Pregnancies, Pandemics and Placentas

photo Kristine Wook/Unsplash

Eight months ago a woman called my office and told the receptionist she was six months pregnant and looking for a new doctor for her prenatal care. I am usually skeptical about these calls. They tell me to proceed with caution. I ask myself a litany of questions: Has she been getting prenatal care at all thus far? Did she have a falling out with her current doctor? Is she a difficult patient? That is, did she avoid listening to her health care provider and want a new doctor to agree more with her thinking on pregnancy and delivery? Or is she just moving from another town?

When the office gets this kind of call, I usually agree to an initial appointment, advising the far-along pregnant woman that we can do a meet and greet to see if we are a good fit. I may be able to uncover why she would be coming to me so late in her pregnancy. We made an appointment for her and asked that she have any past pregnancy records forwarded to me.

I reserved forty five minutes to meet with Ms. P the following week. We would decide together whether she would continue her prenatal care with my office. When I walked into the room for her visit, she had already spoken with the receptionist. The medical assistant had taken her vital signs. I saw a tall, thin woman with long hair and a belly at about 25 weeks of pregnancy. Ms…