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I chose based on the place I wanted to give birth. There were 3 options in my area: 2 hospitals(one bigger and one smaller) and a midwife birth center. I did research on the places and chose the smaller hospital for more personalized care and better facilities, and that basically sealed the deal for who I saw for care because it was only 1 OB group that delivered there. It is pretty personal based on what you want, and different OB and midwives will have different "philosophies" on birth. It is good to ask questions on what to expect at birth if you have specific desires like the walking epidural etc - some places may be more accommodating than others and some midwives cannot do pain relief like epidurals. The birth center near me was right next to the hospital in case something went wrong, but I still felt better being at the hospital with my first just because it was all so new and I wanted to be there in case anything went wrong. Good luck, and congrats

I chose a midwife team at a birth center. Even though I ended up needing to transfer to the hospital, I would still choose midwives next time.
I never had to wait for my appointments, they spent a full 30-45 minutes talking to me at each appointment, and they stayed with me throughout almost my entire birth process.

I have had both. I had an OB throughout my 1st pregnancy and an OB delivered my first LO. I had an epi and an otherwise complication free birth. Although, there were tons of people in and out of the room the whole time since it was a teaching hospital.

My 2nd LO was born in Austria and the custom here is that a midwife oversees your care and delivers your baby unless there are complications. Since I don't speak the local language and didn't know much about midwives, I found an English speaking OB (who was just wonderful) who provided all my prenatal care and agreed to deliver my baby. Normally he only did high risk deliveries. However, when I finally went into labor (after my water broke and it took several hours for the contractions to start), the whole L&D was literally less than 45 min, so one of the hospital midwives delivered my baby. My OB didn't have enough time to make it to the hospital and walked in 10 minutes after the baby was born. That birth, which was unmedicated since there wasn't enough time, was much more peaceful, it was just DH and I, the midwife and a nurse. She was fantastic at coaching me through the contractions and there were no complications with the birth.

I think there is a general misunderstanding about midwives (and I include myself in this) and what they can and can't do. My experience was extremely positive and I would consider going through just a midwife if we ever had a third child. That said, both of my pregnancies were low risk and deliveries were complication free.

Eta: to give another idea about midwives, in the hospital I delivered in in Austria, I think they always have 5 midwives and 2 OBs in L&D at any given time.

I chose an OB, but admittedly I never really considered a midwife. I knew I wanted an epidural and I felt more comfortable having an OB in the event of an emergency even though I was low-risk. I'm also not sure if insurance would've covered a midwife. It was great and I'd choose an OB again.

I have chosen the same OB both times, just personal preference. I had chosen an OB that turned out to be horrible so I searched everywhere for recommendations and went with the highest recommended, which was an OB. They have added a Midwife to the practice that I have been seeing quite often this second pregnancy since I am high risk and go every 2 weeks. I like her, I can see why they chose her, her demeanor and care is very similar to the OB, but I still prefer the OB. His vast knowledge and information eases my fears, he takes as long as needed to see you, and he has a very very very calm caring demeanor.

I chose an OB because there are no midwives in my area. If I had the choice, I would have chosen a midwife because I'm a more holistic kind of person too and I wasn't high risk.

The first of my closest friend who had a baby had a great experience with a midwife. Since then I had a good impression of midwives and went with one for my son.

It was a great experience. They took as much time as I needed as a first time mom for each appointment. When I told my family doctor that I was going to a midwife, she was very supportive and said that they are very good..

I was able to get to know my midwife well as well as a couple other midwives in the clinic and had great support through prenatal, labour and post natal care. Now that I am on pregnancy #2, I am with midwives again.

My practice has both OBs answer midwives. There is always one of each on duty at the hospital where I delivered. Even if you chose to have a midwife, the OBS would be there for an complications. So I had a midwife for my prenatal care and midwives delivered both my babies. But again, it was in a hospital and there was always an OB around if I needed one!

I had a hospital based CNM. I got the low-key, unmediated birth that I wanted but the OB was around if I had complications.

I'm really happy with my OB who is partnered with a midwife and supports low-to-no intervention births, but is also set to do a c-section, etc., if need be. It's a good balance!