Midwives vs. Doctors

girlalmighty08

Curious to know what people have done in the past or are planning to do when it comes to choosing a practitioner.

I live in a fairly small community, and when it comes to pregnancy we have two options: the Maternity clinic at the hospital which rotates about 8 Family Doctors (meaning you never know which one you'll be with for each visit/the birth), and the Midwifery clinic where you get a team of 2 Midwives who rotate to support you through each visit/the birth.

If/when I am successful in getting a baby on board, I'll be a first time mama-to-be so I'm a little nervous about making these kinds of decisions. Would love to hear some thoughts/experiences about going either way.

SheilAnneSmith

I'm using an OBGYN office that has 3 doctors--I don't really like the concept, I liked the first doctor I saw. You have to see them all at least once so you've met them. I've had 1 appointment with the female doctor, 2 with the other male doctor and the rest with the doctor I prefer. My husband hasn't been to many appointments with me, but he has met them all as well. So, I've done the bare minimum to "meet" the other doctors.

I'm really hesitant to end up with one of the other doctors as I move to weekly appointments. I don't typically don't do appointments in the town 8 miles away-but I may just to ensure some consistency at the end. I am worried about one doctor being perfectly fine to keep me trucking along as I am, then seeing another one who decides that despite very good diet control on gestational diabetes that they want to schedule an induction when that hasn't been even discussed as a worry to this point.

As far as if the doctor I prefer is the one to show up and catch at the end of labor, I guess I don't really care. At that point, I expect most of them are going to react to each situation in similar ways and that the majority of decisions are going to be dependent on the hospital staff that I've never met before either versus a doctor I may or may not know very well. I plan on asking my doctor when they typically decide to show up during the progress of labor is on my list for my appointment tomorrow.

Alioth

I went team midwife. It was a less expensive option. But also, I'm considered low risk, and therefore an OBGYN is overkill for me. Also, the birth center is very private and laid back, with a homey atmosphere. They do waterbirth there and allow you to eat during labor. They have comfy suites to stay in, instead of a hospital room. The ladies who work there I've liked. Although there are 3-4 midwives, I mainly see the head midwife. But if one of the other gals ended up delivering, I doubt I will care very much.

OBGYNs are great for high risk pregnancies where there is a possibility of a c-section or early induction, in my opinion. My friend Amanda who got pregnant around the same time as me, loves her OBGYN. She is very worried about complications during delivery because of her family history. She feels more secure knowing that the doctor she sees can speedily get baby out in an emergency. She likes having all the extra tests and scans updating her on baby's progress, and telling her everything is going smoothly. She also has great health insurance which pays a larger percentage of her care.

I'm the opposite. I hate being poked and prodded and fussed over. I didn't want male docs for this pregnancy, and I don't like clinical atmosphere or having to sit in a waiting room. I like the privacy of a smaller, more intimate care team. I feel confident this pregnancy is gonna continue going smoothly, and labor and delivery won't be a big problem for me. I still had all the basic tests and bloodwork, and am getting a high level of care, with tons of support. And my insurance pays for a lot less, because of a high deductible, so this route is more affordable.

But both midwives and OBs are great. It just depends on what you want.

VeryKatie

I loved my midwives. That being said, there are a lot more than 8 doctors I could have ended up with if I'd gone that route. I think there are pros and cons. Keep in mind I'm in Canada. So things might be different. Like a dr basically will not do an episiotomy unless the baby is stuck, things like that.

A midwife will allow you to birth many places, such as hospital (my choice), home, birth center, and you can choose water births, etc. But if you end up having a belly birth (a new term I heard for C-section, which I like), they can't do it. The main reason I chose a hospital birth is because they only allow you to stay in the birth centre 6 hours after the birth, where as you can stay 24 in a hospital. Good thing, cuz Keith wouldn't eat since he couldn't clear his mucus.

Plus, while you are allowed to request pain medication, they try to convince you out of it lol. The checkups are longer though, they really allow more time to ask all your questions (appts are 60 mins regularly). They also don't do any internal exams unless you want them to, where as a dr might start recommending them weeks leading up to the birth. I personally wanted to avoid those as much as possible. In fact, the first time my midwife saw my vag was when I was in labour and she was checking if I was dialated enough to go to the hospital. For me, this was the way to go because I wasn't worried about giving birth (other than tearing), I was more worried about being pregnant. Plus some midwives will come to you. My midwives work in a pod of 3, but you have a "main" midwife who will come unless she is helping someone else give birth. Then you would get one of the other two, whom you've had appts with.

Drs have their positive points too. They can take care of you even if your pregnancy is more complicated. Midwifes often have to consult and you end up having to go see various people for different thing. Ex. if you get gestational diabetes the midwife might either have to team up with or pass you onto an OBGYN/other specialist. Drs can deal with the numerous things that could happen medically where as the scope of practice for a midwife is limited only to low risk pregnancy things (though they can still write prescriptions for somethings and deal with some complications, just not the biggies).

In general, at least where I live, I don't know anyone who has had a bad experience with the medical practitioner either way (obviously the births may have gone smooth/bumpy but that's not controllable. All you can do is deal with how it's going). The pregnancy is long enough that you can switch to someone else if for some reason you don't like the first person you go to. I personally think it was nice having someone there with me who I knew, but I don't know if it's the biggest deal. When you're in the throws of labour, you just want it to be over and anyone helping you is good help. It is key that the person is good at helping you stay calm though. It hurts so much more if you panic.