When to Seek a Second Opinion

One insensitive doctor can send a new mama into a tailspin of confusion; it happens more often than I’d like. This can easily be followed by years of feeling unsupported and lacking confidence.

You deserve to walk away from every single appointment with 100% clarity and reassurance, whether it’s with a doctor or fitness expert, prenatal or postnatal. You deserve to be heard, supported, and understood. If you walk away feeling panicked and perplexed, then that is a definitive sign that you need a second, compassionate opinion ASAP. 

Here are some reasons to seek out a second opinion:

• You have been advised to not move your body. 

• The practitioner you met with immediately tries to sell a specific program that promises “X” results within “Y” time.

• You feel flushed and panicked when you leave your appointment. 

• Your stomach feels like it’s tied up in knots because you feel so confused and helpless after the feedback you just received.

• You’ve been told if you move your body a certain way, you will un-do all of the rehabilitation work you’ve been doing.

• The information you received was open-ended and unclear, and it requires multiple follow-ups, according to the practitioner who you consulted.

• You feel even more lost, fearful.

• You are experiencing no relief at all either mentally or physically (or both!).

• Something just doesn’t feel right.

Any one of these is reason enough to seek out a second opinion. If you are feeling unsure, trust yourself. Feeling unsure means the practitioner you were seeing was not clear with you, and it’s important to find someone you can easily communicate with and understand, and one who understands you as well.