Dr May Mok

M

mcb99

New member
Hi ladies

Am currently 16 weeks with first baby and seeing Dr May Mok at the Women's Clinic. After our scan yesterday Dr Mok said she was referring us to another specialist for our 20 week anatomy scan. We were obviously a little surprised by this but she assured us that it was something she routinely does with all her patients and it was just to "be sure". All future scans we are to supposedly would continue with Dr Mok.

We are just wondering if anyone else is with Dr Mok and has had the same experience? We have been very happy with her to date but it doesn't instil much confidence that she wants us to see someone else 'just to be sure'!?

Many thanks
 
If this is about structural test - that is ok. we also have been refered to TST clinic. don't worry
 
Hi mcb99
Did you ask why she isn't doing the 20 week scan or she isn't specialise in this? Who did you get referred to?
 
To dr Shell Wong. To be frank we were quite happy with his scan and heard lot lots of positive advcs about him
 
Folks,
There are several reasons for the referral.
It's a common practice for some generalist Obstetricians to refer their patients to a subspecialist maternal fetal medicine (MFM) expert who specialises in fetal medicine to perform the 20th week morphology scan for them ........mind you these subspecialists had to train in MFM for another 3 years after they have attained their Specialist qualifications in OBGyn before they are considered a guru in fetomateral medicine.

That being said, all of us Obstetricians and Gynaecologists were trained in the art of ultrasound including Fetal Morphology Scans done at middle of pregnancy. Althought we are familiar with the basics, we may not appreciate the more complex cases and we don't do it day in and out like the MFM guys do. They have probably also seen a lot more whether common or uncommon fetal anomalies than the mere generalists have. Let's not forget that fetal anatomical scans are very difficult and tricky to do. The incidence of fetal abnormalities are about 3% but some of these can be rare and which only MFM guys see once in a blue moon. Therefore, the Generalist may occasionally be caught off guard and miss these anomalies.

That leads to the other reason: we don't wanna miss something and get sued to death!

Look, Obstetricians don't wanna look bad in front of their patients and admit defeat by referring them to their rivals, now do they? The fact that they are doing it must mean that they know their limitations and don't want to take risks. We all want the best of care and outcome for our patients.......not putting either party at risk if the goal at the end of the day. Honestly admitting one's limitations is not a sign of weakness. It is most certainly a brave and honorable gesture.
As an analogy, take another area of practice where the Generalist OBGYN needs to hand cases over or collaborate with our subspecialists is in the field of GynOncology....for example say someone had cancer of the vulva, and a radical vulvectomy and groin lymph node removal is needed for cure. This sort of major surgery would be beyond the capabilities of most Generalists, but would be second nature to the GynOncologists!

So don't be too hard on your friendly neighbourhood OBGYN, OK?
I hope that this made sense to you and allayed your anxiety and suspicion.
Stephen Yong, FRCOG
 
Thanks all for the responses. As mentioned, we have been really happy with her (shes got a really great beside manner) and its nice to hear that the referral for the 20 week scan is normal.
 
This happened to us and from what I've heard from other pregnant ladies it's pretty standard. Our OB is great but he doesn't specialize in fetal anomalies, the doctor who did our 20 week scan was clearly an expert and had fantastic facilities (it was like watching the baby at a movie theater!). Never once thought of it as a bad thing, I'd always want a specialist when it comes to something so important like fetal development.
 
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