How do you go about finding a midwife?

chloeelyn

Im interested in seeing what it is all about? Since last time I had a breech baby and ended up with a csection. Not really my plan. I would like to do things differently this time around. Any ideas? Thanks.

lisaroo

Try googling "midwife" and your state. I am not sure if you are looking for a homebirth experience or not, but if not, I highly recommend a certified nurse-midwife, esp. since you would be a VBAC. They are RNs with an advanced degree in midwifery and may be more beneficial to you in a hospital or birth center setting.

Also, I know these get made fun of a lot on this board, but this is a good source for feedback on local midwives as well: www.mothering.com

Also, here is an accredited search: https://www.midwife.org/find.cfm

Good luck! I hope you get the experience you want.

 

emiliemadison

That's exactly what happened with my first baby (footling breech, c-section, pretty much the opposite of what I'd hoped LOL).

I asked around/googled/read about which hospitals in my area had high VBAC rates and then chose a midwife practice that was affiliated with that hospital. They were fantastic   I had a great VBAC and the experience overall (prenantal and postpartum) were much different than my OB experience with my first pregnancy. It felt much more personal; they didnt just "agree" to a vbac, they really understood WHY I wanted a vbac and supported my reasons.

ican-online.org is a good resource for getting info on local hospitals that are more pro-vbac than others. But the best bet is to find out through your insurance provider if there are midwife practices that are covered (most are).

Best of luck

chloeelyn

emiliemadison:

That's exactly what happened with my first baby (footling breech, c-section, pretty much the opposite of what I'd hoped LOL).

I asked around/googled/read about which hospitals in my area had high VBAC rates and then chose a midwife practice that was affiliated with that hospital. They were fantastic   I had a great VBAC and the experience overall (prenantal and postpartum) were much different than my OB experience with my first pregnancy. It felt much more personal; they didnt just "agree" to a vbac, they really understood WHY I wanted a vbac and supported my reasons.

ican-online.org is a good resource for getting info on local hospitals that are more pro-vbac than others. But the best bet is to find out through your insurance provider if there are midwife practices that are covered (most are).

Best of luck

 

Wow, thanks for the help. I remember when you were pregnant with your first. I have been on this board for a while huh? Thanks again, DH and I are off to google more info. 

*LrCg*

Check your provider list with your insurance.  Also, are you interested in a birth center/homebirth or hospital setting?  Most homebirth/birthcenter midwives are Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) and most that do hospital births are Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM).  My insurance plan only covered a homebirth if it was with a CNM and luckly I found a CNM that does homebirths or at her birth center.  I actually just googled birth centers in my area and found her- I did interview a few others that were CPM but loved the CNM I choose.  I was very scared because most CNM are medically minded but mine was not- she just so happned to be an RN in the maternity ward and decided to be a midwife.  One of the reasons I choose a midwife is because I was a breech baby born naturally and some studies say that I would have a high likelihood of having a breech baby so I wanted to have a midwife that was trained to deliever breech (doctors are not trained anymore but midwives are- and most will do it unless its knees first) because I just wouldn't have a c-section due to breech but I understand your hands were tied with your doctor so you will probably be very happy with a midwife.  Best of luck.

LittleEgypt

I would start by thinking about where you want to give birth, since that is the deciding factor. If you want to use the hospital, call the local hospitals and ask for a list of CNMs that deliver babies. You could also look at out-of-hospital birth centers, which have their own midwife practices. If you want a home birth I would try to get a personal recommendation for a home birth midwife. One other resource to try is natural childbirth educators (like the local Bradley instructors) - they usually know who the home birth midwives are. What type of midwife you choose might depend on your state, too. CNMs are more standardized, but LMs and LPMs vary state by state (they have a pretty good program in WA but not everywhere). In some states there is very little regulation of midwives, so do your research!

I really wish you the best of luck - I also had a C/S due to breech baby, but I was using a very good midwife group. You will probably find that there are almost no practicioners of any kind that deliver breech babies vaginally. If you read Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth", her recommendation for a vaginal breech delivery is to look at either a home birth midwife, an old-school family doctor (even a home birth doc if one exists), or the head of a hospital department (esp. a university hospital).