Natural Birth

OB to midwife after help conceiving??

Hi ladies, I don't really remember if I have posted here before. If I did it was years ago. :P I am currently TTGP, however I know that I will go natural when I do conceive. I have known that for a while.  I am going to see an OB-GYN, possibly and RE, about some problems with my cycles in the interest of helping us conceive. We will have to do a full work-up to figure out what is wrong. That said, I am having some confusion about switching to a midwife after this pre-conception care that I will be getting from the OB/RE. How smooth is the transtion for someone who has had to have help conceiving? I may stay with the OB if DH and I are comfortable with him and he is okay with having very few interventions involved. Anyone here have to have help to conceive then switch to midwife care for the pregnancy?

Also, I had a total thyroidectomy in October of this year. Will this make me a bad candidate for midwife care? I.E. High risk, in need of an OB?

I will present all of these questions to my healthcare providers when I go to the appointments to address everything, I just wanted to see of anyone had any experience in these areas. Thanks!! Big Smile

Re: OB to midwife after help conceiving??

  • We switched to a midwife/OB run birthing center after doing IVF. They didn't seem to mind. I like them way better than the big box OB. 
    TTC Since 3/2010
    Me-36, Unexplained Infertility, DH-35, all clear
    Clomid 50mg 12/2011 = BFN
    Clomid 100mg 1/2012 = BFN, with Cyst
    IVF #1 Lupron/Menopur/Gonal-f/HCG Trigger
    ER 4/19/12 = 11 retrieved, 6 fertilized,
    ET 4/22/12 = 2 transfered (day 3), remaining 3 weren't good enough to freeze
    Beta 5/3 = BFP, 87 Beta #2 5/7 560.9 Beta #3 5/9 1376.5 First u/s One Baby, 125bpm!
    Second u/s, 176bmp! Kicked over to the OB by the RE at 8w. Team Green!! 
    Baby girl J arrived two weeks early! Born into water, med-free. Hooray for Team Pink!

    TTC #2 - back to the RE, treatment started 12/2014. 

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  • What happened to your parathyroid?  Reimplanted?  Would a midwife feel comfortable or have the necessary training to even know how to treat that?  Just something to consider.  Perhaps you can find a group with both midwives and ob/gyns.  You'll likely even need an MFM for co-management.

    Good luck.  Hope you are able to conceive soon!!  There are so many natural birth friendly ob/gyns; don't discount all of them.

    Three losses in 2009; Boy/Girl twins born in 2010 image
  • I am sorry, I don't know what an MFM is. 

     I have one parathyroid gland, the other was damaged and not reimplanted... no hypoparathyroidism though or hypocalcemia to speak of. 

    I would have to ask any MW that we spoke to if she was comfortable with the thyroid issue. I am currently regulated on 150mcg cytomel. The funny thing about using an OB though is that the one we would be using is right next door to the guy who controls my thyroid meds. :P  

  • MFM= Maternal Fetal Medicine (ie a high risk OB)

    I have a friend was able to find not only a midwife, but a homebirth midwife and she has a thyroid disease (Grave's maybe?). All that is required for managing her disease is cytomel. On the flip side, I have several health issues that make me high risk. Last pregnancy I was followed exclusively by a MFM group. The group wasn't pro natural birth, but they really wanted women to have the birth experience that they desired despite being high risk. I had a great, minimal intervention (I had IV adrenal medicine and a bag of fluids) birth experience in the hospital.

    Married to E on June 5, 2010
    Gave birth to baby boy, I, on March 25, 2012
    Gave birth to baby girl, A, on May 20, 2013
    Baby #3 due April 29, 2015

    Recovering from mitochondrial dysfunction and Addison's/possibly very severe adrenal burn out using food, medicine, and a large amount of garden therapy.
  • imageJellyfish42:

    I would have to ask any MW that we spoke to if she was comfortable with the thyroid issue. I am currently regulated on 150mcg cytomel. The funny thing about using an OB though is that the one we would be using is right next door to the guy who controls my thyroid meds. :P  

    My sister has hypothyroidism (I'm assuming only having part of your thyroid is similar to hypothyroidism!), she has to take synthroid all the time. I know she saw an endocrinologist during her pg, but still went to a hosptial-based MW for her all prenatal appointments (she ended up having a home birth with a different MW). I think she had 1-2 appointments with a MFM (hgh-risk OB), but her endocrinologist knew more about her case than the MFM, in all honesty.

     

    DS1 - Feb 2008

    DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)

  • I see an RE to manage PCOS, but have been able to conceive both times with just metformin. After my 6 week u/s confirmed a heartbeat, I began seeing midwives. I have PCOS, asthma, bipolar disorder, and was a gestational diabetic last time (managed by diet and exercise -- don't know yet if I will be GD during this pregnancy). No issues managing my last pregnancy, and I will only be risked out of the birth center if my GD cannot be managed by diet and exercise. I wouldn't necessarily assume that you cannot have a midwife because of your health issues. Not every woman who sees midwives is in perfect health. They are used to it. 
    Monique (38), Wife to Steve (32), Mom to DS Sacha (4), DS Ronen due Aug. 1st! BabyFetus Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Yea we switched our midwife after becoming pregnant from Clomid and a trigger shot, and the doc had no issue with it :)  Not a big deal at all!
  • IVF to midwifery practice - no problems and I will do the same again.
  • With my last pg, I went to a nurse midwife first (associated with hospital).  Due to my history of seeing an RE (medicated cycles) to get pregnant, PCOS and having thyroid issues, she would not treat me and referred me to an OB :(

    Sounds like that definitely varies by practice! 

    Natural m/c 8/31/12 at 11 wks BFP #2 - Due August 16!
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