Are you like I was approximately two years ago, new to Hamilton, newly pregnant and looking for prenatal care? We found out we were expecting within 6 months of returning to Ontario after eight years living out of province (four years in the Northwest Territories and four years in Alberta), so we had barely settled back in and were living in a different part of Ontario than when we left– so we hadn’t really established relationships with healthcare providers like doctors, specialists and dentists.
Luckily I found a family doctor at Wilson Medical Clinic in downtown Hamilton who would see me and confirm the pregnancy. As grateful as I was for his service, I really didn’t care for the clinic as it was dark and dingy, and didn’t seem like it was in the greatest part of town. The Dr. I was seeing referred me to the McMaster Family Practice pregnancy and prenatal care program, and I never looked back!
First, I should give a bit of background on how the practice works– it’s a bit different than seeing one doctor, so it’s definitely not for everyone. When being taken care of by McMaster Family Practice, you won’t necessarily be seen by the same doctor or registered practical nurse each time. At first this was intimidating to me and made me question how well they could follow my pregnancy and some underlying conditions if I wasn’t seeing the same practitioner each time. However, I quickly became used to the idea and it turned out that it didn’t matter to me, even when I learned I wouldn’t know who would ultimately deliver baby– and ultimately it didn’t matter! I just needed that baby out of me. It wasn’t a time for being social!
Being pregnant for the first time was definitely intimidating, and I found that I had many questions about doing the best I could to grow a healthy baby. For example, before I found out I was pregnant I had travelled to a country where they later found Zika virus– could this affect baby? They couldn’t say for sure, but they followed up with the blood tests required to rule out any complications. I had to travel a lot for work during my pregnancy, and they were able to advise me on whether the destinations were appropriate (Zika concerns? Team building at an animal shelter with cats?), and what my limits were in terms of air travel. Never once did I feel rushed or that my concerns weren’t valid.
I also found that they seemed very thorough. Because McMaster Family Practice is a teaching practice, it seemed as though everything was explained very thoroughly and I always knew why they were doing what they were doing because there were often students learning during my appointments. And conversely, I was happy to be contributing to the education of our future healthcare providers!
So basically, from the onset of my care by the McMaster Family Practice, I would be seen monthly until about 8 months, then every two weeks, and then weekly for the last month. At each appointment, you are called in to do a urine sample to test for protein (high levels could be a sign of pre-eclampsia) and sugars (to check for signs of gestational diabetes), a weigh in, and then are settled into your room. Then the doctor or nurse goes through a series of questions appropriate to your phase of pregnancy, and then completes a physical examination. The physical examination often included checking blood pressure and heart beat, measuring the belly (fundal height), and listening for baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler.
Towards the end of my pregnancy I was given a little wallet card to carry with me at all times that gave me a list of triggers that meant I should go to the hospital immediately, a number to call if I had any questions, and the instructions for getting to the delivery ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital. I was definitely glad to have this little crib sheet with me in case I ran into trouble.
Also, within the last month of my pregnancy, my weekly check-ups were scheduled in tandem with an appointment with the Practice’s Lactation Consultant. I’ll admit, it was really weird to meet with her before having the baby and having her encourage me to “practice nursing,” but I did pick up a few tips from our sessions that came in handy when navigating the breastfeeding journey (which is an entire post in itself). It’s a great resource if you’re interested, but you could also probably learn what you need to from a book (my sister lent me her copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, which would have been sufficient).
Ultimately, when I had gone past my due date, McMaster Family Practice scheduled me to be induced at St. Joseph’s, but I ended up going into labour before my induction date. As mentioned, once I was in labour I didn’t really care who delivered my baby, as long as they could do so safely and as pain free as possible!
Now that we’ve had baby, I made it my mission to have our family become patients of McMaster Family Practice, and because I’d been under their care during my pregnancy and also because we were new to Hamilton, I applied and got in easily right before baby was born. This worked out perfectly, because baby was then seen by his primary physician at the Practice right after he was delivered. I’ve heard rumours lately that they’re either not accepting new patients at this time, or that the waitlist to get on as a patient is at least 3 months long. I’m not sure how true this is, but I think it speaks to the quality of care that they offer.
Going forward, what I’ve loved about being a patient of McMaster Family Practice is that on every occasion that I’ve had to get baby in to see a doctor, he’s always gotten an appointment within a few hours– I think this speaks volumes to being part of a practice where you can be seen by any doctor or nurse, whether they’re your primary physician or not. Likewise, they have a nurse’s triage line, which I’ve called a few times to make an assessment on whether baby actually needed to be seen by a doctor before actually making an appointment (baby was bitten by a hamster at daycare, does he need to be seen by a doctor?) which is a great time saver and often provides that reassurance when you’re dealing with something like a cough or a cold that will pass in due time.
I hope that my account of my family’s care under McMaster Family Practice has provided you with some food for thought on whether it’s the right place for healthcare for you and your family as you go through pregnancy and infant care. I know that I’m grateful to have gotten in, and would be hard pressed to find a similar setup!
Do you have any questions for me about our experience with McMaster Family Practice? I’d love to provide more insight!
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