Free What to expect when you're expecting by Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel Page A

can help you get the care you and your baby need, see page 56 .
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Making the Most of the Patient-Practitioner Partnership

    Choosing the right practitioner is only the first step. The next step is nurturing a good working partnership. Here’s how:
Tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Give your practitioner an accurate and complete general, gynecological, and obstetrical medical history. Fess up about an eating disorder you’ve battled or eating habits that are otherwise unhealthy. Speak up about any drugs—prescription or over-the- counter (including herbal), legal or illegal, medicinal or recreational, including alcohol and tobacco—that you are currently taking or have taken recently, as well as about any past or present illnesses or surgeries. Remember, what you tell your doctor is confidential; no one else will know.
When a question or concern that doesn’t require an immediate call comes up between visits, write it down and take it to your next appointment. (It may help to keep your PDA handy or to keep pads in convenient places—the refrigerator door, your purse, your desk at work, your bedside table—so that you’ll always be within jotting distance of one.) That way you can be sure that you won’t forget to ask all your questions and report all your symptoms (you will if you don’t write them down; as you’ll soon discover, pregnant women are notoriously forgetful). Along with your list of questions, bring a pen and pad (or your PDA or the
What to Expect Pregnancy Journal and Organizer
) to each office visit so you can record your practitioner’s recommendations. If your practitioner doesn’t offer up all the information you’ll need (side effects of treatments, when to stop taking a medication if one’s prescribed, when to check back about a problem situation), ask for it before you leave so there’s no confusion once you get home. If possible, quickly review your notes with the practitioner to be sure you’ve written down just what the doctor (or midwife) ordered.
When in doubt, call. A symptom has you freaked? A medication or treatment seems to have triggered an adverse reaction? Don’t just sit there worrying. Pick up the phone and call your practitioner (or e-mail, if your practitioner prefers to answer nonemergency questions online). Though you won’t want to call or e-mail at every pelvic twinge, never hesitate to check in about questions that can’t be answered in a book such as this one, and that you feel can’t wait until the next visit. Don’t be afraid that your concerns will sound silly—if it has you worried, it’s not silly. Besides, doctors and midwives expect expectant moms to ask lots of questions, especially if they’re first timers. When you do pick up the phone or compose that e-mail, be prepared to be very specific about your symptoms. If you’re experiencing pain, be precise about its location, duration, quality (is it sharp, dull, crampy?), and severity. If possible, explain what makes it worse or better—changing positions, for example. If you have a vaginal dis charge, describe its color (bright red, dark red, brownish, pinkish, yellowish), when it started, and how heavy it is. Also report accompanying symptoms, such as fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, or diarrhea. (See When to Call Your Practitioner, page 138 .)
Keep up to date. Read those parenting magazines and visit those pregnancy websites, by all means. But also realize that you can’t believe everything you read, especially since the media often report medical advances before they are proven safe and effective through controlled studies—or report worrisome pregnancy warnings based on preliminary data that’s yet to be backed up. When you read (or hear) about something new in obstetrics, ask your practitioner—usually your best information resource—for his or her take on it.
When you hear or read something that doesn’t correspond to what your practitioner has told you, don’t keep it to