeating 'Please let the doctor be a girl' (The whole idea of a man who isn't my boyfriend, doctor or not, poking around down there... It didn't make me happy). Get to the hospital, and yep... The doctor is a man. GREAT! Lol

It was okay. I was really disappointed, but in the end I barely noticed that he was down there and I got to meet my son! :)

I think the bigger disappointment was that the hospital I was at wasn't as nice as the hospital I was supposed to be at... Uncomfortable bed for both me and my boyfriend, crappy tv, and no shower (Just a tub).

I TOTALLY lucked out. I saw my doctor on Monday and as I was leaving I asked if he was on call and he said "yes but you're not having that baby yet, you're at ZERO cm." Well Tuesday was my due date and at 3 am I went into labor. I waited until 4pm to go to the hospital and there he was laughing at me asking HOW did you DO that?

I was told it was a hard delivery and was borderline c-section at one point but he got me thru it. Once I got the epidural I was just along for the ride and did as told. I LOVE that man!

I never had the same OB deliver. It was always the doctor on call. Like others mentioned it's the nurses who do most of it, the doctor is just there to catch basically. With my second the doctor wasn't even in the room on time and with my first and third, the nurses were frantically calling for the OB so that they didn't have to deliver! Funny thing is my normal OB with all three were women and the OB's on call were all male.

My OB delivered my first. With my second and third it was whoever was on duty, but I had met them all. With my forth I have been told that it may not even be someone in the practice I go to. But really I'm not sure I care... when the time comes I am so focused on delivering the baby and for it to just be over! Once you hold your baby that is all that matters!

Both of mine came so fast, the nurses delivered them each time. It didn't bother me at all. The doctor did stop by for a minute and check on us and billed me for "his" services!

My fav OB delivered my first and I really wanted her to deliver my 2nd. I actually saw her the day before I went into labor (and she was not on call) and she told me that if she was in the office with regular patients, I could have them page her and she would see if another doctor would cover her appointments so she could come deliver!! I was so excited because I thought I had some more time but baby came less than 12 hours after that conversation. The on call OB that delivered was wonderful and I had seen her before as well. So you could try to request your fav OB...I felt the same way!!!! But was happy with the other OB too. Best of luck and congrats!!

I was blessed and was able to have my OB deliver both of my girls although it was stated in the papers I signed that anyone of the 5 in the practice could deliver me and I had to see each one of them at least once before delivery for my pre-natal visits so we could meet and they would get a bit of history. I would have been fine with any of them delivering them but I took a liking to one specifically and was glad he did both my girls!!

YAY!!!! You're almost there.

For number one, I was being seen by a large Health clinic in Chicago. I would have my prenatals with any number of OB's. The policy was to meet all of them at least twice before delivery. I think there were maybe 6 or 7. I had met all of them but one, then my water broke 5 weeks earlier than expected and I met him while I was on the table being prepped for an Emergency Csection. He turned out to be the best one in the clinic. He is the one I went back to for all my postnatal checkups.

Don;t stress too much about it. They know what they are doing, you concentrate on bringing baby into the world.

I went into labor with my first at 37 weeks. The problem was that 3 days I wasn't looking to be even close and my Doctor was going out of town over the weekend and everyone (including ultrasound) thought I would wait another few weeks. Well I went into labor Saturday evening and my daughter was born Sunday morning. I was a little disappointed that my OB did not deliver my daughter but I had also made a point to consult/meet the other doctors in the practice so there wasn't a complete stranger in the delivery room. Made me feel much more at ease.

This is always something that can happen, and I was a little nervous about it while I was pregnant, because I really liked my OB. When I went into the hospital, I had to go through emergency because the hospital was closed, and when the emergency nurse asked who my doctor was as she was wheeling me into the labor and delivery area, she commented on how he was a VERY popular doctor that day (It was only 5am!). I had a feeling that he wouldn't deliver as he only cam in 2 times while I was in labor and the rest of the time I was told that he was in c-sections. When it was time to deliver, he was in a c-section again and another doctor helped me deliver. It is not the worst thing in the world to happen.

A little word of advice: If you have specific plans laid out with your doctor, I would make sure you bring in a birthing plan that way you can stress it to all of the nurses, so they can help you and fill in the other doctor if need be.

I was lucky to have the OB I'd been seeing deliver all kids but the last one. He was in too big of a hurry and a nurse delivered him long before the on-call OB (not one I'd seen before but from the same practice) finally got there. She took care of the stitch or two I needed and that was it. :-/

With my first, I went to the same OB during the whole pregnancy, but I met the other doctor in the office. The other doctor was the one on call the day I delivered. I liked her so much that I went to her for my other two pregnancies. As luck had it, she was on call for the second when I delivered and we scheduled an induction with her for my third. She's been my gyn ever since.

Good luck!

Trust me at that point, you would be happy with Elmo!!!!! Congratulations!

My first was a hospital birth. My OB failed to tell me that it would be whatever random OB on call that would deliver until the very last minute. It was not my OB, and to make matters worse she was a retched person! I had never met her or even knew she was there (I had seen someone other than my OB when she went on vacation while I was pregnant) I won't go into details but we actually complained against her.
My second and third were born at a free standing birth center. There are several midwifes in the practice and you end up meeting all of them plus the RNs during your pregnancy. You do not know which one will be on call when you deliver but there are no surprises, you've met them all and been under their care at some point in your pregnancy. It was a substantially better way to birth! The cool part is the RN that attended my second's birth was now a midwife and she delivered my third.

My water broke early and because of complications with my son my ob wasnt there. Which sucked cause I worked with him a few years before I got pregnant and trusted him.

Well, I have a new OB because of complications, so I will probably have my new doctor delivering. I'm not used to her much since I just started seeing her a few months ago. I like her, but I can't trust her that well.

My OB was on call the night I went in but DD didn't arrive til the next day. The OB I got was from the same practice and I'd met her the Monday prior. She did a great job and I felt fine that it was not my regular OB. I didn't have any previous deliveries with the other OB so maybe that's part of why I wasn't TOO disappointed. I wanted my favorite, sure, but I was OK without her.

I was induced with both of my kids and neither of my docs ended up being there for the births (we moved to a different city in between kids, so I had different docs for each of them). It was a bit of a bummer, but not terrible. The doctor really isn't in there for very long, so it isn't the end of the world. I know it's disappointing to get to know someone over the course of months (or years) and not have them there for the big moment, but really, as long as the baby is healthy and everything goes well, then your doc can come by after and check on you (at least both of mine did). Good luck with your VBAC! :-)

My OB did NOT deliver my daughter and honestly as nice as it would have been to have her be the one to do it - when it came time to actually deliver the baby I could have cared less who was up there. I was tired at that point and in so much pain that all I wanted was for someone qualified to get her out safely and thats what happened =)
I have a 1 in 10 shot of having my OB be the one to deliver my next baby due in Feb and again it would be nice but Im not holding my breath
Good Luck and Congrats

My doctor delivered my first two (she is the doctor who goes any time of day or night to deliver "her" babies) but for my third she was actually on her own (first) maternity leave. I was very sad that she wasn't there, but mostly because of how much of herself she gives to her patients.

The doctor who did deliver was the one on-call for the shift. One of the doctors for my practice was on when I was admitted and then when she left the next introduced himself to me and he ended up delivering. He was great (only with us for a half hour or so I think--I pushed the baby out in 4 minutes, so might have been fine without help!). I'm still sad "just because," but there were no issues for me.

Hi L.
I had my first baby in England where you have a pre-natal midwife take care of you but then you get whoever is on duty at the hospital to deliver the baby. This is normal practice there so I did not have a problem with it. Whoever delivers the baby will know what they are doing and I don't think it really matters who it is when you are in the middle of labor, it certainly did not bother me at all.
If you feel somewhat uncomfortable about it being someone else, can you meet the other OBs in the practice before you are taken off the meds? This might make you feel better about the situation.

All 3 times different OB's and all 3 delivered my babies. My last baby poppoed out 4 minutes after she got there. Lucky me. My BF almost had to catch him.