My doctor's office is one OBGYN and 2 midwifes. I prefer women and both the midwifes are female. What is the difference between having a midwife or OBGYN deliver your baby?
My doctor's office is one OBGYN and 2 midwifes. I prefer women and both the midwifes are female. What is the difference between having a midwife or OBGYN deliver your baby?
squash / 13199 posts
It really depends. Most of the time midwives are considered to be more in favor of natural birth etc whereas an OB who is an actual doctor might be more cautious and might be more prone to using medical interventions such as labor inducing meds, forceps, surgery etc. I gave birth with an OB and she was great though and very pro-natural birth so again it all depends on the individual doctor
persimmon / 1453 posts
Midwives have a different background and training compared to OBs, and their perspective on birth usually keeps with the mindset that birth is normal, not a medical problem.
I'm planning a homebirth with a group of midwives, so obviously, they aren't going to be pushing interventions unless they're actually needed. My understanding of midwives who work in hospitals is that they can be a really supportive coach for you and mediate with the rest of the medical staff to ensure your birth plan is protected.
kiwi / 678 posts
In my state, an OB is a medical doctor and a surgeon (can perform c-sections) while our midwives are Certified Nurse Midwives which means they are LPNs or RNs additionally trained in midwifery (prenatal/postnatal care and labor and delivery.) Depending on their level of education, they can perform different medical interventions.
In practices with both midwives and OBs, the OB will generally be a back-up for the midwife in case you require any medical intervention the midwife is not able to perform. But, if you have a complication free vaginal birth, the midwife will act much as an OB would. Generally midwives provide more birthing support during labor. My experience with an OB was that he pretty much showed up to catch the baby at the end of birth and to give me stitches. I will have a midwife experience soon, so I can't comment on how that goes yet.
kiwi / 553 posts
A midwife's perspective on pregnancy and birth tends to be that it is a natural, normal life process while much of the medical community views it as a disease process. That's not to say that midwives are against medical intervention if it's necessary or that OBs are against natural, minimal intervention births.
I'm a little biased because I want to be a midwife when I grow up (ha) and I'm planning on having a twin birth with my midwives as long as it is still medically safe and possible.
The midwives that I'm familiar with in NJ are masters-trained Certified Nurse Midwives. This means that as a CNM, they received their bachelor's degrees in nursing (BSN) and then continued on to graduate school to become a CNM. They are much more educated than the RN/LPN midwives that PP mentioned (for example, my midwives can suture if I tear). My midwives can not perform a c-section and will have an OB on call should I need one.
My midwives are also not against interventions. I will require an epidural as a twin mama, because if things go south quickly, they want to have the anesthesia in place so they can just crank it up and do the c-section. The epidural is also a great thing to have if the second baby turns after the delivery of the first baby and they need to be manually turned (read: hand/arm up the hoo-ha to grab the baby and turn him). I don't want to feel that!
Additionally, my midwife group only practices in the hospital, not in the home. They are MUCH more than labor coaches - they deliver the babies themselves!
My experiences with them thusfar have been wonderful, but I can't attest to what a birthing experience with them will be like. I hope it's awesome!
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
If you decide on a midwife,, make sure you check that they're allowed to deliver at your hospital (if you're planning on delivering at a hospital). We see a midwife for all of our prenatal care, but because hospital policy says she's not allowed to actually deliver our baby.
We really love the practice, her, and the care we've gotten so far during our pregnancy, and it's worth it to us to get 9 months of care from someone we know and like, even though it means she won't be able to actually deliver our baby. And we figured the L&D nurses at the hospital do the bulk of the work anyway, and ideally, the OB on call will just "catch". If there are complications that lead to a c-section, our midwife wouldn't be able to perform that surgery anyway.
If it's important to you to have the person you see throughout your pregnancy actually deliver your baby, make sure to call and check that she'll be able to do so at your hospital.
pomegranate / 3350 posts
At my practice the midwives (CNM's) and OB's work together so you see both of them throughout the pregnancy and then you get to decide who you want to deliver, assuming you have a low-risk pregnancy. I honestly haven't noticed a huge difference, probably because the practice in general takes on a more holistic approach, but it seems that the OB's may be slightly more likely to order additional tests and look for potential problems.
As far as delivery, I've heard that if you are using a midwife and she is available, she will spend more time during labor with you compared to the OB mostly just comes in to catch the baby (obviously an exaggeration). In any case though, if there are complications and intervention is needed, the OB should always be available because midwives are not surgeons or doctors.
My experience is only based on CNM's that are only allowed to deliver in hospitals in Massachusetts. I do not know anything about the midwives that attend home births.
grapefruit / 4079 posts
Thank you so much for all of your input! Here on our side of Cleveland there is only one hospital that has a prenatal NICU and that is Fairview. Almost everyone says go to Fairview. The midwife I will be meeting with Monday can not go to Fairview, she can only do Southwest. I've never heard anything bad about Southwest but I assumed I'd deliever at Fairview. The OB at the office can deliever at Fairview. Maybe one the time comes for us again we will take your approach @FutureMrsmck.
I guess when we are pregnant again (assuming it "sticks") we will take hopsital tours and figure it out.
Thank you for responding, you guys cleared up the confusion well!
pomegranate / 3225 posts
I chose a midwife. She has a MSN with a midwife certification. I plan on having as natural a birth as possible, so why would I need a OBGYN except for an emergency (she will call them as a backup). I love that I know who will be delivering my baby, as compared to the OB's that are on a rotating schedule. I also like that you can call or text her 24/7 and she responds immediately.
There is a lot of misconceptions about midwives... I was telling my dad who has a medical background about it and he started to panic thinking I was doing a home birth.. SIGH.
grapefruit / 4703 posts
I just made an appointment with a new practice (new to me, that is) which has one OB and 3 CNMs - I'm not pregnant yet, but they said that the CNMs can do all of the routine GYN care, as well as help me with all my questions about TTC, and the OB will be there if I there's a problem.
I'm actually really excited about it - my last OB/GYN has been feeling like a baby factory lately... like they don't care about you, and they're just trying to get as many people in and out as fast as possible.
Plus my OB/GYN at the old practice now says she specializes in Botox in-office... ummm what? I hope I have better luck with the CNM/OB duo - I am expecting them to be more compassionate at least.
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