tell me about your midwife

[pine_apple_goat]

I am planning on using a midwife for my next pregnancy. I had an ob the first time around and did not like how it all went. Could you tell me what your midwife does and doesn't do. Blood work labs? Ultrasound? I would love all of your advice. What worked for you and what didn't. Did they come to you for each visit or you to them?

Thank you in advance! I can't wait to see what you all have to say.

[thtr4me]

My midwife did not do labs/ultrasound, but I felt so much better cared for than with an OB. I did concurrent care, as I was planning a homebirth, but used my HMO OB for labs/ultrasound, etc. My appointments with the OB were usually about 5 minutes, and included a heartbeat check, and a lecture about weight gain. Midwife appointments were an hour, and included the same heartbeat check, but she also checked baby's position, went over questions and concerns, talked about the birth, etc, and ensured me my weight gain was within the normal range. I went to her for all appointments. My final pre-birth in home appointment never happened, as DS2 surprised us by deciding to come two weeks early.

[evasimone]

I am using a midwife, I haven't delivered with her yet but thus far I am loving the care I am getting with her.

She's a certified nurse midwife and a nurse practitioner and only does homebirth which is rare to find. She's worked in hospitals and even opened a birth center but her Passion is for homebirths. She has approximately 30 years of experience.

I go to her house for appointments. She takes my blood pressure, pulse, dopplers the baby, weighs me, and dips my urine. She also checks for swelling. My appointments last for 45 minutes to an hour. She will talk to me for 10-15 minutes before doing any diagnostic stuff and I appreciate that so I can relax a little. She wants me to tell her not only how I feel currently but any worries or fears I might have. She's constantly telling me that she knows I can have a successful homebirth.

I had an 18 week ultrasound which she encouraged but didn't require. She also did a set of labs at 18 weeks to check my iron and other things. As for the gestational diabetes test she told me that she'd have me eat a normal breakfast 45 minutes before coming in and she'd check my sugar then. She doesn't like the glucola tests due to the rate of false positives and she also believes the dyes and HFCS is super unhealthy for mom and baby.

She's available anytime I need her or have questions. If she doesn't answer right away she calls me back within an hour.

Basically I am thrilled with the prenatal care I've gotten this far.

[JennTheMomma]

ds2's Midwife did not come to us. We went to her home for my appointments. She did everything a regular OB did, but it was all optional. So the only thing I did was the blood work in the beginning, checked urine for protein/etc at each appointment, listened to heartbeat with fetoscope, checked fundal height and position of baby. I had a u/s at 20 weeks through my local clinic.

With this baby I'm using a different Midwife who comes ot me. She comes to my home for each appointment and does all the above.

ETA: Forgot to add that both MWs take blood pressure, and at 28 weeks hemoglobin.

[waterisntsomething]

I had a CNM. Each apt was about 45 minutes long and she always took blood pressure, asked about any cleeding ,etc...we ordered blood tests through the hospital for me and same with glucose tests, ultrasounds, and all that. We talked about diet, I did a urine sample (one time i had a bladder infection so she prescribed me antibiotics), and weighed myself at every appt too. She was so great at my birth..It was my first time so I called her at like 3 am not knowing I had a long long time before I would really need her but she came over anyways and made sure everything was good. I actually have a birth story I wrote up specifically for her website so it really focuses on what she did. If you want I'll send it to you, just PM me.

[Psychomom]

My midwife sent me somewhere for labwork. She did my pap smear. She did not do an ultrasound, but we opted to do one outside of her care. I went to her house for prenatal care for most of the visits. She came to my house for a home visit at 36 weeks, then obviously for the birth, then she came for the 24 hour post birth visit. At each visit she checked my urine and blood pressure. She listened for the baby's heartbeat and measured. The "medical" stuff only took about 10 minutes, then she'd spend the rest of the hour chatting with me. That was my favorite part!

[pine_apple_goat]

Did you have medical insurance with your midwife? If not, was the ultrasound and blood work included in the midwife fees? I don't have insurance and would still like an ultrasound.

[Miss squish]

I went to a practice of CNMs at the outpatient clinic at my local hospital. I wanted a midwife and my partner was uncomfortable with home birth, so we were able to have a midwife attend our hospital birth.
Similar to an OB practice you got the midwife on call for your birth. I wished I could have had one provider to get really comfortable with but that was not an option. I had appts with each midwife during pregnancy. Each appt they asked questions about birth plans to prepare us. They check BP, weight, heartbeat and fundal height.
All tests and interventions available to an OB patient were available to me if I wanted, and I liked that I could choose what I wanted. We were given lots of information and my partner and I made choices about what we wanted. we did a 10 week ultrasound and tests for genetic disorders due to risk factors. We had a 20 week ultrasound. I did a lot of urine tests due to higher BP and fluid retention. I didn't want many blood draws. I chose the glucose tests because of family history of GD.
I really appreciated access to technology that made my partner comfortable but the midwife philosophy. I enjoyed hearing what was going well and the positive attitude towards pregnancy and birth. The assumption was that everything is well unless there's information otherwise.

[OneFishTwoFish]

I saw a practice of midwives for my last pregnancy. They did the regular early and 20 week U/S's, regular bloodwork and same schedule of appointments that my OB did with my first. However, they did no vaginal checks during pregnancy until I was in labor. That was nice. They even had me do my own GB swab.

[danner]

We had a midwife attend our hospital birth. It was a fantastic experience compared to the OB. So many little extras. We were covered by insurance for everything so idk about costs.