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3rd Trimester
Conflicting advice from MD's & Midwives
I go to a midwifery practice but alternate between seeing MD's and MW's. I've talked to some friends who go there as well and we all seem to agree that we get conflicting advice from each practitioner. As of last week my baby was posterior and the MW gave some advice on how to turn him. This week I saw an MD and he didn't even check the position of the baby. When I asked him about what the MW had said he said that the baby can turn back at any time and that labor is a better time to try and turn them. This is just an example of a few issues I've had or heard about. Does anyone else go to a practice with multiple practitioners? Should I be concerned about any of this?
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Re: Conflicting advice from MD's & Midwives
You will definitely get conflicting information with different practitioners but for the most part this is acceptable as their individual practice preference allow for it. For example in the situation you gave they are both right. Your baby was probably posterior and you can try to turn the baby, but the MD is right too, the baby will probably change a bunch over the weeks. Both right, different opinions on how to handle it.
When it's a problem, is if the advice affects the care you recieve. For example I know OB's who have women do their own GBS swab in the bathroom. I think this is poor practice and I know it is not recommended practice. My OB does not do this.
Just remember, if you are ever curious you can always google standard of care for pretty much everything. Their are evidence based recommendations for pretty much everything. ACOG has recommendations, AAP, USPTF, etc.
P.s. I was a labor and delivery nurse for 6 years and I am currently a family nurse practitioner .
I'm not really sure, but I am going to a midwife and my childbirth classes were ran by a doula and they were talking about trying to have the baby positioned BEFORE labor, because depending on the position on baby during labor it might be hard to position him/her correctly, not impossible, but could be diffiuclt. Also, depending on how the baby is actually position it might be too serious and it could end up you needing to have a C-section. But also from what my midwife and childbirth teacher said there usually are conflictions between what one will say and what the other will say because a lot of doctors don't really understand about midwifery.
But if your baby is posterior he/she could switch positions anytime between now and labor. And they could also change right before labor. I am not 100% sure since I am a FTM, but I am going based off what I have been told and read.
One (over-simplistic) way of looking at it is that OBs are trained in dealing with things ultimately through medication or surgery. MWs are trained in normal birth and prevention of non-optimal circumstances. If baby is malpositioned, an OB can always do a c-section. A MW, in contrast, is (theoretically) more likely to address the issue pro-actively and early. Both views on when a baby can move are correct, but the sense of urgency and importance may be viewed differently.
More Green For Less Green
I don't think you need to worry about turning baby breech --turning a baby over and turning a baby around would use different techniques.