I took a pregnancy test last friday and found out I was pregnant with number 4. I have made an appt for today with the doct that delievered my son. I have been thinking about changing doctors because if i stay with this doct i will have to deliever at a hospital that has been laying off staff and having financial problems. I went to my gyno yesturday for a follow up on my papsmear, and he advised me not to deliever there because of them not being able to afford new equipment and their financial problems. He recommended a midwife from another hospital which is the same distance as of the other hospital, but i have never been to a midwife before. I have heard alot of good from this midwife, and the hospital is very nice and has a great maternity ward of what i hear. I have seen the maternity ward once before and it seemed to be very nice.
I am just worried about the midwife because when i think of a midwife i think of nautrual labor, and i tried with my son and i was in horrible pain but was also induced. So its kinda freaking me out going natural. if you want an epidural, can you still have one even though you are going to see a midwife? And which would you rather have a midwife or a OB.
Thanks for reading and any advice you can give me!
I had my appt. today and it went great. As i can tell she is awesome. She did tell me that if i have the baby through the week she might not be able to be with me the whole time bc she'll be with other patients too, but if i have the baby on the weekend she will be able to be with me from the time i get to the hosp to when i have the baby. but she said either way she will deliever the baby. She also said i will not be restrained to the bed, which is awesome bc i dont want to be. She said i could try the rocking chair birthing chair and the shower. She said that in early labor they check the baby heart beat every 2 hrs and closer to labor like every 30 mins, but I will only be laying for 10 mins. She said she would be my support team since my family will try to push an epidural at the moment of pain. But she said if I am in bad pain and can tell that i cant handle it she will give me an epidural. I am so glad that I went with her!! She said the only time she will be out of town is in march! I am very happy with her. i have to have an u/s done next tuesday bc she doesnt think I am as far as I thought i was, bummer but at least I'll see the baby early..lol I also found out I have a tilted uterus but it was nothing to worry about. She also said she might have to check my pituatary gland when the baby is a year old bc i can get milk out of my breasts since my first pregnancy. She said that it wasnt normal, that it should clear up within a year after the baby is done breastfeeding.
Thanks for all your advice!
There are many types of midwives out there, so it is important to interview a few before deciding. Some midwives are very natural-birth oriented and are admant about not using any interventions for pain. These tend to be independent midwives who primarily attend home or birth center births.
There are also hospital midwives, who work in hospitals and obgyn practices who are more in line with hospital rules and regulations. They typically do encourage less interventions than doctors do, but if you need it will advocate for appropriate interventions in the manner you want.
Midwives tend to be more compassionate than doctors and address your pregnancy from the physical and emotional aspect. Appointments tend to be longer and they are often more willing to take extra time to answer all your questions and discuss things in more detail than doctors do.
Most midwives have attended more natural/healthy births than doctors have simply due to the training and education process. This makes them more knowledgable in what your body should be doing, and they are better able to coach you through rough times when you doubt yourself. They know of more alternative techniques to progress labor, dilate faster, and push more effectively without using pitocin, cervadil and epidurals.
Also, a midwife is going to be with you for the entire labor, not just popping in and out between births. (Some hospital midwives will pop in and out, but this is less likely to happen than it does with doctors).
I'm glad you mentioned that, because with the doct/docts i had with my son, I was not guareented who will deliever him, I never could get to know my doct bc there was three doctors that worked with each other and i didtn know who was going to deliever until i went to the hospital. Which i didnt like, I would like to have only one doct throughout my pregnancy and labor. On that note, with a midwife she'll/he'll be there throughout the whole time? If thats so what happens if theres another person in labor while im in labor seeing the same midwife?
Thanks again for the advice
Most midwives will not take on more than one woman with due dates around the same time. This helps to ensure that your midwife can give you 100% of her attention. Doctors tend to take on every pregnant woman who walks into their office.
You do have to be careful with hospital midwives though. Some of them operate exactly like a doctor does because they are limited to hospital regulations.
Personally, I went with a midwife at the local birth center. She has no hospital priviliges, but I am trying a natural birth anyway. The great thing is that if something goes wrong or if I simply cannot handle the pain, she will transfer me without argument. Even if I transfer and have a regular doctor checking on me, she will stay at my side to encourage me until the baby comes even though she can't catch the baby.
Quoting Trish1984:
I'm glad you mentioned that, because with the doct/docts i had with my son, I was not guareented who will deliever him, I never could get to know my doct bc there was three doctors that worked with each other and i didtn know who was going to deliever until i went to the hospital. Which i didnt like, I would like to have only one doct throughout my pregnancy and labor. On that note, with a midwife she'll/he'll be there throughout the whole time? If thats so what happens if theres another person in labor while im in labor seeing the same midwife?
Thanks again for the advice
I had a midwife my first pregnancy, and a doctor for these past two. I perfer a doctor for various reasons but I did have an induction and an epidural etc with a midwife. She is no way pushed a natural labor on me and if your looking for a more personal experience you should give her a try. I wasn't looking for that personal experience with my provider, only qualification and experience but you may love seeing a midwife...many women do.
He's my star....and I'm his sky....
At my practice, I had 3 Dr's and a midwife and you saw everyone. And whoever was on call when you went into labor was your Dr/Midwife. I had the midwife and I had most of her throughout my whole pregnancy because I LOVED her and she was amazing.
She was calming, and I DID get an epi.. lol. She helped me with positions to help me dialate faster and more compfy postitions. She delievered my son right onto the bed instead of removing that bottom peice. She sat on the bed kinda.. she was perfect. And she was SO easy to talk to and laid back.
I would DEFINATELY have a midwife again for my second if they were just like her!
Quoting Trish1984:I have made an appt with the midwife. She does go through the hospital. I will update you guys after my appt. to let you know how it went..Thanks again for the advice.
It has mostly been covered here already, but I wanted to reiterate. You can have the same kind of birth with an OB or a CNM (hospital midwife). Your midwife can order your epidural same as the OB would. But the midwife is better trained in helping you to avoid unnecessary interventions, reducing risks. So if you want to give it a chance, she can help to work with you finding ways to better cope through.
I prefer natural birthing and midwives for this reason. But I know that some women prefer medicated deliveries. If you want additional help, you might consider having a birth doula, too. :-)
Quoting Trish1984:
She also said i will not be restrained to the bed, which is awesome bc i dont want to be. She said i could try the rocking chair birthing chair and the shower. She said that in early labor they check the baby heart beat every 2 hrs and closer to labor like every 30 mins, but I will only be laying for 10 mins.
You could request the hand-held Doppler so you never have to lie down. You can keep going with whatever you were doing, your pain-coping.
There are many things you can do to work with your body to reduce-eliminate pain. Let me know if you'd like some info.
:-)
Congratulations, too!
Good luck!
The knowledge of how to give birth without outside intervention lies deep within each woman. Successful childbirth depends on an acceptance of the process. ~Suzanne Arms
Birth is not an emergency. It is simply an emergence.” - Jeannine Parvati Baker
I had a midwife with my last pregnancy and I loved her. I believe she is a big reason why I was able to deliver Logan vaginally.
I was induced and did get the epidural, but everything else was as hands off as possible. I am not sure the outcome would have been the same with an OB being that Logan was estimated to be over 9lbs.
Trying to find a replacement for my old caffeine habit?
- Trish1984
on Nov. 5, 2009 at 12:40 PM