Midwife groups that support epidurals

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Midwifery Care Associates, if you’re in MD.

+1
Tara in particular is so supportive of individual choice.

As for why go to a midwife if you want an epidural: they still can help minimize unnecessary interventions during L&D and often have a different approach during pregnancy that some women prefer. I am so grateful I was low risk enough for midwives-they were awesome.

They're all great except Kelly who is a horrible person and you could end up with her. I wish she would leave.

Aww I kind of like her.

I'm the PP originally quoted, and am disappointed Kelly is still there. When I had complications during my third pregnancy she was unprofessional bordering on incompetent. I imagine she's fine if you have a complication-free pregnancy and want an unmedicated delivery above all else. But if I were randomly to get pregnant again, I wouldn't see her for appointments and would book an induction with Tara.

And to the PP who said my other post was "rife with misinformation" and lectured me on what I "should" do: you don't actually get to tell me what I should do. The fact is that obstetrics and midwifery have different models of training, care, and scopes of practice. That translates to some generalizations which are, of course, just that. And while it's true that we can't know which interventions were unnecessary, WHO and CDC have also made clear that there are too many interventions in modern obstetrics practice in the U.S. At the same time, we know (thanks to ProPublica and NPR, among others), that women are not well cared for after pregnancy, often to their great detriment. So while midwives aren't the end-all be-all, neither are OBs. No one ever said as much. But for those of us who are low risk, we're allowed to make choices in our providers based on those differences in training and models of care. I don't love every midwife in the world, but I'm also glad I delivered with them. As always, YMMV.

I'm the PP who brought up Kelly and my main beef with her was something that turned out to not be a complication at all but she incorrectly brought it up and then went on to act kind of hysterical about it until another midwife was brought into the fold and basically told her to back down, nothing is wrong. This was not my first and I had been completely free of anxiety until all this drama manufactured by Kelly. She was also rude to me during my first pregnancy and even rude to my older child I brought to one of my appointments (who was doing nothing other than exisiting). Anyway, I've transferred out of the practice twice due to Kelly.

Wow--I'm sorry that happened. She was dismissive of my various complications (horrified that I wanted Zofran, despite this being my third pregnancy with hyperemesis; told me that an induction would take three days with only 50% likelihood of success, even though this was my third child and first two were vaginal deliveries), and also had to be talked down by a different midwife. Ugh. Thankfully she was only there during that third and final pregnancy, so I could avoid her mostly. If she had done that to me with my first, I would have been a basket case. Bev and Tara totally had my back, though, and I am eternally grateful.

[Anonymous]

Loved the WHC midwives. They were supportive of any birth experience you wanted. I went into labor with the intent to do it unmedicated (and prepared, took classes, etc) but ended up begging for an epi after having back labor so bad that I couldn't move. They were totally fine with it after making sure it was what I really wanted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the purpose of having a midwife over an OB if you're planning on having an epidural?

+1 can a midwife even order an epidural or do they need sign off from an OB?

Why does that matter? There are various reasons, as I posted on the first page, why someone might choose a midwife even knowing they wanted an epidural. Midwives have a lot more training typically in minimizing unnecessary interventions, even with epidurals (which I wouldn't consider unnecessary). I delivered all three with midwives, one unmedicated, two with epidurals, and in all three cases appreciated them with with me the entire time I was pushing and as much as possible during labor itself, not to mention the close care I received through pregnancy and after. Midwives are also more sensitive to things like pelvic floor health and mental health than most OBs. It's a different model of training; epidurals are only one small piece of the puzzle.

I delivered with midwives, and my mental health was entirely ignored during pregnancy (I had severe anxiety - probably caused by pregnancy hormones - and I didn't know how to name it, but I brought up my fear every single appointment and NO ONE suggested counseling or meds), and then postpartum I had to literally cry in the waiting room of their office in order to be examined for excruciating pain at 5 MONTHS pp - I had been calling about it and kept getting told that I would heal "eventually" - I didn't, the scar tissue needed to be removed with silver nitrate. Now, later I had an OB tell me that the symptoms I was describing couldn't possibly be happening to me because I was "too young", so there is no perfect model of care. [I was in a different state, but I would never deliver with them again]

Basically, our health system in this country is designed to fail women. And it does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Midwifery Care Associates, if you’re in MD.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the purpose of having a midwife over an OB if you're planning on having an epidural?

+1 can a midwife even order an epidural or do they need sign off from an OB?

The definition of a midwife doesn’t include pain-free delivery. It’s just the care of a pregnant woman and childbirth. Physicians and Midwives is who I delivered with and only saw the midwives. 1- my midwife ordered the epi. 2- It’s in a hospital anyways so there are always on call doctors. Just like if you end up needing a c-section....