Use a midwife?

penguincrazy · January 2009

Did anyone use a midwife instead of a doctor for the birth? DH and I are considering and researching it, and I wanted some first hand experiences. Thanks.

missfire · January 2009

Yes, and she was wonderful, especially for my regular appointments -- very patient, informative, relaxed. We had a birth center birth, though, so I don't know how she would have compared to an OB at an in-hospital birth.

roshybride · January 2009

I did with my first son and I loved her. We still did a hospital birth though.

I had an OB with my second son, because we had moved and there are not mws in my area. She was good too, but was pushing an induction a little more when I hit my due date.

kelbrian · January 2009

YES, and she was absolutely amazing. I love her. I would never use a doctor after using her for L's birth. She was so supportive and actually cheered me on during birth (serious).

Sarahgracesc · January 2009

I went to a midwife at her birthing home and LOVED it. I absolutely adore her. Unfortunately I never went into labor and where I live if you hit the 42 week mark you can no longer be in the care of a mw. So when I hit 41w5d, I was admitted to the hospital and induced. Wound up with a c/s. But my mw called frequently to check on me, told me to let her know if I wanted her there (I held off on that b/c I know how busy she is and nothing was really going on, and by the time I was pushing it was late and I was doing fine. Thne wound up having a c/s, no need to have her there for that). And she came to visit me the next morning. I'm still going to her for PP care as well as the OB that delivered DD. I absolutely love my experience with my mw and the birthing home. Best decision I could've made.

Jen0414 · January 2009

Yes, my dr. office has the dr. and a midwife that works with him. I was going to go with the dr. but saw the midwife for some appts. as well. When it came to the day I delivered she was with me for the labor and delivery. I saw the dr. once when he broke my water...she did an awesome job and was way more patient with me than the dr. was. She truly did her best to match my wishes for delivery. I am definitely going with her through the whole pregnancy next time!

stina022 · January 2009

YES, and I had a wonderful experience with her. I had a difficult delivery because DS was face up and tilted to the side. She was so patient and kept me calm the entire 2.5 hours it took to push him out. She did everything in her power to prevent me from tearing or getting an episiotomy, but in the end I needed one because of his position. She cheered me on and repeatedly told me how strong I was. I credit her with being able to have a successful vaginal delivery without the use of a vaccum or forceps.

candreco · January 2009

My practice had both- you see MW for normal stuff, but the OB is there if there are complications or it's a high-risk pregnancy. There was always one MW and one OB on call at the hospital, so who delivered depended on who was there and available. It worked great for us- the benefits of midwives leaning toward natural methods, but the OB right there if one is needed.

ibfloridagirl · January 2009

We used a MW at a birthing center, we ended up needing an emergency c/s, but she took me to the hospital and stayed with DH the entire time. Then came back to visit a couple days later and did all of our follow up stuff (Ike's circumcision etc). She was amazing

ncbelle · January 2009

I did and highly recommend it. My birth story is in my blog (link in siggy) if you are interested. I really credit her with helping me have the delivery I wanted - and avoiding serious trauma to the lady bits (I had only a teeny superficial tear).

JulyFiveBride · January 2009

Yes and I can't recommend it enough. I switched around 30 weeks or so and I'm so happy I did. I loved my OB, but I switched insurance companies and she was no longer covered, so I decided to go with a midwife. My appointments with her were longer and she spent SO much time with me in L&D. She coached me through transition, was there the whole time I pushed, pushed back my induction date by a week and a half so I could go to the full 42 weeks (I had DD at exactly 42 weeks without induction!) She was so involved in my L&D. She came to talk to me before they did anything so we could discuss my options, nothing was forced on me or given without an explanation.

I fully intend to have a midwife with my second birth, I would never have it any other way, unless of course it was medically necessary. My SIL had some of the same problems I had (prodromal labor caused by the position of the baby) and ended up with an induction, epidural, and eventual csection with her OB. I believe I would have ended up the same way if it weren't for my MW. She has a personal csection rate of less than 5%. My mom's BF just told me that his hospital has a c-section rate of 40% and they don't have any midwives on staff. So that's a huge difference.

Sam78 · January 2009

candreco:

My practice had both- you see MW for normal stuff, but the OB is there if there are complications or it's a high-risk pregnancy. There was always one MW and one OB on call at the hospital, so who delivered depended on who was there and available. It worked great for us- the benefits of midwives leaning toward natural methods, but the OB right there if one is needed.

I'm guessing by the area that we went to the same practice - I ended up being in labor for 20 hours before my c/s and the midwives (I was in labor long enough that one ended her shift and another came on and again!) were extremely helpful in trying to do everything to get me the natural birth that I wanted. Even though the birth ended up being pretty much everything I didn't want, the MWs did a fab job and I would use them again in a heartbeat.

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