Reply to Had an epidural with GW midwives, wondering if they will take me back for #2

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm with the GW Midwives (formerly called Wisdom, don't think they're called that anymore). OP, did you go to meet the midwives? I'm surprised that you feel this way, since they talk about the three doors of labor and absolutely believe that epidurals do have a place in extended labors. I don't think that any of them, even the supposedly most dogmatic anti-epi version of them out there, would begrudge you your needed epidural.

To the former L&D person who thinks midwives should not care about whether or not their patients use epidurals, seriously? The point of going with a midwife is you want fewer interventions. An epi is an intervention and some believe (I'm one of them) that they can often lead to further and more invasive epidurals. They also take some of your control away.

I am not anti-OB at all, but with my first I was with a really supportive OB and at the end of the day, he pressured me to flip over and birth in the laid back position, and I tore badly, because he preferred to catch that way - although he told me it was about pushing effectively. There was also an issue where I was ready to push and nobody could come and check me, so I was told I was not allowed to push until someone checked me for dilation, which did not happen for another 25 minutes, which is how long it took my OB to get back to the hospital. This just would not happen with a midwife, where there is a more constant presence. So this is why I prefer to let a midwife handle my normal birth. If it becomes abnormal, then I'll be grateful for the presence and collaboration of an OB team as needed.

Anyway, not to digress too far afield. I cannot see anyone at Wisdom judging you for your first birth. What I think would be good about them is that they will probably be able to help you view your first birth and see what (if anything, because sometimes as they say in their meet the midwives, birth happens through door number 2, where it does not go as expected, and you need some interventions to get through, or door number 3, where you even need a c-section) you can do to help you stay on top of your pain, help you speed up your labor (which usually happens anyway for second time moms) and other things to help you avoid getting to the point where pain and exhaustion make an epidural as necessary as it sounds like your first was. If you go with them hoping for this, I think it is an appropriate match. But if you go into your second birth planning for that epidural, understandable as that might be, given your first experience, then I would say that a midwifery model of care may not be for you. That's a bit different from saying that you'll go into it planning not to beat yourself up if you need one again, but rather, going into it expecting your body to follow the same path may be defeatist.

Either way, good luck. I highly doubt anyone will judge you. I remember when I first started seeing the GW Midwives, their reputation turned me off. But I think that the way they are portrayed on these boards by supposed patients is VERY different from any experience I have ever had with them. [/quote]

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