Others have office personnel return the calls. If you find that the person who's handling your phone call is not on your wavelength, request that the doctor call you back instead. Pediatricians believe this to be a form of preventive care and an opportunity for parent education. We all need encouragement as parents, but you decide if it's always worth an office-visit fee to find out how much your baby, especially if it's not your first child, weighs and the fact that your doctor thinks your baby is doing well. Some doctors try to avoid mixing the well children and the sick children in the same reception area.
Young children are very susceptible to contagious diseases.
If you are scheduling an exam well in advance, it's easy to ask for a day that your doctor will be in the office. However, if you have a sick child, you'll get whomever is in the office or on call. If it's important to you, arrange to meet all the doctors who might cover for your baby's doctor in an emergency, or when you're in the hospital. Although daytime hours are still the rule, a growing number of doctors are accommodating working parents. A Safe Birth Copyright 1992 by The Harvard Common Press.