I'm thinking about natural birth...I need info...?

Kelsey2117

Hello this will be my first baby. Im 20 weeks along already and have been seeing an OBGYN.... I just saw this show called The Business Of Being Born and it got me thinking about natural birth. I really want to go all natural now, but I don't know anything about Midwifes. I want to switch from my OBGYN to a Midwife but is there a way I could do both? Like have my doctor on the side-lines incase anything goes wrong? I don't understand how it works. Please someone help me better understand? Do Midwifes take insurance? All information you can give me about it would be appreciated! Thank you!

wintersong

Every state and practice have different rules. Your best bet is to find a midwife you might wish to see and ask them the questions you have.
But here is a short, vague summary of answers to your questions:

"I want to switch from my OBGYN to a Midwife but is there a way I could do both? Like have my doctor on the side-lines in case anything goes wrong?"

A midwife should have a plan about what happens if a transfer of care is needed. For instance, if you risk out of the practice due to preeclempsia, or if you have to be transferred to the hospital during labor. In this case, you may not be able to keep your obgyn--it might be too late to go back to their practice.

Natural birth does not need a midwife. Do you really like your obgyn? Check and try to find out how natural birth friendly they are. Maybe you won't have to switch! Also, you could hire a doula to coach and advocate for you while you are in labor at the hospital. Try reading the book "Natural Hospital Birth." Many posters on this forum have recommended it.

"Do Midwifes take insurance?"

Sometimes. Every state has different laws. Some are more midwife friendly than others. Some states have made it so that it is illegal for midwives to attend home births in a professional capacity. Midwifery practices would know what insurance companies are more out-of-hospital birth friendly.

It is up to your coverage. My insurance, Aetna (in Virginia), will not cover midwife care. My husband and I are submitting the paperwork when its time, but we are aware that we might have to pay for the whole thing out of pocket, or at the very best pay 70% of it. Of course, the "whole thing" (including prenatal and postnatal care, and a well baby visit in my home) would only cost about $5000. (Compared to the several tens of thousands the insurance company would pay for in the hospital.)

The midwife my husband and I would like to use, when the time comes, is a CNM--a certified nurse midwife, with a CPM certification also. This means she is specially trained to attend home births, and is licensed to do so in Virginia, but she is also a nurse who can do things like administer pitocin and saline if necessary.

You also might want to look into birthing classes, like Hypnobabies or Bradley, to help learn how to manage your labor with the best chance of not using pain meds.

Again, your best bet is to talk to a midwife directly. Chances are they can answer many of your questions before you think to ask them. :-)

Good luck!

kindacrunchy

The previous poster gave tons of good info. Are you looking to have a home birth or a natural birth in hospital? If your going home birth route chances are you will have to pay out of pocket, I think some insurance will cover some portion of home birth but most don't cover it at all. If you see a midwife that delivers in hospital it is essentially the same as an ob as far as insurance is concerned. Also as far as I know all midwives that deliver in hospital work with a supervising ob that they consult with if necessary. But as pp mentioned it might not be necessary to change, there are some obs that are very natural birth friendly.

Read, read, read, and research! Get as much info as you can if you want to go natural. Ina may gaskin has a few books that are great. Take a class to learn pain management. Knowledge is so helpful when wanting to go natural.

Chichigo

I had a natural hospital birth with an OB.

mysticl

The practice I went to for my pregnancy consisted of one OB and two CNMs, they added a second OB shortly after my son was born.  

mb314

Many midwifes are affiliated with an OB practice, so I would search for one that is.  If you deliver in a hospital, there will certainly be OBs on call in case a complication comes up.   Birth center and home birth midwives should also be able to send you to a hospital in case of complications. 

In terms of insurance, that is up to the individual midwife or midwife group.  My midwife group is affiliated with a large, well-renowned university hospital, so they take all major insurances. 

Like pp said, read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.  And you may want to look for a natural birth childbirth class.  We took Bradley Method classes.  A lot of other ladies use hypno babies, and I know where I live there are a lot of other natural birth classes.  The more informed you and your SO are before the birth, the better chance you'll have of achieving a natural birth.

pdilly2b

I switched from an OB practice to a midwife practice when I was 32 wks pregnant with DS. Best decision ever. It's a hospital-based midwife practice that is affiliated with an OB practice (one half of the office is OBs and one half is midwives and if I risked out of the midwife practice or needed interventions during labor, the transition to the OBs would be seamless).

I found my midwives through my insurance company's website (the find a provider feature) because I wasn't interested in anything not covered by insurance. They hold a "meet the midwives" session once a month and I went to that and then had my old OB transfer over my medical records.

I had a successful med free hospital birth with DS and hope for the same with this baby. I'm so happy I switched because my first labor was 36 hrs and I stalled at 6 cm and then 7 cm for a number of hours each and I'm sure my original OBs would have been pushing for either pit or a c-section when really I just needed more time.

dogsombrero

My practice includes both OBs and Midwives. If all is well the midwife will deliver you if you are higher risk the Ob will. There is always one OB and one Midwife at the hospital. The OBs are on the same page as the midwives and everyone is very supportive of natural birth, skin-to-skin the first hour and rooming in (the hospital has no nursery only a NICU). I feel like I get hte best of both worlds.

JennaRaek

My practice includes both OBs and midwifes as well. Both were on board with me going med free. You don't need to have a midwife to have natural labor. My OB was the one who delivered my son. She was super supportive and very encouraging. Talk to your OB. They might encourage your decision more than you're thinking. Good luck!

 

 

margaritachikita

Be sure to ask the hospitals statistics for c section rate and epidural rate. Lots of doctors will say they are supportive of natural birth but when it comes down to it they are not, or there are too many strict policies in place to allow them to practice that way. If your hospitals c section rate is 30-40% or higher, or epidural rate is 85-95%, you can bet that hospital isnt super supportive of natural birth. Also, definitely hire a doula no matter where you decide to give birh. A doula is an emotional support person who will help you prepare prenatally, and be with you and DH continuously throughout labor and delivery. Doulas reduce your risk of c section and reduce your chances of asking for pain relief. HTH let us know how things progress!