Just curious to see what experiences the hive has had with either an OB/GYN or Midwife and why they chose to go that route.
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High risk here, both by age and pre-existing condition... but even if everything was perfect I probably would have gone OB. It would be nice to have the person I picked be the one to cut me open rather than someone else if I needed a section.
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Covered by my insurance and more comfortable going through the regular medical community for my first pregnancy since I'm so unfamiliar with the process. For future pregnancies, I'd be interested in using a midwife/birthing center.
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OB. I just felt more comfortable that way, plus I have been going to the same OBGYN since I was 19 and I love her.
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Just a personal preference for an OBGYN, I like that she is a certified medical professional and around my location a couple midwives have gotten a bad reputation so that made my decision easier.
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Started with an OB (who was great) but switched to a midwives' practice. I wanted a natural birth, I also received more personal attention and they cared/asked about my mental and emotional health as well.
ETA: My midwives were completely covered by my insurance and had hospital privileges at the transfer hospital.
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After a lot of research, I have grown more comfortable with the midwife experience. Where I live the midwives are 100% a part of the medical community and have all the hospital privileges and abilities to prescribe medications etc. as OBs and are completely certified. They are in high demand and I was very excited to find out they would take me on!
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@mrsjazz: Yeah, I have to say I'm definitely not getting a whole lot of that with my current OB. He's a nice guy, but he's very efficient and wants to get the job done, so-to-speak.
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OB/GYN- because I like the "all in one" experience and didn't want to have to establish a relationship with someone new when I found out I was pregnant.
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OB...however, I would be open to checking out a midwife for our next baby, just to see if I felt there was a major difference.
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Midwife. I wanted a med-free, vaginal birth and I thought a midwife would be the best supporter for that. My hospital had both OBs and Midwives. The majority of my appointments were done in a group setting with other women due in the same month. I absolutely loved it! If we needed a private appointment, we got that too. I ended up with a csection but my midwife was able to assist. She was the one to pull baby out.
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I'm expecting my first baby at the end of this year and we are planning a homebirth with midwives.
So far the experience has been great! The relationship with the midwives is much better than any I've had in the medical community. They always set aside at least an hour to talk with me for every visit, and as a result the care is much more complete.
I chose midwives for all the usual reasons: better care and support, knowing the people who will be at my birth, and facilitating a normal healthy delivery without interventions.
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I actually picked my OB practice years ago because I knew they worked closely with midwives. Then right when I got pregnant, the midwives left and started their own practice that wasn't covered by my insurance.
I do like my OB, though.
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I want a low intervention birth if possible, and was lucky enough to have the option of a midwife group that delivers at the local hospital. They attend something like 30% of the births there, but have OB backup if needed. Their c-section rate is around 12% compared to the 30% of the hospital in general, and they have been very laid back about the pregnancy in general and supportive of my desire to have as few interventions as necessary. Additionally they are there providing a lot of support during labor vs. just showing up to catch the baby, which has happened to a lot of my friends who used OBs. I don't think DH would have been on board with a home birth, so I'm glad we have this happy medium.
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I would pick both- I had an OB with my last and midwife with my current pregnancy. I prefer my midwife, because my OB was a HUGE jerk. (I had to use him because he was the only OB within an hour and a half of where I lived at the time.)
I do think there are probably OBs that are awesome, though. I just went with a midwife this time because it was convenient with my insurance and their location. They deliver at a hospital, though, so I'm curious to see whether my actual labor and delivery is much different than my last one was.
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@jessiejo17: Midwives are also certified medical professionals...?
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I knew I wanted a medicated hospital birth so an OB seemed the obvious choice.
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The practice I chose is a combination with OB/midwife. I'm not sure how that works exactly, but from my research of others who use this practice, you essentially work with them all throughout your pregnancy -- two OBs, two midwifes, one ARNP -- and you can choose to be delivered by just the midwife. I do want the drugs, however, and to give birth at a hospital birthing center, so I'll request the OB.
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@hilsy85: Exactly the same as me. I wanted to go to a birthing center for this pregnancy, but since it's our first, hubs was more comfortable with us going the "standard" route (OB, in a hospital).
If all goes well, I hope to try a midwife/birthing center for LO #2.
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I plan to go to a midwives practice that delivers babies at a local, well regarded hospital. As soon as we move, I want to start seeing one of the midwives for well woman care.
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I am thrilled with my experience with my OB. He was very supportive of my attempt to go natural and wanted to avoid a c-section if at all possible. I really credit him for keeping me out of the operating room.
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@Arden: Sorry I should have stated a Doctor vs a CNM or direct lay midwife. The fact that an OBGYN has a doctorate helps calm my nerves. And I also wanted to delivery in a hospital with the option of a medicated birth.
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@jessiejo17: No problem. I totally understand wanting to deliver in a hospital if you want the option of a medicated birth.
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@Jumpingjacks: I agree with what you said!
@purrpletulips: My midwives do wellness care for women as well! I didn't know about that aspect until I started looking for one prior to pregnancy, and I switched right then!
@daniellemybelle: My midwives ONLY deliver at the local hospital (which as a superb NICU)... although there are other midwives in the area that do homebirths.
@jessiejo17: I can understand where you're coming from with wanting an OBGYN. Just as another point of view, my midwife group only works in the hospital and will encourage a medicated birth, if that's what you want.
I am considered "high risk" because I am a twin mama, but I am still planning to deliver with my midwives in our local hospital unless any complications arise. They are not against medicated births, and are encouraging one for me, in fact - in case the need for a c-section arises.
I chose a midwife group because midwives tend to view pregnancy as a natural life process, as many OBs view it as a disease process that needs to be handled. My midwives are well trained, I will be in a hospital setting and monitored, and there is a collaborating OBGYN at the ready if there are any issues.
I *might* be a little biased because I want to be a midwife (CNM) when I grow up!
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I had a midwife and I'm sooo happy I did. Well, technically I got the best of both worlds because I developed pre-eclampsia my last couple weeks and ended up having to transfer care to a hospital. But all my prenatal-postnatal care was with my midwives.
I loved the hands-on, personal care. My midwife was all about information - she never told me I needed to take a test, she wanted me to educate myself on each and every little thing and make decisions about my care for myself - I loved that! I learned soo much.
I loved the birthing suites at the birth center- they were glorious and each had beautiful birthing tubs that were huge.
I WILL go back to them for my next child.anyhow, I did get transferred to a hospital, accompanied by my midwife (she was able to stay for the birth) and it wasn't too bad. My midwife has a partnership with the doctors there and they have a good working relationship. They treated me great and totally respected my birth plan.
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@Shimmer: My cousin in law is a CNM. She loves her job!
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We are still unsure. I do like to hear that some of you had experiences where you used a midwife but still had the option of medicated birth. The hospital/birthing center we are looking at has both OB's and Midwives so we are still weighing out our options. I guess I just need to do a little more research.
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I had an ob with DS and still regret not changing practitioners.
With DD I went with an experienced CMP because I wanted every opportunity to let my body do what it is designed to do... something I wouldn't have gotten had I gone with an ob.
My appts were always very personable and as long as I needed them to be so I never had to be worried about being rushed and forgetting a question or feeling like I was going to be pressured into something I wasn't well informed in or didn't want.
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we're going with an OB now, but i'm very interested in a midwife practice. we may have a move coming up, so i'm going to stay with my OB until further notice. i'm only 7 weeks so i have some time!
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Homebirth midwives are technically not legal where I'm living now, or else it would've been a homebirth. Instead, going through an OB with a doula.
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I started out with a big certified nurse midwife/OB/GYN group in Chicago, and then we moved I was able to be squeezed into a practice of two CNMS, a few OB/GYNs and an NP. I only every met with midwives so I can't compare to regular OBs, but I did always love my appointments with them and their commitment to my medication free birth. I do think that if I had gone with an OB who wasn't committed to med-free, there would have been pressure to have a c-section because I took so long to push LO out! My midwife was patient and knew I could do it.
We will see what happens with the next pregnancy. My insurance no longer covers that midwife practice. There is an outstanding birth center 40 minutes away, but I'm not sure I want to risk driving that far in the winter (if my due date were in the winter).
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I had the same OB for #1 as I do for #2, he's great and I trust him 100%...but he is a little stern and impersonal so I did think about a midwife for this second baby but honestly, I don't care about feeling special during my pregnancy--I just want my little one's out safe!!
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I go to an OB
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I love my OB/GYN. We have a great relationship and I can't have imagined anyone other than her delivering my baby. She is brilliant. I have absolutely zero interest in natural birth, so I knew a midwife wasn't for me. My sister saw just midwives and they had her hold out on getting her epi for as long as possible. She thoroughly disliked that. I would absolutely hate that too. I want my drugs ASAP.
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Midwives are the standard here - you only get an OB if you're high risk or have complications (unless you opt to go private which is costly and unnecessary), and I have to say I prefer it that way. Most midwife led births occur in hospitals with access to all modern amenities and pain relief options - which I fully plan on taking advantage of!
The main difference I've found between midwives here and OBs in the States is that pregnancy is treated as a normal occurrence here and not a medical condition that requires 'treatment' or 'management'. Antenatal care is very hands off unless medical need necessitates it (i.e. no internal checks, only 1 ultrasound unless you opt in for further screening, inductions only after 11 days past due unless medically required before then etc) and the whole process has a very nurturing and supportive aspect to it as opposed to a clinical feel.
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I saw a midwife until 36 weeks when they moved me to high-risk status. I LOVED her. She was very laid back. She didn't harass me about my weight. She was always wiling to take the time to answer all my question without me feeling like she was rushing me out.
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I didn't have an OB/GYN before I got pregnant, just went to see my gp for my routine items. I knew I wanted an OB from the start, though. I'm pretty afraid of everything having to do with labor and pain and shots and worry a lot so, an OB, delivering at a hospital was the way to go for me.
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For delivery, I had midwives, which are standard where I live. I was in the care of my OB up until 38 weeks, then he "released me" to the hospital, where the midwives took over. I had two midwives with me for the entire delivery time and the OB came in at the end, once the baby was born.
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There are no midwives in my small town.
I would have loved to work with one who does it at the hospital though.
But in the end everything went great without any midwife and I feel like the nurses helped me with everything I worried I wouldn't get from my OB. My hospital team was so great.
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OB. She has been my gyn for years and I trust her completely. I also am more comfortable knowing should anything go wrong at any point in the pregnancy, I have the full hands-on, immediate support of a network of doctors and nurses, many who have years of education beyond medical school. Both my OB and the delivering hospital are big supporters of unmedicated births and advocate strongly for the patient and what the patient wants.
I do like my OB, though.
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