Your family’s healthcare providers are part of your life in so many different ways, especially now that you have Baby. You see them regularly for your annual physical, go to them with pains and illnesses, see them for prescriptions and advice, and bring in Baby for their well-child visits. These visits might not all be with the same healthcare provider, but each one of your providers has your health and your child’s health as a top priority.
Your job as a patient is to make sure you also keep your health as a top priority. It can be easier to remember Baby‘s appointments and bring them for visits because they are the light of your life, the apple of your eye, and the cutest person in the world. Your sickness and pains, on the other hand, can sometimes end up placed on the back burner. If your health declines because you didn’t make it a priority when you should have, you may not be able to take care of Baby like you want to!
If you skip your appointments with your healthcare provider, rush through visits, or skim over your symptoms or health history, it can be more difficult for your provider to make sure you get the care that you might need. If a serious illness or injury were to occur, you want your healthcare provider to be in the best position to help you. That means going to your regular appointments, asking questions about your health, keeping track of your symptoms, health, and medications, and being engaged in your healthcare.
Your little one needs you in tip-top shape, and having a good relationship with your healthcare provider will ensure that they can give you the best care. Don’t let all those years of medical school go to waste – go to your appointments, ask questions, keep your medical history up to date, and come away with just a little more health knowledge than you had coming in.
Sources
- Mayo Clinic Staff. “Labor and delivery, postpartum care.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic. March 24, 2015. Web.
