I have never left a review for a doctor before but my visit with Dr. Cantero compels me to share my experience
I called to book my first appointment when I found out I was pregnant and I was told to come in right away, at 4 weeks 4 days. I told the receptionist I felt it was a bit early for my first appointment (I have three kids, I know the drill) but she insisted that the doc schedules the initial appt early to perform a pap smear and pregnancy confirmation.
I went into my appointment and the receptionist was friendly, the office was clean and visually appealing. Short wait time.
There was no pregnancy confirmation. (No blood work or urine analysis performed). The doctor came in and began going on and on about all the do's and don'ts during pregnancy. It didn't bother me much because I already know them all but I imagine his fast rambling may overwhelm a first time mom. Pap smear was performed, no issues there.
I am a bit apprehensive because this was an unplanned pregnancy and I am 35, my husband is 45. So I tell the doctor and he assures me husband's age isn't a problem, but my age is. Then he said, "You have a 15-25% chance of miscarrying. You're on the higher range because of your age. I'm not going to begin prenatal care yet because what's the point in withdrawing ten tubes of blood if you have a high likelihood of losing the pregnancy anyway?" This was literally what he said to me. Nevermind the fact that I never wanted to come in so early anyway, but thanks for scaring the bejeezus out of me, dude.
Then, he proceeds to blow my mind once more but saying he wants to perform a transvaginal ultrasound (uh, I thought we weren't starting prenatal care yet?) I really should have refused but my emotions got the best of me as I wanted to see my little bean.
I was inside the ultrasound room for half an hour, and when I peeked my head out the door the doctor was laughing in the hallway. He saw me and said, "Oh!" and came inside my room. He had forgotten about me.
Obviously, there was nothing to see at 4w4d, just an empty sac. And he said, "There's just an empty sac. We can't see an embryo here yet. And honestly, if you were having an ectopic pregnancy, this sac would be here anyway."
Great. So now I'm worried about a genetic abnormality because of my age, I'm worried about a miscarriage, and I'm worried about a blighted ovum, or worse, an ectopic pregnancy.
So then, thanks to the empty sac (which of COURSE looks empty at 4w4d), the good doc sent me for lab work to check my HCG level and my progesterone level. Again, I thought we weren't doing prenatal care just yet?
I was flabbergasted that a doctor could be so oblivious as to say these things during an initial prenatal appointment. I mean, I'm not asking him to sugarcoat things, but were all of those statistics and comments really necessary?
I cried all the way home. The next day I found another doctor who wouldn't see me til 8 weeks (makes sense) and my appointment was perfect. read more