Choosing A Pediatrician: For Us It Was About Vaccines
When choosing a pediatrician there are many things to think about. Melissa Arca presents a great checklist for expectant parents in an article published today. While her list is comprehensive, I think it’s important to understand that finding ALL the things you want in a pediatrician is going to be difficult. Choose the most important issues for you. For us, it came down to these three necessities:
1. He/She takes our insurance – sounds crazy but there are LOTS of doctors in L.A. (and N.Y.C. ) that don’t take any insurance these days.
2. He/She was close by (within 10 minutes)
3. He/She was flexible about vaccines.
Yes, we have chosen to delay vaccines for both of our sons. I’d like to highlight ‘delay’ since we are going to vaccinate them, just very slowly, and not so many. Before you get all crazy on me, I’d like to add that we’ve done a lot of research (and remember, my husband is a scientist so he doesn’t accept ‘Jenny McCarthy’ as research). The more research we do, the more solid I feel about our choice.
That said, being that I’m prone to all sorts of anxieties, don’t think I’m not worried about my babies getting one of the hideous and horrible diseases that vaccines are ‘supposed’ to prevent. But, in my opinion, I’d rather worry about that than the side effects of vaccines–and no, I’m not talking about autism.
Luckily we found a pediatrician we love who practices both Western medicine and homeopathy- and has been working with us on our vaccine choices.
Ok, I’m wearing my flame-retardant pajamas. Hope I don’t get cancer.
Photo Credit: Flickr/europe district
We are also delaying vaccines, and I’m curious what schedule you will be using. It was also important to me that our pediatrician supported our choice, and so far so good.
Hi Shonna, we’re kind of past schedules at this point (for my older one) since the only ones I’ve seen are for babies under a year. My pediatrician recommends getting DTaP and HiB but we’re still weighing the pros and cons of both. We are mostly past the worrisome phase for pertussis (I think it’s six months) even though obviously it would still suck if Fuzz got it, but it’s seemingly less dangerous now. So to answer your question, we’re doing our own schedule! I’m guessing that we’ll maybe do one or the other by the time he’s one, and our older son will definitely get those before he starts pre-school in the fall.
I won’t flame you… but I will say that one of our top considerations in finding a pediatrician is LACK of vaccination flexibility. I do not want to bring my newborn into a waiting room full of kids that have not been vaccinated for whooping cough, measles or meningitis (hib I think?). For that matter, I tested positive for rubella immunity, but plenty of pregnant women don’t, so even going in to interview the pediatrician could be dangerous in a vaccination flexible office… rubella isn’t quite as rare as the others, is it (I’m just assuming it isn’t because my cousin caught it as a baby)? I’m glad for you that your Fuzz is past the worst of the danger zone for whooping cough… but if he gets it please keep in mind that he becomes dangerous all the babies who are NOT out of the danger zone… the ones who are too young to get the Tdap vaccine. From California last year… “Five infants — all under three months of age — have died from the disease this year.” and “Pertussis vaccination begins at two months of age, but young infants are not adequately protected until the initial series of three shots is complete at 6 months of age.” http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR10-041.aspx
@Meagan, I completely understand your concerns. I will tell you that one of the main reasons we have not gotten the DTaP vaccine is because there are some questions about the effectiveness of the pertussis portion of the vaccine. Many people don’t realize that several of the kids who have contracted the disease have in fact been vaccinated. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/sep/07/whooping-cough-vaccine-working/
Also, there seems to be some early evidence that the vaccine itself may be causing the disease to become more virulent in vaccinated countries. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815961/
It’s a grave mistake to think that vaccination benefits are a scientific “given” and that the claims by the medical industry who manufactures them live up to the belief system that’s been created. There’s a great deal of independent research that shows vaccines cause immune system damage and long term adverse effects:
http://www.thedogplace.org/VACCINES/Genetic-Impact-10073_Jordan.asp
Good decision Naomi. I have 20 years of experience testing material for mercury. The most I’ve found in anything ever tested was in multi-dose vaccine vials. Nothing else even comes close. It made me sick. It also happens to be one of the most toxic forms. My biggest worry now is aluminum. The amount administered in one well baby visit brings the blood level up to 25 times higher than what’s been shown to cause neurological harm.
Thanks @Terry. Yes, this is a big concern re: aluminium and toxicity levels. And no one talks about it. Scary.
We sought a flexible doctor too – and an osteopath! I love Osteopathic doctors and was thrilled to find a practice that accepted infants. We are doing a modified vax schedule (we did the “normal” to 6 months and started deviation from the CDC at 9 months). I too want our son to have the necessary vaccinations, but not so damn many at one time. One at a time is much more reasonable. Vaccines are scary (why must they make them with so much toxic crap, human dna, blah…. ), but the diseases they prevent are pretty scary too. There’s no win-win with them in their current state
@Jennifer, I totally agree. It is yet another difficult decision parents need to make whether or not to vaccinate and how many to give. The ingredients don’t impress me either.
I am glad you are informed and making informed decisions. Sounds like what you are doing is researched and reasonable. Really that is all I want people to be in this vaccine debate. I researched too, and came to different conclusions. But that doesn’t mean I am smarter than you. Just that I chose something different. I am going with the normal schedule but I know those risks (I am more comfortable with those risks than others). I live in the heart of the largest immigant community in America. I think I am more likely to run into those “dead” diseases than others.
Does the fact that your Pediatrician even acknowledge homeopathy worry you at all.
It would put him/her down as witch-doctor/quack in my eyes.
Yes, vaccines aside, homeopathy is not actually a science of any kind. There is literally nothing to back it up. There are valuable kinds of non-Western medicine, but homeopathy isn’t it.
@Joanna, yes I fully concur that homeopathy is not science. However, it is a nice alternative to traditional Western medicine. It’s nice to be able to try some natural remedies for my kids instead of the constant Rx for antibiotics for every ailment.
Meagan, I’m with you. I did not want my baby around others that did not vaccinate. I did my research – I know the fact that I did vaccinate helped those that did not (herd immunity). I guess I do the best I can to protect my son from the dangers that be and for me, vaccines are not on the “danger list”! I am glad that we can protect our kids from all of these diseases – there are so many nasty things in this world we can not protect them from. As for aluminum and mercury in vaccines – I breastfed and felt that was a good choice, even though nursing provided my son with more aluminum and mercury than any vaccine!
http://www.chop.edu/
Homeopathy is not ‘natural’ or herbal, it’s just placebo. Your paediatrician might as well give you sweets and give your own system the credit for making you better.
@QoB, I should clarify that our pediatrician also offers non-western, non-pharmaceutical suggestions for some minor ailments. My husband is also a skeptic of homeopathy (but a fan of herbal remedies), but we are both confident in our pediatrician’s overall approach. Her foundation is still a traditional, western approach, but she has embraced some alternatives in her 30yrs of practice. In some cases (like the anti-tantrum tablets), it is hard to see any benefit. In other cases (like herbal-tea conjunctivitis treatment), we saw clear improvement.