OB Or Midwife Whcih Did You Prefer

I had a midwife with my first baby and an ob with the second.

I LOVE my OB. I wanted so badly to enjoy my experience with the midwife, but in the end I chose an OB that was comfortable with a natural birth experience the second time around. The hospital we delivered in has pools, you labor and deliver in the same room, you can walk around, etc. So this might be a question of just finding the right professional and facility.

However. If you've always wanted to give it a try, try it! Be sure to meet the back-up doctor and know the route to the hospital. Personally, I chose to use the birth center instead of a home birth because I wanted the separation and rest that comes with not looking at all your stuff while you labor. I loved running around the birth center butt-naked and dancing my way through the contractions.

When the birth hit some roadblocks, however, I found that my midwife didn't have the technology on hand to determine why we weren't delivering. I ended up having a c-section. There's a part of me that wonders if we'd had that extra technology we might have been able to coax my kiddo out. My midwife didn't want to do any sonograms after we passed our due date so we didn't know that my daughter was in the wrong position for a vaginal delivery and thus missed the opportunity to get her turned in time.

I'm not wanting to talk you out of anything or into anything else. This was my experience. I'm very glad I tried both, even though I ultimately had two c-sections. I still support a woman's choice to have a midwife or an OB. I strongly feel like it's a question more of a professional you connect with and trust than of the letters after the person's name.

Also, my OB was the one that delivered my second baby and I met all of her practice partners in advance in case I went into labor early and she wasn't on call. So just keep looking until you find your magic person!

I had both! Same pregnancy.

Our office was a split team. Half OBs half Cert. Nurse Midwives. Fantastic experience for this high risk mama.

I had two of my kids with a midwife at a Kaiser hospital and I was really pleased! She was motivating and encouraged me to participate in helping to deliver my own baby. I am pregnant now and was seeing a midwife at my new clinic until I found out that legalities will not allow her to deliver at the hospital where I am registered. I switched to the resident OB and I am not nearly as happy with him as I was with her. He is too clinical. The midwife reached me on a personal level, with the OB, I feel like just another patient:(

I had an OB with my first and a Midwife (after researching pregnancy and birthing for 5 years) with my second. I preferred the Midwife hands down!! I attempted a home birth VBAC with #2, my Midwife was a CNM and was able to follow me and take over my care in the hospital, and when a cesarean was deemed necessary due to failure of baby to descend - the turn over to a trusted OB who worked with my Midwifery Birth Center was seamless.

You've had 3 uncomplicated births... I would definitely say you are a great candidate for a Birthing Center or Home birth. Why not try to call some of them and see what they think? If they feel you are too high risk or may have issues, they would not accept you as a patient.

Good luck!!

Fond a practice that has drs. and a midwife. They will work together and you can hope to get the midwife to deliver for you.

Also, see if your hospital has any midwives on staff so you can have her deliver you in a hospital. Perhaps in a tub - that would be awesome.

I did have a midwife who happened to be off while I had my baby but she did the after care for me and was terrific. By far the most gentle of any of the doctors in the practice - and she had so much knowledge.

MIdwives are great. Go ahead and interview one and see if she is right for you. You can call your local ICAN chapter for referrals, too!

My third I had midwife delivery at the hospital. As far as midwife for delivery and general prenatal I loved it. However I wish I would have knwo more of the inportance in having checkups with OB during pregnancy especially if it is and become high risk. I had some major problems post delivery that could "possibly" been avoided if I had been seeing an OB on the side. Which is now a requirement for me if I decide to have another (which we are not). I had three hospital deliveries with no drugs and the last one with a midwife was by far the best experience.

I would never get a midwife & deliver at home. Maybe at a birth center near a hospital. I understand why you would want to and why women do it. Back in the "old days" it was very common. But it was also very common for the mother and/or the child to die in childbirth. I don't understand why you would want to take that risk when it isn't necessary. I had two SUPER easy pregnancies and births, literally delivering within an hour with no pain medication. A friend of mine also had an easy delivery with her first. So, she decided to get a midwife and have her second baby at home. We were pregnant together with due dates just a few days apart. Let me tell you what happened:
I went into labor first. I was at the hospital being monitored due to some early contractions which started 6 weeks before my delivery. For some unknown reason, I had a really long contraction (which deprives the baby of oxygen) and she went into cardiac arrest. I had no idea, but the monitors picked it up, and all the nurses came flying in, injecting me with meds to stop the contractions, putting me on straight oxygen, paging a dr., requesting a room for an emerg C-S, etc. Fortunately, they got it stopped, and she was stabilized, so C-S was canceled. I was monitored closely for the night to make sure she and I were okay. And she was delivered the next morning 3 weeks early with a NICU staff on hand and she was fine. And is totally healthy now. BUT, I am totally convinced that if I had not been there and they had not intervened, she may have died and we would have been devastated.
A few days later, my GF went into labor. She had a very long labor & difficult/painful delivery because the 2nd baby was so much bigger than her 1st (you just never know). They ended up having to call a doctor in the middle of the night to come to the house to tend to her excessive bleeding and pain, to discover she had all these internal tears that needing stitching. She delivered the next two babies at the hospital!
So, just because it goes well once, doesn't guarantee anything.
Just rethink it. And, whatever you choose, I hope it is all you want to be and you have a healthy baby :)

I preferred my midwife over the OBs. That's just me though. Make sure you do all your research on both methods (which it sounds like you have) and that you feel comfortable with your midwife.

When I delivered #3 (surrogacy) at the birthing center, I had met all the midwives there, and knew who was on call every day so I knew who I would be seeing when I went into labor. All of the midwives knew me and my IPs (intended parents) and all were hoping to be the ones to help us deliver. They were a great group of women!

When I got pregnant with #4 (surrogacy) the midwife I had gotten closest to had left the practice and started her own business closer to her home. I called her and asked if she would be interested in helping me with a home birth. She said yes. It was another great delivery. I, too, have issues with bleeding after delivery. This last time was really scary because I was losing a lot of blood. The midwife tried one last thing (gave me 5 minutes to stop bleeding or she was transporting) and it worked. I didn't have to be transported, no transfusion or anything. I did take chlorophyll and Floradix after for several months to get my body back on track.

If I were to ever get pregnant again, I would absolutely have a midwife and not an OB. OBs seem less personable and are all about getting the patient in and out. Midwives sit and chat with you. They ask not only about your body, but your mind, your home life, your eating...everything.

HTH!

ETA: Congrats on the little one!

I had a midwife for both my kids and I can't say enough good things about her. I absolutely adore her. She focused on the woman, and birth as a natural happening in life, not a medical event. She did not believe in induction and was completely supportive of my choice to birth naturally. The midwife I saw throughout my pregnancy was there to deliver both of my kids, even though one was at 2:00am. She actually listened to me, took the time to get to know me and my wishes surrounding how I wanted my births to go. She was AMAZING. I highly highly recommend using a midwife. Oh and also, I delivered at a birthing center that was inside of a hospital, so if anything should have happened any complications or anything, I was right there at the hospital if I had needed it. But the birthing center was awesome, not hospital like at all.