Why did you pick a midwife over a doctor?

[Anonymous]

A caution from a medical professional - never confuse personality/bedside manners with medical skills/knowledge. Some of the loveliest, warmest doctors were terrible practitioners, but their patients loved them. One of the finest doctors I ever had the privilege to work with had terrible bedside manners - and the greatest assessment and interventional skills that saved many patients. Patients/family would complain that he didn’t smile enough, or didn’t tell jokes with them. You’re choosing someone to manage your child’s birth - why take a midwife over a trained/licensed physician? Seems foolish to me - this isn’t a cocktail party where you want to have a fun evening. A midwife in a practice with physicians seems fine as there is backup easily available. I’d go with an OB physician every time - I want the best trained, most educated professional who can step up in an emergency.

[Anonymous]

I had longer appointments with the midwife. I don't believe in medical intervention unless necessary. My midwifes still collaborated with doctors and I gave birth at the hospital. I didn't want a c section and I didn't want an induction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A caution from a medical professional - never confuse personality/bedside manners with medical skills/knowledge. Some of the loveliest, warmest doctors were terrible practitioners, but their patients loved them. One of the finest doctors I ever had the privilege to work with had terrible bedside manners - and the greatest assessment and interventional skills that saved many patients. Patients/family would complain that he didn’t smile enough, or didn’t tell jokes with them. You’re choosing someone to manage your child’s birth - why take a midwife over a trained/licensed physician? Seems foolish to me - this isn’t a cocktail party where you want to have a fun evening. A midwife in a practice with physicians seems fine as there is backup easily available. I’d go with an OB physician every time - I want the best trained, most educated professional who can step up in an emergency.

Agree. My first a preemie was delivered by midwife in hospital. Lucky thing I decided to go to hospital that day, i thought it was a stomach virus.

My next 2 and current pregnancy are with OBs. There's so much stuff that can go wrong. The OBs aren't quite as touchy feely but they are much safer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A caution from a medical professional - never confuse personality/bedside manners with medical skills/knowledge. Some of the loveliest, warmest doctors were terrible practitioners, but their patients loved them. One of the finest doctors I ever had the privilege to work with had terrible bedside manners - and the greatest assessment and interventional skills that saved many patients. Patients/family would complain that he didn’t smile enough, or didn’t tell jokes with them. You’re choosing someone to manage your child’s birth - why take a midwife over a trained/licensed physician? Seems foolish to me - this isn’t a cocktail party where you want to have a fun evening. A midwife in a practice with physicians seems fine as there is backup easily available. I’d go with an OB physician every time - I want the best trained, most educated professional who can step up in an emergency.

Yes +1. I had a midwife assisted birth for my first delivery (was planning an unmedicated vaginal birth) and it was a goddamn train wreck. I had unanticipated complications and needed physician collaboration and it was not handled well - there was role confusion, it was unclear who was in charge, they had different ideas about what to do, etc. The midwives I was with thought pushing for hours was totally fine and didn’t feel the need to warn me of the risks of prolonged second stage or pelvic floor injury so my mismanaged birth resulted with me having permanently injured my pelvic floor so badly I would need C-sections for all future births. I remember looking at my newborn’s bruises face from being stuck in the birth canal so long and regretting with every core of my being that I had prioritized my experience and emotional support needs over choosing the most skilled medical provider. It’s something I still regret to this day.

[Anonymous]

I was low-risk, aside from being in my mid-30s, and wanted to minimize unnecessary interventions. I went with a hospital-based midwife practice that was integrated within a larger OB-GYN practice. I ended up having some level of intervention with all three L&Ds (epidurals for two, NICU ped present at delivery for the third), and it was handled seamlessly. I went to an MFM practice for scans; when I developed complications late in my third pregnancy, the midwives transferred me to the OBs as needed.

I was fortunate that I had skilled medical professionals (CNMs) attending my births; included in their medical training is knowing when they needed to transfer care and/or involve a different provider. That also meant they were with me for most of my labors and all of the deliveries, which isn't typically the case when an OB is attending.

21:17 - can you stop patronizing women, please? Your "caution" is pretty thinly disguised.

[Anonymous]

Midwives are not all gloom and doom. Had my 2 kids at home with midwives. I was 34 and 40. No gloom and doom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was low-risk, aside from being in my mid-30s, and wanted to minimize unnecessary interventions. I went with a hospital-based midwife practice that was integrated within a larger OB-GYN practice. I ended up having some level of intervention with all three L&Ds (epidurals for two, NICU ped present at delivery for the third), and it was handled seamlessly. I went to an MFM practice for scans; when I developed complications late in my third pregnancy, the midwives transferred me to the OBs as needed.

I was fortunate that I had skilled medical professionals (CNMs) attending my births; included in their medical training is knowing when they needed to transfer care and/or involve a different provider. That also meant they were with me for most of my labors and all of the deliveries, which isn't typically the case when an OB is attending.

21:17 - can you stop patronizing women, please? Your "caution" is pretty thinly disguised.

+1

I went with a practice much like described above and ended up with a c-section by the OBs. The c-section wasn't because I chose a nice smile over a real medical professional because I'm a dumb laydee. It's because that's the way my birth went, and the trained medical professionals with decent human skills that I chose also had the medical knowledge and skill to handle my care correctly.

[Anonymous]

Echoing some of the sentiment from above. When I went to the doctor, I waited 45-60 minutes for a 5 min appt. It happened twice and then I changed because if you mismanage your practice like that then I cant trust you. I worked as a medical asst for OB/Gyns and once is an emergency, twice is evidence of a problem.

I am not saying that I never waited at the midwives, but I had more than 5 minutes with them to discuss and they were always available. I also never waited more than 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

When the midwife charges less $$, I will consider it.

[Anonymous]

Because I absolutely did not want men involved in my care. I could not find a women-only OB/GYN practice, so i went with midwives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing beats the thrill of not knowing if you'll die from a PPH.

Just kidding. Bleeding out from a PPH is actually quite tiring. And I felt sick to my stomach, too. Or at least I did until I lost consciousness before waking up as a different hospital 24 hours later.

Not PP, but I always tell friends to ask about how the midwife would handle a PPH, and how quickly they can get you someplace they can give you a transfusion. I actually found bleeding out from the PPH to be really relaxing...I was the only one in the room not freaking out! It's now how I hope to go, when my time comes.
I had no warning signs for the PPH, by the way, and was told I had a model vaginal birth when the baby came out! The bleeding started a couple hours later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was low-risk, aside from being in my mid-30s, and wanted to minimize unnecessary interventions. I went with a hospital-based midwife practice that was integrated within a larger OB-GYN practice. I ended up having some level of intervention with all three L&Ds (epidurals for two, NICU ped present at delivery for the third), and it was handled seamlessly. I went to an MFM practice for scans; when I developed complications late in my third pregnancy, the midwives transferred me to the OBs as needed.

I was fortunate that I had skilled medical professionals (CNMs) attending my births; included in their medical training is knowing when they needed to transfer care and/or involve a different provider. That also meant they were with me for most of my labors and all of the deliveries, which isn't typically the case when an OB is attending.

21:17 - can you stop patronizing women, please? Your "caution" is pretty thinly disguised.

+1

I went with a practice much like described above and ended up with a c-section by the OBs. The c-section wasn't because I chose a nice smile over a real medical professional because I'm a dumb laydee. It's because that's the way my birth went, and the trained medical professionals with decent human skills that I chose also had the medical knowledge and skill to handle my care correctly.

DP - there are stupid people everywhere of both sexes. 21:17 is speaking to women because it is women who are choosing who provides their care, not because they think women are dumb.

[Anonymous]

My good friend chose GW midwives for both her pregnancies. I chose an MFM practice that delivers because of my underlying health issues. We’re both happy with our choices. If I was low risk and expecting a routine birth, I may have chosen to go with midwives who deliver in hospitals for the same reason I’d go to a nurse practitioner for a routine medical issue. They have enough knowledge to deal with routine issues and that is their core competency.

I would never chose some of the direct entry midwives discussed in this forum and would never chose a home birth. People do have good outcomes with these choices, obviously, but it is way too risky for my comfort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was low-risk, aside from being in my mid-30s, and wanted to minimize unnecessary interventions. I went with a hospital-based midwife practice that was integrated within a larger OB-GYN practice. I ended up having some level of intervention with all three L&Ds (epidurals for two, NICU ped present at delivery for the third), and it was handled seamlessly. I went to an MFM practice for scans; when I developed complications late in my third pregnancy, the midwives transferred me to the OBs as needed.

I was fortunate that I had skilled medical professionals (CNMs) attending my births; included in their medical training is knowing when they needed to transfer care and/or involve a different provider. That also meant they were with me for most of my labors and all of the deliveries, which isn't typically the case when an OB is attending.

21:17 - can you stop patronizing women, please? Your "caution" is pretty thinly disguised.

+1

I went with a practice much like described above and ended up with a c-section by the OBs. The c-section wasn't because I chose a nice smile over a real medical professional because I'm a dumb laydee. It's because that's the way my birth went, and the trained medical professionals with decent human skills that I chose also had the medical knowledge and skill to handle my care correctly.

DP - there are stupid people everywhere of both sexes. 21:17 is speaking to women because it is women who are choosing who provides their care, not because they think women are dumb.

DP, but come on. That post was dripping with condescension. Do women really need to be reminded about not confusing personality with clinical acumen? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My good friend chose GW midwives for both her pregnancies. I chose an MFM practice that delivers because of my underlying health issues. We’re both happy with our choices. If I was low risk and expecting a routine birth, I may have chosen to go with midwives who deliver in hospitals for the same reason I’d go to a nurse practitioner for a routine medical issue. They have enough knowledge to deal with routine issues and that is their core competency.

I would never chose some of the direct entry midwives discussed in this forum and would never chose a home birth. People do have good outcomes with these choices, obviously, but it is way too risky for my comfort.

Don’t assume all the bad stories are direct entry midwives. Mine was with hospital CNMs.