She’s definitely more flippant than the other midwives but she was pretty compassionate when I had my mmc. The other midwives are very nice but maybe I’m just not a warm and fuzzy person.

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.

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.

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?

My midwife ordered both pitocin and an epidural. CNM who was part of a hospital-based midwife practice. In fact, she's the one who recommended we go ahead with the epidural when it looked like my labor was stalling and I was in tremendous amounts of pain from the pitocin.
I made it clear in all of my prenatal appointments that I wanted to try for an unmedicated birth but wasn't firmly set on that. I received absolutely no push-back from any of the midwives I saw.

Same here, my midwives ordered my induction (via cytotec), epidural, and pitocin during my labor.

Personally, I wasn't that set on having a med free birth. I went with midwives because I'd never had a particularly good experience with an OB/GYN and knew that I would want more emotional support from my medical provider during my pregnancy than I thought I'd get from an OB. Right or wrong, midwives have a reputation for being more emotionally supportive to patients than OBs do.

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?

Some people want midwifery care during pregnancy because typically you get longer appointments to talk to your provider. I delivered at GW with midwives and the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me and do paperwork while I was in early labor. I ended up not getting an epi, but it was an option and I was prepared in case it was needed. At the end of my 30+hr labor, my midwife gave the the option of pitocin to hurry things along or an epi so I could rest.

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.

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.

Your post is rife with misinformation, pp. Obstetricians have far more training than midwives. That is a fact. The reason you say midwives have more experience in minimizing interventions is because midwives do not have the full scope of practice that OBs do. They cannot perform operative deliveries or C-sections and anyone needing those has to be transferred to an OB care. Only obstetricians have the full training to handle any and all complications in labor that can arise and frankly, there is a tremendous push right now in both professions to try and minimize interventions during labor and birth.

Also, using the phrase unnecessary when referring to interventions is polarizing. You, and everyone else, have no way of knowing if anyone’s interventions were unnecessary or not because you will never know the outcomes of what someone’s delivery would have been without the intervention they had. So you should really stop using that word. I’m glad you had a positive experience with midwives but if you have read the threads here you will know that while many women have great experiences, many do not. Saying midwives are more aware of pelvic health and mental health concerns is an untrue generalization. You cannot extrapolate that because your experience with specific individual midwives included a sensitivity to those issues, that somehow is how “all” midwives practice that way and OBs do not. Yes, it is a different model of training but to suggest that all midwives have some greater level of caring that he entire field of obstetrics lacks is silly, there are many posters on here who feel that the opposite.

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?

My midwife ordered both pitocin and an epidural. CNM who was part of a hospital-based midwife practice. In fact, she's the one who recommended we go ahead with the epidural when it looked like my labor was stalling and I was in tremendous amounts of pain from the pitocin.
I made it clear in all of my prenatal appointments that I wanted to try for an unmedicated birth but wasn't firmly set on that. I received absolutely no push-back from any of the midwives I saw.

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.

All of the hospital based midwife practices.

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.

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?

I reluctantly had an epidural after my GW Midwives asked me to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, I’ll check them out. I delivered my first at sibley - is WHC fairly similar experience?

WHC and Sibley are very different hospitals serving very different patient populations, from my understanding. They have different level NICUs as well. I have heard positive things about both from friends who delivered at them.

There are many threads from the past several months comparing the L&D and postpartum experience at DC hospitals. You should check them out!

In a nutshell, though, Sibley is where you want to go if you want "posh," a hotel-like atmosphere, to be among people with similar SES, and the nurses to take your baby overnight. WHC is less modern, more diverse in terms of SES/clientele, and where to go if you want the highest level of services (WHC is a Level 1 trauma center and has everything for any potential issue 24/7, has a high-level NICU, and Children's is next door) and want to room in.

Delivered with the WHC Midwives with an epidural. No pushback, no judgment, no problem. Love them!