Would an OB fire you for this?

[Pers]

I can understand phoning about the pain in the incision but I can't understand why you would phone an obstetrician about a sore throat, fever, or tonsilitis. Those are matters for a general practitioner surely? And unless you have a high fever, none of those are middle of the night emergencies. I understand being more anxious about your health when pregnant, I am the same, but you have to be really sick before you call a doctor in the middle of the night. If it is an emergency it would be better to just attend the hospital, there will be an obstetrician on duty there during the night.

Not in the US, the OB does everything during your pregnancy. A GP will NOT see you pregnant. I wouldn't call in the middle of the night for that though unless I had a super high fever though.

Your GP may not see pregnant women but that is most definitely not the standard nationwide. I am in the US and my family doctor sees me for all non pregnancy issues. If I called my OB about a sore throat, he'd ask what my family doctor said about it. And being in medicine, I wouldn't want my OB handling my general medical care any more than I would want my family doctor handling my pregnancy. They specialize for a reason and I have seen some terrible outcomes when patients (and providers) think one doc can do it all.

As a side note, I work in an ER and if you came in with a sore throat while pregnant we would treat it and recommend you follow up with your family doctor, not your OB. When pregnant women come in with issues that aren't due to pregnancy and require hospitalization, they are admitted to a medical practice with an OB consult, never to OB. They may end up on an OB floor (depending on gestation and what is wrong) but that has nothing to do with doctors and everything to do with nursing care.

Also, a call from your OB won't get you through my ER any faster than any other patient. We see patients based on how sick they are and pregnancy has nothing to do with it. A phone call from any doctor doesn't matter. Hell, I had an MD from my hospital that waited over an hour to be seen in our ER the other night.

 

[amjon]

I can understand phoning about the pain in the incision but I can't understand why you would phone an obstetrician about a sore throat, fever, or tonsilitis. Those are matters for a general practitioner surely? And unless you have a high fever, none of those are middle of the night emergencies. I understand being more anxious about your health when pregnant, I am the same, but you have to be really sick before you call a doctor in the middle of the night. If it is an emergency it would be better to just attend the hospital, there will be an obstetrician on duty there during the night.

Not in the US, the OB does everything during your pregnancy. A GP will NOT see you pregnant. I wouldn't call in the middle of the night for that though unless I had a super high fever though.

Your GP may not see pregnant women but that is most definitely not the standard nationwide. I am in the US and my family doctor sees me for all non pregnancy issues. If I called my OB about a sore throat, he'd ask what my family doctor said about it. And being in medicine, I wouldn't want my OB handling my general medical care any more than I would want my family doctor handling my pregnancy. They specialize for a reason and I have seen some terrible outcomes when patients (and providers) think one doc can do it all.

As a side note, I work in an ER and if you came in with a sore throat while pregnant we would treat it and recommend you follow up with your family doctor, not your OB. When pregnant women come in with issues that aren't due to pregnancy and require hospitalization, they are admitted to a medical practice with an OB consult, never to OB. They may end up on an OB floor (depending on gestation and what is wrong) but that has nothing to do with doctors and everything to do with nursing care.

Also, a call from your OB won't get you through my ER any faster than any other patient. We see patients based on how sick they are and pregnancy has nothing to do with it. A phone call from any doctor doesn't matter. Hell, I had an MD from my hospital that waited over an hour to be seen in our ER the other night.

It may vary state by state then. Here they will NOT see you but malpractice here for pregnancy is very high.