If you see a midwife

djm31012

Apologies if this is a dumb question. I recently switched OBs and he works with 2 midwives. I was told at my appt tonight that whoever is on call will deliver my baby, if I had a strong preference they would try to
Accommodate it but otherwise it's whoever is on call. I've seen all 3 and love all of them but I was just concerned. I plan to go natural but if For some reason there were a problem and I needed an emergency c section at the last minute and my doctor wasn't the one on call , who would perform the surgery? Obviously not the midwife . Is it whatever surgeon or dr is at the hospital?

MyBell524

We have a few doctors associated with the midwifery clinic. One of them is always on call in case of emergencies. You shld ask your doctor for clarification.

lgsdesigner

My midwife facility has an OB on staff, and she would be the one doing the surgery. 

annerz22

Since there is an OB in your office they may try to contact him first. However it will probably be the on call OB at the time. Or your OB may have a specific OB they work with in case they aren't in the hospital at that time.

For my delivery with DS, my OB was on call at a different hospital than the one I was in labor at. I had the on call OB and the intern deliver DS. They were fantastic and I actually think they took more time and more care so I wouldn't tear than my own Ob would have. Truthfully for me, in the middle of giving birth, I didn't care who was delivering my baby, I just wanted him out!!!

rels09

Most likely the hospitalist, which is an OB employed by the hospital itself. The hospitalist delivered my daughter, and she was a wonderful doctor. If things get complicated enough that you need a c/s, you're unlikely to care who does it, and your midwife will almost certainly stick around to support you.

Hawk&Eye

annerz22 said:

Since there is an OB in your office they may try to contact him first. However it will probably be the on call OB at the time. Or your OB may have a specific OB they work with in case they aren't in the hospital at that time.

For my delivery with DS, my OB was on call at a different hospital than the one I was in labor at. I had the on call OB and the intern deliver DS. They were fantastic and I actually think they took more time and more care so I wouldn't tear than my own Ob would have. Truthfully for me, in the middle of giving birth, I didn't care who was delivering my baby, I just wanted him out!!!

With DS I met all 5 midwives and was promised that one of them would deliver. That didn't happen and the on call OB delivered DS. I was a bit disappointed but, I agree, in that moment, I didn't care and just wanted him out! I was completely exhausted after 30+ hours of labor!

Jillibean68

ramy3 said:

It would probably be whoever is on call at the hospital.

I see MWs and if there were an emergency, my MW would accompany me to the OR and would be with me the entire time. The OB on call would do the cesarean.

This. My midwives are certified nurse practitioners as well, so they aren't allowed to make the first cut, but would be in the OR assisting the whole time.

djm31012

Ok thanks everyone! So my OB has 2 midwives in the office, I have seen all 3 of them and would be totally fine with any delivering my child. In addition, they partner with 2 other OBs (not in the office, who I wont meet while pregnant) so I assume that if this situation presents itself, it would be one of the 3 OBs (mine or the 2 I dont know) that will do the surgery. You are right, I wont care. In all honesty, with DS, the nurses did all the work until the last few minutes anyway!

MrsPDX

Does your midwife practice have a connected OB practice as well? 

My practice has a number of midwives and a number of OBs. When I check into the hospital I am greeted with both the OB and midwife on-call. Since I am using a midwife, the majority of my care will be with her, but I can also be checked by the OB, and if I did need surgery that is who would do it. 

I would definitely ask your midwife to confirm these details. 

djm31012

MrsPDX said:

Does your midwife practice have a connected OB practice as well? 

My practice has a number of midwives and a number of OBs. When I check into the hospital I am greeted with both the OB and midwife on-call. Since I am using a midwife, the majority of my care will be with her, but I can also be checked by the OB, and if I did need surgery that is who would do it. 

I would definitely ask your midwife to confirm these details. 

I actually see an OB...he just has 2 midwives that work in his office so they reccomend you meet all of them at some point in your pregnancy in case they are the ones on call during your L&D (which i did, and I am fine with-in my opinion they have all delivered thousands of babies and are fully capable of delivering mine).  On my way home I was just thinking "thats great, I am fine with any of them delivering my child, but what if a midwife is on call when I am in labor, and I wind up needing a c section, then what?"  I need to just write it down and ask at my next appt.

MrsPDX

djm31012 hmm...I am sure that there is both an OB and a midwife on-call, I mean I would think that would make most sense. However, I would definitely ask. Its odd to me that you see an OB, but they said a midwife on-call would deliver you?

rels09

MrsPDX said:

djm31012 hmm...I am sure that there is both an OB and a midwife on-call, I mean I would think that would make most sense. However, I would definitely ask. Its odd to me that you see an OB, but they said a midwife on-call would deliver you?

Not that odd. At my practice, 2 of the OBs and the senior midwife rotate on-call dates. There is also a slightly less senior midwife. You can choose to be a patient of just the two midwives, and then you are pretty much guaranteed to have one of the two of them at your birth, but if you are a regular OB patient, you get whichever of the 3 is on call (including the 1 midwife). 

MrsPDX

rels09 said:

MrsPDX said:

djm31012 hmm...I am sure that there is both an OB and a midwife on-call, I mean I would think that would make most sense. However, I would definitely ask. Its odd to me that you see an OB, but they said a midwife on-call would deliver you?

Not that odd. At my practice, 2 of the OBs and the senior midwife rotate on-call dates. There is also a slightly less senior midwife. You can choose to be a patient of just the two midwives, and then you are pretty much guaranteed to have one of the two of them at your birth, but if you are a regular OB patient, you get whichever of the 3 is on call (including the 1 midwife). 

Huh, interesting! I've never heard of that, but I never investigated going with an OB so that's probably why. 

djm31012

rels09 said:

MrsPDX said:

djm31012 hmm...I am sure that there is both an OB and a midwife on-call, I mean I would think that would make most sense. However, I would definitely ask. Its odd to me that you see an OB, but they said a midwife on-call would deliver you?

Not that odd. At my practice, 2 of the OBs and the senior midwife rotate on-call dates. There is also a slightly less senior midwife. You can choose to be a patient of just the two midwives, and then you are pretty much guaranteed to have one of the two of them at your birth, but if you are a regular OB patient, you get whichever of the 3 is on call (including the 1 midwife). 

This is our practice exactly. They did say if I show up at the hospital and my OB is not on call but  I have a strong preference to use him, they would do their best to accomodate (aka if its the middle of the day, he would have one of the midwives see his patients at the office for routine visits and come to the hospital for me). BUt honestly if all is well, I really dont mind any of them delivering. I will ask for further clarity at my next appointment.

spanx21

At our practice, if you are a low risk pregnancy a midwife delivers the baby.  I saw mostly midwives with my first pregnancy and a midwife delivered DS and there were no issues. I loved my midwife actually! She was amazing!   With my practice though, there is always a midwife and a OB on call.  It's rare that you ever actually see the doctor unless there are complications or emergency C-Section.