How to Increase Communication With Your Obstetrician

Many patients are dissatisfied with the service they receive from their obstetrician throughout their pregnancy. As a patient, you can either remain dissatisfied with your obstetrician, or increase the communication between the two of you. Increasing the communication means doing a bit of work on your part, but it will result in establishing a much better relationship. Here are the steps you should take to improve the communication.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• You
• Obstetrician

1. Arrive at your appointments on time. It is courtesy to be on time to all of your appointments. Your obstetrician only has a certain amount of time to spend with each patient. If you are late, it puts everyone else on the schedule late as well. If you are going to be late or have to miss an appointment, you should call and let the office know.
2. Be honest. Be honest with your obstetrician about your medical history. His primary role is to provide the best care possible to you and your baby throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery. Being honest about your medical history, whether negative or positive, will give him the best chance possible to provide the necessary care.
3. Respect the opinion and advise of your obstetrician. Your obstetrician has received lots of special training in her field. By listening to your concerns or questions, she may offer her opinion or advise to you. You don’t have to agree to everything she says, but do give her the respect of listening and understanding why she may be making those particular suggestions to you.
4. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Too many times, we are afraid to ask questions in fear of feeling stupid or thinking our question may be one that the obstetrician has never heard. I can almost guarantee you—he's heard it. If you don’t ask the questions you need answered, you will feel as though you’ve been left on your own to figure things out. Get over your fear and ask what you need to know to make informed decisions.
5. Have your obstetrician clarify the medical jargon. Your obstetrician visits with hundreds of patients a month. In order to make things easier for the medical professionals, they usually write and speak in medical language using medical terminology instead of layman’s terms. The best thing for you to do if your obstetrician says something in medical terminology that you don’t understand, is ask her to clarify what she means.
6. Avoid being confrontational. If your obstetrician recommends or requests something like a test, that you don’t agree with, talk to him. Let him know politely that you don’t agree, but you should be prepared to explain your reason. If your obstetrician is persistent about doing something you don't agree with, simply explain that you would like time to think about it and/or get a second opinion before making that decision. That will get you out of confrontational mode and give you time to do your own research.
7. Discuss your birth plans ahead of time. Don’t wait until you go into labor to discuss your birth plans with your obstetrician. If at all possible, you should try and write a birth plan. Let your doctor know what you have in mind from the beginning of your labor until the delivery is complete. It’s good to know ahead of time if she agrees or opposes a particular request that you have.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have tried everything suggested here and cannot improve the communication between you and your obstetrician, you should try to locate another provider.