Some Things to Consider When Choosing Your Baby’s Pediatrician

It does take a village to raise a child. As a first-time mom, I learned this to be true from the moment I found out I was pregnant. Our small village started with my own mother, of course, who had to rush here at home to help me while my husband was at work, and I was on bed rest for almost a month.

Eventually, our village grew bigger as my family and friends would check up on me from time to time asking me how I am, offering me tips on how to walk in this new territory that is motherhood. Now that I’m nearing my ninth month, messages would pop up asking me if there’s anything else I need for baby’s arrival! The support is inspiring and encouraging.

With this community, I learned to ask, speak out, and listen, since everything is new to me. I am amazed with everyone’s generosity in sharing their time and experiences!

When my baby comes out, this village will definitely expand. For one, we need to have a pediatrician on board. As usual, I asked my mom friends how they chose their pediatrician as this clueless mom to be needed help! I mulled over their answers, and here is the list of considerations I came up with based on their responses. If you’re also a first-time mom like me, I hope this helps you in choosing your pedia, too!

I must admit this one tops my list because it takes quite a long time to get from Point A to Point B where we live. While I can always stretch my patience for traffic, I don’t know I’ll take it once there’s a tiny baby with me. Time is gold, so I think it’s unwise to go far for a checkup when there’s a nearer pedia available.

Hand in hand with the pedia’s clinic location is his/her clinic hours. While we know pedia visits will already be a must from birth onwards, we should also know what day and time to set aside so we can adjust accordingly with inconveniences such as number coding.

Back when I had no idea who to approach as an OB-GYNE, I asked my mom friends around for recommendation. Their testimonies mattered to me, and I ended up choosing one of those names on their list. I already started asking around for pedia recommendations from them, too!

One of the things I love about my OB-GYNE is that she encourages me to send her a Viber message if anything comes up. I would love to have the same kind of relationship with my baby’s pediatrician, too! It would make me feel more at peace knowing that I can always receive expert and professional advice for my baby.

Some of my friends prefer pedias who have been in the profession for a longer time, and said they felt more comfortable with the years of experience. This makes a lot of sense, although I am not entirely disregarding pedias who are still young in the profession!