Healthcare provider?

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and have had 2 appointments so far with a nurse practitioner. My question is, will she be the one I'll be seeing at ALL my visits until labor? I thought I would have a M.D.? If this is the case, I'm switching asap.

In my experience, all pregnant women will see the nurse practicioner for the majority of the appointments, so the doctor can focus on the high risk patients that need to see the actual MD. You will probably meet with an actual MD later on to review your birthing plan and for a couple appointments just for him to review your progress. Nurse practioners are perfectly safe for normal pregnancies, in fact, usually prefered. They are kind of like having a mid-wife getting you through the pregnancy but having the nursing school education and doctor boss to take over when neccassary. I didn't see the delivering MD until the birth, because I had mine at military hospitals, and I had whoever was on call that day deliver my babies. And even the high risk one was just fine. All the MD I saw for the high risk one did was the same thing the nurse practisioner did.

With both of my pregnancies, it was about 50/50- about every other appointment was the md, the rest nurse practitioner. And in all honesty, during labor and delivery the nurses do most of the work anyway- the dr doesn't even show up until it's time to push. I wouldn't worry about switching just because of that. The vast majority of your prenatal visits will just consist of blood pressure, urine test, measuring your belly, and the doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat, all of which the nurse is completely capable of. Just make sure that you are with a provider that will be sure to answer any concerns that may arise in the months ahead- I promise, you will have tons of questions, and you want someone who is available to answer them for you!

Good luck to you and your baby

As the patient, you have the right to see the doctor...you're paying for that expertise. I am a doctor's wife and my husband's rule has always been that we don't see DO's, PA's, nurse practioners or clinical specialists...just board certified MDs. If this clinic doesn't offer MD visits...find another one. Unless you live is some remote village...there are probably many doctors to choose from.

I assume every pg woman has a specific ob that will take care of the pg issue in detail. If nurse practitioner takes charge most of the time i'll be very disappointed cause from my experience, the nurse practitioner is just not as knowledgeable and reliable as a md. Don't want to sound mean but last time the nurse practitioner just offered me several wrong answers regarding ovulation and reproduction.

Yeah, switch as soon as you can. I absolutely hate seeing NPs. They're really pretty useless. She won't deliver your baby, so why do they insist you see her for all your visits? If you get too far along in your pregnancy, some doctors won't take new patients who are beyond a certain week. Switch now while you still can.

My concern is...why would they have seen you twice in only 8 weeks? SOP is to see a patient for the first time toward the end of the first trimester (usually 10 - 12 weeks). If you're high risk, it's different...they'll want to see you more often/sooner than a normal pregnancy. However, if you're high risk, you should be seeing an obstetrician. I wonder if this is some sort of sham to get $$ from the insurance company.