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Day 229 of 280 · 32 weeks + 5 days

Who will be the baby's doctor

Last reviewed · 2 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty-two weeks and five days. The AAP suggests meeting pediatricians in the final months of pregnancy. Today you get two names and make one call.

Size this week
about the length of a bunch of celery
Length this week
around 42.4 cm from head to heel
A couple in their forties at a kitchen table with coffee mugs, her in a loose striped top with a full bump, him holding a phone to his ear while she writes questions on a notepad, morning light.

Thirty-two weeks and five days. Your provider has been looking after both of you for months. After the birth, your baby gets a doctor of their own, and it's easier to choose one now than in the first sleepless week.

Your baby

A single bunch of celery with its leaves on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 42.4cm long from head to heel, about the length of a bunch of celery (NHS), with around 1kg of extra fat going on in these weeks (NHS). Soon someone will be weighing and measuring them on the outside. That's the person you're looking for today.

Your body

The AAP's advice is to interview candidate pediatricians during "the final months of your pregnancy," and it notes that many fit these first meetings into their schedules (AAP). Both parents should go if possible (AAP).

Start with names from parents you know and trust, and from your obstetrician (AAP). Then the practical questions: whether the practice takes your insurance, its office hours, how it handles calls and emergencies after hours, who covers when the doctor is away, and whether the fee for routine visits includes vaccines (AAP). None of that needs you to be an expert. It needs one phone call.

Try today

  1. The pediatrician shortlist

    Time: 30 minutes

    1. Text two people you trust who have young children: who's your pediatrician, and would you choose them again?

    2. Ask your obstetrician or midwife for a name at your next visit, or by message today (AAP).

    3. Pick two. Call one practice and ask the four questions: insurance, hours, after-hours calls, and who covers (AAP).

    4. Ask if they offer a meeting before the birth, and book a time you can both make.

    Make it work:

    Keep one page per practice with the answers on it. By the second call, the differences will be easy to see.

Watch for

  • Normal

    heartburn, which pregnancy can bring on or make worse (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    now, or get urgent care, for burning chest pain that comes with squeezing or pressure (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    numb or tingling hands, often worse when you wake (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    about numbness, tingling, or weakness in an arm or leg that doesn't go away (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    hemorrhoids, which up to 50 percent of pregnant women get (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for rectal bleeding, and get care right away for a lot of blood or if you feel dizzy or faint (MedlinePlus).

For you

The first appointment comes fast. The AAP recommends "a checkup within 48 to 72 hours after your newborn is discharged from the hospital" (AAP), so the practice's number belongs on your list before the birth, not after.

After that, there are visits at two to four weeks, then at two, four, six, nine, and 12 months (AAP). You'll see this person a lot. It's worth liking them.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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