I live in good ol' USA. I pretty much trust my doctor. Haven't really had a reason not to. I expect them to answer my questions and she does all the time. I expect them to show my daughter the love and care that she should; and she does. Today I am taking her in (she's sick) to another doc in the practice because her normal one is off. I expect the same of this doctor.

I love my kids doctors. I am so lucky to have found them. I trust them. In the USA.

I trust my doctor, but I do not put her on a pedestal. As with anything (pregnancy, labor/delivery, well-baby, etc.), I go in armed with my information and research and I make a decision in PARTNERSHIP with my doctor.

I live in the US.

Such examples are - most docs don't tell their pregnant patients that every single test is optional, there's no need for internal exams just for dilation, you don't have to spend any time in the hospital after baby is born, shots don't have to be given per the CDC recommended (key word there) schedule, etc. etc. etc…. moms don't ask, docs don't tell.

Doctors are not infallible, they do not always know what is right, they do make mistakes. Otherwise, they wouldn't need malpractice insurance.

I try to give my son and my not yet born son the best health care I can give them. I would freak if I didn't have any health insurance. The only complaint I have about healthcare is how some people abuse the system…don't even get me started on illegals.

If one doesn't trust their doctor, they can easily find a new one they do. Not all doctors are good doctors. You have to find one that is a good fit for you.

I do trust my son's doctor, yes. Everything she's told me I've either researched beforehand or do so afterwards. She's a family doctor and the one that told me about my son's umbilical granuloma, which I had never heard about, when his first pedi. didn't say a thing about it. So I looked it up and sure enough it was exactly what she had told me.

I know there are people against vaccinations, for whatever reason, but I've done my fair share of research on them too. And personally found the benefits outweighed the risks.

We're in the US.

I'm a nurse from England. I think it's very different when you work in health care because you know what to expect. Like when i have my baby or take him to hospital for any reason, i expect the best possible care and i trust them about 90% cos they don't aways know whats right or the best. I think it depends on what nurse/doctor/midwife you get on the day, some do their best cos they like their job but others don't and could do a much better job

edit: The hospital i work in is brilliant, it's very clean, and most people are really nice, and we are all very lucky to have the nhs, i don't think many people realise this, cos it's a lot better than private: FACT

I live in the US and I trust my doctor 100%. I wouldn't keep him as a doctor if I didn't. He is very good with my children and he takes the time out to answer all my paranoid questions. He explains everything in detail to me so there aren't any surprises.

Although..he owns his practice with another doctor…and there have been a few times I have had to have the other doctor…and I despise him…not that he isn't good…but he isn't personable at all. And he rushes through the exams. I feel that sometimes he is bothered to answer my questions…so I usually just wait and call the other doctor and ask him anything I need to know.

I live in england and the NHS hospital near where I live is pants.
The waiting list isn't long at all, but you can wait for your appointment after explaining why you had to come, then arrive to find that the doctor
who won't do nothing because his nurse is nowhere, and will simply see you off after saying that he has never seen a condition like that before.
The hyegene standards are very low in that hospital as well. My mother had to spend two weeks there after surgery and had never seen anyone pass a mop in her ward (there were no individual rooms, just one massive corridor with beds), she later developed an infection and had to haul herself out to another hospital for treatment.
Even when it comes to giving shots, they don't bother to pass a cotton ball on your arm or anything. Let alone have something to cover the table you'd be sitting on.

So, the last thing I would do is to go to the local hospital. Unfortunately, there are not many hospitals in my area, save one in an RAF american base. To us finding a good hospital is like finding a good plumber. It's a big problem for us.

The only time we visit doctors is for the rare check up - we do not allow anything to be injected into our daughter, and we will not let any needless medications be given (ie medicating a cold or teething.)
And we most certainly do not accept any parenting advice.

I live in Ireland - where you never see the same doctor twice.

I know what you mean. Every time a mother says "my doctor said" then you have at least one person saying "Doctors know nothing about that….I wouldn't listen to them."

I think what mother's fail to do is find a doctor that supports their parenting beliefs. If you breast feed, find a doctor that has breastfed her children or a doctor whose wife has breast fed his children. If you are pro-vaccination, then find a doctor who supports vaccines…etc.

If mothers would do that, then a lot of "I disagree with my child's doctor" would be avoided. I, personally, love my daughter's doctor. I would hate to question everything she said….parenting is stressful enough…LOL

Edit: Oh, and I live in the US!

I'm a nurse, and I question healthcare. The truth is, doctors and nurses DON'T know everything. The knowledge we are taught is severely limited, especially when it comes to children. I do not entirely trust my doctor. I take what he says at face value, and if I question his judgment, I ask that he provide non-biased studies and research backing up his opinion. If he can't, then I do it myself. I think people trust doctors way TOO much, and should trust their instincts more often.

I do not get defensive. We work FOR the patient.

I live in America, btw.

I live in the U.S. My doctor is an older guy and I trust that he's seen his share of kids with medical problems and I trust his judgments, but he is human and if I ever would have any doubts I would do some research myself. My kids are rarely sick though and haven't had any major medical problems, so luckily I haven't had to test the system too much. I have also never had a problem of getting into the doctors office the same day when I felt I needed to. WE have a PPO and pay close to $400 a month to insure our family of 4 through my husbands work.

My only complaint I have is the way hospitals charge so much for little supplies that you know don't cost that much. Plus I have noticed things on there that we never even used or when my husband broke his ankle there was some sort of charge on there that referred to training to use his crutches that was like $85 or something like that and he told me the lady just asked him if he knew how to use them and looked at him and then walked out.

I love my son’s doctor whom we’ve had since he was born. I was new to the area when I was 9 months pregnant and knew NOBODY! I ended up really loving this one doctor that was the on-call pediatrician when I delivered and we stuck with him ever since. I really respect his opinions and his judgements and I like him most because he also respects mine.

I personally vaccinate my son. It’s my choice and I plan on continuing to do so.

As for healthcare itself, living in the U.S., I was paying $400 a MONTH for my son ALONE! This was through my job, through my group health insurance. My job offered insurance for my family but did not pay for anyone but myself. $400 was insane! But I had no choice! I needed medical insurance for my baby. My co-pays were $25 each visit regardless of why I was there.

It took me over a year to find other care. I never qualified under the state insurance because I “made too much money” and because since my job offered us healthcare, they didn’t care how much it costs me, just that they didn’t have to pay it. Finally the state of FL opened up the state insurance to all brackets of income. I just pay the full premium which is a fraction of what I was paying before. I currently pay $165 a month. AMAZING price difference. I also have no co-pays, each appt and prescription is covered. I’m THANKFUL to have a cheaper insurance however the customer service sucks the big one! But either way, at least we’re covered.

I live in United States. I love my pediatrician, and trust her and her practice. She has always called when ever I have a question no matter if its not an emergency. I know this is not the normal for Doctors as I also work in the healthcare profession.

I trust both my doctor and my son's doctor. They have never steered us wrong and every bit of advice we ever recieved from our health care professionals have been validated.

But just a little tidbit to show you can sometimes be TOO trusting: There is a OBGYN here at our local hospital that everyone loves. All my friends were shocked that he wasn't my OBGYN b/c he was theirs and had delivered their children. I mean you go down the street and you see this man's face on billboards! Well last week the hospital gave him 6 months off without pay for undisclosed reasons. But my father has a good friend that works at the hospital who said Of course he can't repeat what he hears at work but it was very disturbing to hear what he did and even if he could repeat it, he wouldn't.

i live in the U.S. and i am fortunate that my son has a doctor that i trust. this doctor answers all my questions before i can even ask them. he never rushes us and takes his time to go through the developing stages. he also has a child just 3 mos older than mine.

i did have a bad experience with a previous doctor. she told us to give my son rice cereal, take meds, go through a GI test and use an apnea monitor. the next doctor was shocked at her treatment for reflux! all he needed was Enfamil AR and Prevacid.

my son only saw her 3 times… but i knew i couldn't trust her when she struggled to answer my question. i asked her how she came to diagnose my son… she paused and said that his symptoms were classic. i wanted an explanation and that wasn't it.

for the most part i do trust in the healthcare system, but i think that a person's instinct should also be taken into consideration. if you know something is wrong and the doctor says everything is fine… it is time for a second opinion.

I live in the US and have a wonderful pediatrician — i trust her wholeheartedly regarding vaccines, medical care, etc. (I would want my child to be vaccinated regardless though). My doctor is always studying the latest medical research and travels to third-world nations to deliver health care to children.

But our doctors don't live with us and they're not around our babies 24-7 so there are somethings that we, as mothers, might be more privy to than our doctors — and these things can make all the difference in finding an accurate diagnosis. I'd like to think that I am an advocate for my child's health and my doctor is there to provide medical care and thoughtful and accurate advice.

I live in the USA and I trust my doctor but that does not mean that I wont get a second opinion if I feel its necessary. It also does not stop me from doing what I think is right for my child. My child is vaccinated, it was the right choice for us… as far as healthcare… my only complaint is health insurance and the cost of quality health care…. its a joke in the US.

I'm in Idaho (USA) and we're going through the whole switching doctors things, not because we didn't like our last doctor but because we moved to a new community 250 miles from our last doctor. I liked and trusted our last doctor and hope to feel the same about our new doctor who we just met yesterday.

I try to have a realistic view. It irritates me when I go into the doctor and I can tell he doesn't remember what he saw my child about last, but in reality we're only in a few times per year at most and he sees a lot of people, therefore I remind him if something is an ongoing issue. I don't expect antibiotics every time one of my kids gets a cold nor do I rush in on day one of the sniffles so I expect to be taken seriously when I say that a cough has been going on for 3 weeks and there's something more going on than the common cold (my kids are 5 and almost 2, so I understand things are different when an infant gets the sniffles).

Hmm, I feel like I could go on and on its such a huge issue. I guess that we can be summed up as pro modern western medicine.

I'm in Canada so I have socialized medicine.

Some doctors I trust, some I do not. Regardless of whether I trust my doctor or not they are only advisers the end decision is still mine. Only I can truly weigh the risks and benefits as they apply to my life. And only I will live with the consequences of my choices. In the case of children as a parent I am not the only one living with my choices so I must be even more cautious in my decisions and make only decisions that can not be undone when the benefits are clear.

However no matter how much I trust a doctor or nurse I am still going double check the dosage and medication usage against the information that comes with the medication. That's only common sense. Doctors are only people they have off days, they make mistakes. Wrong drugs are given, and while I may not have the qualifications to know say which antibiotic is best in a given situation. I can certainly look at a box and see if the name matches what the doctor said. Or if the vial lists the right vaccine.

The same with pharmacists, I have had to take a prescription back to the doctor (they were across the street) because I was sure the dosage was wrong, and it was the pharmacist misread the doctors chicken scratch.

I almost received two tetanus vaccines because the nurse failed to record it when she gave it to me so another nurse came to give me the shot. If I hadn't *asked* what was in each injection I never would have known. I have also been told I needed surgery when I did not, that's what second opinions are for. If I am going to get second opinion/quote before undertaking a big reno job then I am sure is *&^% going to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery.

Also if you can't see that many doctors, nurses, etc are not worthy of respect then you need to take a close look at yourself. Surely the doctor who gives mom a prescription just to "shut her up" is not deserving of respect. The doctor that induces a woman before her due date because he is going on vacation and never even mentions the risks is not deserving of respect. The doctor that thinks a patient doesn't need to understand the risks of a procedure doesn't deserve respect. The one that recommends formula supplements but not a lactation consultant does not deserve respect.

And any person that can say its ok that 30% of births end in c-section, 66% are either induced or augmented with pitocin (and that is admitted to be under-reported) . That its ok that a black women is at least twice and more like three times as likely to die in childbirth than an equally poor and equal "risk" level white woman in the US. That its ok that they implement policies first (episiotemy, continuous fetal monitoring, "routine" ultrasounds for example) and test them second.

I know that most doctors and nurses probably have good intentions individually, but the medical system seems more interested in protecting doctors from lawsuits and the interests of drug companies than it does in patient care.