An open letter to our patients from North Texas Perinatal Associates (NTPA):
Congratulations on your pregnancy! And thank you so much for putting your trust in NTPA to help you take this wonderful event to a safe and happy conclusion. In order to maximize the value of your visit to our office we’d like to bring up a few ideas for your consideration.
 We’d like to invite you to visit our website at www.ntperi.com. If this is your first visit to our practice then the website can relieve some of the mystery of what goes on at NTPA. Feel free to familiarize yourself with our staff. You can even make your first visit more efficient by going to our “Printable Forms” link, and printing out and completing forms such as the “Patient Contact Information,” the “Patient Health Information,” and the “Insurance Verification” forms (numbers 1,2, &3). A visit to any of the links listed in the upper left of the home page such as “Your First Visit” or “Your Questions” may provide very helpful information. Even those who have been through this before may find something new and informative.
Many parents wish to share the good news of their pregnancy with their other children. It is only common sense that to ease “sibling rivalry” we all want to include, rather than exclude, our children into the planning for the new arrival. However, please take a moment to consider this from your child’s point of view. To many children, especially those under 5 or 6, a visit to the doctor can be a scary experience. They can sense a doctor a mile away, and many children are certain they are being “set up” to get a shot. Many children find a visit to a doctor’s office, where people they don’t know do scary things to Mommy in a dark room, much more frightening than enlightening, especially at their level of understanding. Also, should a situation be found that requires discussion, it is very difficult to comprehend explanations of medical findings or procedures when trying to console a child who is either frightened or late for their nap. Therefore, we ask that you please think carefully about whether or not your child will truly benefit from being present during your examination.
 Friends, family, and our waiting room: While we truly want this to be a time of joyful anticipation and fulfillment, we have to remember that NTPA is first and foremost a medical office designed to make medical diagnoses. While most people in our waiting room are here for happy reasons, some patients are in our waiting room because they’ve received concerning news regarding the health of their baby. Many have high risk conditions that put both the mother and their baby at risk. Some may already know that their baby is in serious jeopardy. So we ask that you please try to remember that the person sitting next to you may not be able to share your festive mood at the moment. In that same vein, our waiting room can hold only so many people at a time. Just a few patients who bring 4 or 5 guests can fill up the waiting room, making it impossible for other patients to find a seat. For that reason, and to preserve the quiet atmosphere in the waiting room some patients may need to collect their thoughts, we ask that you please bring no more than two guests to your exam. And as a matter of “cell phone etiquette” please either turn your phone off or put it on vibrate during your visit. If a call is critical, please excuse yourself to the hallway to complete the call as a courtesy to others.
Thank you so much for your kind attention to these suggestions. And again, congratulations from all of us at NTPA!
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