Is anyone using a Midwife?

[shortstuff]

Sadly, I have to find a new OBGYN. My dr (and the whole practice) no longer delivers babies. I saw her today and she recommended a few. One is a group of a few midwives and 2 OB's. I had not considered a midwife, but I am now very intrigued. Any experiences? Opinions?

Thanks!

[nomnom]

I like the description of a midwife, but I don't think my clinic/hospital will let me use a midwife with twins. This clinic makes me more apprehensive about multiples because of their stupid policies. Instead, I got a reference from a former classmate for an OB who seems to be flexible on the birth plan since the former classmate had a VBAC. The OB lists natural family planning in her interests, so I hope that's a good sign. I figure I'll have a MFM to take care of the high risk part.

[Deleted]

You know, I was going to ask this question the other day, so i'm glad you posted this. I'm switching OB's (my old one dropped the OB). And when I called a new place they asked if I wanted to se a Midwife or Doctor. I kind of hesitated and just said doctor. She did reassure me that I can change my mind at any time and switch.
I guess I'm just paranoid about using a midwife. But perhaps someone else here can enlighten me.

[sewfie2]

I like my ob and her nurse- they're a great team and it seems like patients don't get rotated with whatever doctor is available (at least, for the yearly exams and the hsg I had with them). I need to find out if she can work in other hospitals (if I decide to not give birth at the one I know she does have privileges for; it's a really good hospital though, so it's probably not a thing, but I'm getting ahead of myself). Otherwise, if the clinic does give you just whoever is available at the time, I'm going to consider a midwife. My mom used a midwife for my brother and I and was happy with that experience.

[vballbaby]

I'd like to look in to this as well. I was at the birth of my grandaughter (yes I'm a grandma - my step daughter from my previous marriage had a baby at 20) and we never even saw a Dr. The midwife delivered and she was great. I think you're talking about establishing a relationship with a midwife though before hand so she can help you through labor? Or would she deliver as well?

Food for thought: My children will be younger than my grandchildren.

[nomnom]

vballbaby If MH's sons were as enterprising as your SD, I'd have grandkids at 30 and my kids would be younger than them :-P

[ProfessorChaos]

I'm going to midwives. It's a totally separate practice, so they follow a different model of care than typical OBs do. The appts are longer with more personal attention. Most importantly, their attitudes towards birth are quite different. I don't know how much difference would be if they're in the same practice. I would recommend (I wish I'd done this earlier) joining a new moms' or birthing group on FB or similar in your area, and ask for people's experiences. Online reviews for doctors seem pretty worthless, but asking for recent experiences can be fabulous.

You can definitely be too high risk for midwives, though, as PP said.

[hearthands]

I am using CNMs (Certified Nurse-Midwives). Except for my RE I have always seen CNMs for my GYN care.

Having worked in OB- I prefer the focus of CNMs on normal pregnancy & patient education/involvement in care. Depending on the setting some CNMs care for high-risk patients (including twins) as part of an OB/CNM team.