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Natural Birth
EEN09
member
choosing midwife/ doula
EEN09
member
Kind of silly questions, but bear with me. I had planned a natural birth that got, suffice to say, turned upside-down via induction with my first child. I was utterly overwhelmed, and I neglected to advocate for myself the way I could have in order to have the story go differently. Next time, I intend to follow through with natural birth, but I would like to use a midwife and possibly a doula.
As far as midwives go, did you interview several before you were pregnant, or did you wait until it was "time" to decide on one? We are planning to begin ttc in July. What kind of questions and factors did you/ do you think are most pertinent and helpful in choosing a midwife?
Finally, if you had a doula, how and when (in pregnancy timeline) did you choose her? Thanks in advance. I am determined to be prepared this time!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: choosing midwife/ doula
Have you looked at hospitals with low C-sec rates? Low intervention rates? High VBAC rates? THOSE are some of the first things I'd look for and then I'd find a provider that serviced that hospital. Or you can ask for recommendations from other women with the same ideas about birth that you have. Are you part of a La Leche League? You might get great recs from them!
I had a very rough labor and delivery (for me) with my first son. Not at all the natural birth I'd wanted (like you, I wasn't prepared enough to better advocate for myself). We moved to a new state a few months after he was born. As soon as I got here I started asking about birth experiences at the hospitals around here. I found out that all SEVEN of the women that delivered on base were induced. SIX ended in C-sec. The one woman I know with a natural delivery (another poster here, sometimes, when she wants to be) recommended the midwifery center/birth center I'm going to now. I looked into it enough that I was more excited to be able to sign up for the birth center once I was pregnant than I was about actually being pregnant at first. (Seriously, when I called to schedule an appt and I told them I wanted to go to the birth center, they asked if I wanted to attend and open house first before putting my name down and I said, "No way! I've been looking at this place for months and I finally have a reason to do it!"
We hired our doula, this time at 32 weeks... kind of late, I think. With DS1, we hired our doula at 26 weeks, I think.
there is a good post on questions to ask in the FAQs for this board. link in my siggie.
in my area, MWs book up early, so i knew i needed to find one before i was pregnant, so that i could get on the books when i was pregnant.
i interviewed 4 MWs and decided on the one i liked best and then immediately started ttc.
i did not go through the process of hiring a doula, b/c two of my dear friends (one is a doula, the other is an OB nurse) were my doulas.
my advice: the sooner the better. i started researching, reading and calling midwives when we started TTC (I thought it would happen alot quicker then it did...) so now that we are pregnant, I am narrowing down my selections, have spoken to the insurance company, mapped out all the costs, looked into different options, hospitals, and doulas. Ive made calls and sent emails. Im on the verge of setting up appointments/interviews and hospital tours. people might say its to early but im a planner and i need everything organized. plus, your potential midwife or doula may only accept a certain amount of clients for your due date (once you know) so its best to "book them in advance" before they "sell out" Also try to google for reviews or ask if they can share testimonials from previous clients.
read books like:
born inthe usa - marsden wagner, your best birth, thinking womans guide to childbirth, ina may gaskins guide to childbirth, birth without violence, and birthing from within.
your not PG yet so use this time to gather your research. a woman who is not yet pregnant has all the free choice in the world, once your KU its a countdown clock... GL!