Midwife experience level?

Nikkit78

How many births should a midwife have under her belt to be considered experienced? Late in the game we are switching from a hospital to a home birth for many different reasons.  We have interviewed multiple midwifes and we are unsure how to judge their different experience levels.  Is 80 births a lot? Is there any experienced midwifes on this board or knowledgeable moms that have an opinion on what we should we considering besides if we like them? Thank you for the help 

ScottiesLilHottie

I would say you want to take into consideration how long she has been practicing. Break that down further into how long she practiced as an apprentice or midwife assistant and how many years she has been practicing on her own. My midwife is a CPM and has been practicing for a total of 26 years. She did not go off on her own until 7 years ago. Over the course of her training and career she has delivered around 600 babies.

 

I would come up with a list of questions regarding the midwife's training, experience handling complications (shoulder dystocia, breech, hemmhoraging, etc), and basic philosophy on birth. Is she licensed? Ask LOTS of questions!! This link might be helpful: https://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/homebirthchoice.asp#Choose

d.cubed

80 does not seem like a lot to me, but as PP stated, perhaps she has more experience as an apprentice midwife, doula, or in some other capacity.  Most midwives deliver around 6 babies a month (if in home birth practice).  

I have three midwives (2 of whom will be attending my birth - they switch off):

-Midwife 1: Has been in practice for around 27 years and has "caught" around 3,000 babies.

-Midwife 2: Has been in practice for around 16 years and has "caught" around 1,000 babies.

-Midwife 3: Has been in practice for 4 years and has "caught" around 300 babies.  

HTH!  Good luck!   

AshasaurusRex

My MW has been in midwifery for 12 years including training and has attended over 1000 births, and has trained over 70 students. I'm not sure how many babies she's actually caught, she is the administrative MW at the birth center where I go though with three students training under her right now.

 I would ask how many years has your MW been in practice, and how many births has she attended. If she's been practicing for 5+ years and attended several hundred births, but only caught 80 babies then I would go with your gut on how comfortable you feel about her. If she's only just out of training and has only attended 80 births, then I'd be a little concerned. HTH

Cheekers2010

80 seems a little low to me.  Of course everyone needs to start somewhere but I would make sure that if I had a less experienced mw that she would be working with a more experienced one not off on her own.  My mw has been in practice for more than 20 years and has attended over 1000 births. 

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barnwife

We are planning a homebirth with a CNM. She's caught about 300 babies. 80 seems low to me...but as a pp pointed out, they all have to start somewhere. I would look also at transfer rates and training.  (My midwife has 2 apprentices currently. One is just about to apply for her midwifery license. One thing I love about this apprentice is that she has trained in various places, including France.) My midwife worked as a nurse for years before turning to midwifery.

GL!

Papa Bear's Bride

If she's delivered 80, does that mean she's attended 80? 80 may sound like only a few, but it's 70+ more than I've attended. MW's who are just starting out have a back-up MW that they studied under during their time in midwifery school as an intern. They have to birth so many babies to even be released from under another MW's supervision. They're also very well trained on how to recognize problems.

If I were you, I'd base it upon more than just numbers. Base it upon your feelings about the person as well, since you'll become very intimate with this woman over the next little bit. My MW's have always become like BFF's to me, but I've also only gone with ones that I felt truly at ease with and felt I could trust her with my whole soul. Personalities vary in this field, and being comfortable is a major part of a successful labor and delivery.