He wouldn’t need privileges at Kaiser. They dont get involved until AFTER she is pregnant. The typical MO for an infertility specialist is to help the patient conceive, then she goes and finds her own obstetrician and the infertility doc is not involved in the prenatal care at all. In fact it is my experience when an REI (repro-endo-infertility) doc takes over a labor and delivery board they get a decided “deer in the headlights” look. L&D ain’t for everyone.
I generally have a great deal of respect for reproductive endocrinologists; they care for a traditionally difficult patient population, and have achieved amazing things in recent years. Having been an infertility patient myslf, I know how challenging this diagnosis is. That being said, few things in OB/GYN have caused as much trouble as infertility treatment, and the more babies there are, the more trouble you can expect. The gestational age she achieved is absolutely miraculous with 8 fetuses. I’d be impressed if she only had triplets and she delivered at 30+ weeks. As I stated in my previous post, few very high order gestations make it to viability. I have delivered PLENTY of pre-viable multiples only to have the infants survive a few hours, and a have a tear-stained patient go home the next day. Another complication with this many embryos is a potentially life-threatening over-stimulation of the ovaries. As an earlier poster said “she should get punched in the ovaries”. I assure you, she already has been.
I am not too surprised our doctor in this case is not board certified, but I wouldn’t read that much into it, as neither am I yet. I still have to pass my general OB/GYN oral boards, and my Maternal Fetal Medicine boards, both will hopefully be completed in the next 2 years. It takes an incredibly long time to become a doctor, and even longer if you want to subspecialize.
Having known something of this woman prior to delivery, I absolutely knew she was going to devolve very quickly from media sensation to pariah. I’m just so sorry the California taxpayers get to pay the bills. I guess I’m glad I don’t pay California taxes.
