Parenting: Women Shopping For Right Doctors

Mothers have one of the most important responsibilities in the world — to care for the health and well-being of their children. Most mothers take this responsibility seriously and choose pediatricians or other specialty doctors for their children carefully.

In addition, many women are waiting for a myriad of reasons, until their late 30s and 40s to have children. This means that these women have a lot more income than mothers in their early 20s do, and they have a lot more at stake when they have these children — including infertility treatments and issues — so that when they do have their babies, they are much more careful with them, in general, than women who have had an easy time conceiving and delivering.

Some tips for finding a pediatrician that my readers share, and that I advise are as follows:

* Ask around. There’s no better resource than your friends and neighbors with children who have had experiences with these doctors directly. Ask mothers of children older than your child, too, as their “pros” at this.

* Check online resources as well as calling the AMA to see if a doctor has had offenses, his license removed or suspended at any time, or actions taken against him or her. It doesn’t always mean that the doctor hasn’t corrected and risen above whatever black marks they have or once had, but it certainly informs decisions.

* Interview the pediatrician without child there, before you decide on one. Some pediatricians actually hold group interviews where they invite six to ten families to meet, ask questions and find out more about the practice at once.