If you’re pregnant and scheduled to have a baby soon, please do not assume your primary OB physician or midwife will be available to deliver your baby. Quite often, holiday schedules are made in advance, which everyone knows except you, the patient.
What should happen and what does happen are not always the same. Ideally, someone from your provider’s office should alert you of their holiday schedule, especially during a pandemic. If he or she is not available, you should be provided an on-call schedule in advance in the event of unexpected emergencies.
If your provider is not available and has not offered on-call coverage, activate a Plan B, which means:
- Contacting your insurance provider to help assist you in finding a provider
- If you live in an urban community or a community that has an Ob-Gyn residency program, try to establish care there immediately
- Alert the hospital’s Ob-Gyn Chairman that your physician or midwife does not appear to have on-call coverage (which is against hospital policy)
- Make sure that the delivering hospital has a level 3 NICU in the event your baby needs specialty care
Remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.†Always be prepared.
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