My midwife practice is breaking up...

coey03

there will only be 2 left when I deliver, so I may end up with an OB. For some reason my biggest fear is that an OB won't do things to help minimize tearing. This is irrational, right? Is it common practice for OBs and midwives to do things such as putting a warm compress on the perineum while crowning? I'm not even sure what my midwife did last time, but my son was 9.3 and I only needed a few stitches. Any advice or reassurance is much appreciated.  Thanks!!

Nomer

I think it really depends on the OB you end up having... I had a natural birth with an OB (that's what our insurance covered so we had no choice) but it was a very natural-birth-friendly hospital. My OB ended up being fantastic! I had a midwife there for support, who is a friend of the family, and even she was really impressed with the doctor. I had a slow delivery and no tearing. The warm compress thing was very common in the hospital where I was so I would just ask around. Also, talk to the OBs that you may end up having and see what they are like.