OB vs. Midwife

[MrsHudson]

So I know some of the differences between them but I'm trying to decide what's best for me.

Can you guys help me decide by saying what made you decide whatever you did?

 

[Scout]

I had an OB and loved him! Why? He was an older man who working in his own office with just him, his nurse and a few office staff, so i got to know them all really well and they were all sweet. I had had 3 losses and I'm a much older first time mom and he knew I was anxious, so he scanned me every week until I decided I felt okay enough to be scanned less frequently. He let me decide that. I could call him anytime and he would call me back the same day (only called him twice). He was very personable and was never rushed. We discussed everything, even baby names. He had pictures of babies in every treatment room....I mean lots of pics, and when I had my lo he asked me to bring in a pic for his wall when I came for my 6 week checkup. He let me make decisions regarding birth.

I think it mostly came down to how he made me feel. He was always nice and gave me the time I wanted and always answered any of my questions. He was experienced and loved babies (it was obvious).

Having said all that, I know probably most OB's aren't like that, especially if they are in a group practice. In a group practice you wouldn't even know who was going to be on call to deliver.

good luck

 

[Gwen77]

I went with a midwife when I had my son, and with this pregnancy I'm going with them again. They are wonderful! I saw my midwife every month for the first and second trimesters. Then in the third trimester I saw her every two weeks, then every week leading up to my due date. On the day my son was born, she was right there beside me (in fact, she made it to the hospital before I did!).

The reason why we went with a midwife was because they are guaranteed to be there with you when you give birth. My SIL had an OB throughout her pregnancy, and even the OB said that she may not be at the birth. When she finally had her baby, there were at least 6 or 7 different OB's in and out of her birthing room for two days, asking her the same questions. Her original OB was never there.

A midwife is more personal. You get to know them over the course of your pregnancy and develop a relationship with them. By then end of my pregnancy I was so comfortable with my midwife and knew that I could rely on her to be there when I gave birth.

 

[MrsHudson]

Thanks Gwen that's really helpful and sort of what I'm looking for.

Scout that sounds awesome. The office I go to is a group practice and so far I've only really seen the NP's for my check ups and an OB once when I had a cyst. She seemed like she was too busy for me so I was put off by that. I had a lot of questions because I knew we'd be TTC soon. The office has 3 midwives as well so I just wondered if I should go with one of them. They scheduled my first appt next week and I'm not sure who I will see but I'm going to ask about a midwife.

 

[bebedreamr]

I went with a midwife when I had my son, and with this pregnancy I'm going with them again. They are wonderful! I saw my midwife every month for the first and second trimesters. Then in the third trimester I saw her every two weeks, then every week leading up to my due date. On the day my son was born, she was right there beside me (in fact, she made it to the hospital before I did!).

The reason why we went with a midwife was because they are guaranteed to be there with you when you give birth. My SIL had an OB throughout her pregnancy, and even the OB said that she may not be at the birth. When she finally had her baby, there were at least 6 or 7 different OB's in and out of her birthing room for two days, asking her the same questions. Her original OB was never there.

A midwife is more personal. You get to know them over the course of your pregnancy and develop a relationship with them. By then end of my pregnancy I was so comfortable with my midwife and knew that I could rely on her to be there when I gave birth.

This exactly- even if your midwife can't make it to your birth, your secondary midwife will help deliver and you will have already developed a relationship with her.

I find OB's to be great for crisis situations, but a midwife provides a continuity of care. And not to mention how relaxing it is to know the same care provider will be with you the whole time. No nurses and doctors running in and out of your room. You can deliver where you like. You can have medicated and non-medicated births. Its like an OB and Doula all in one

 

[MrsHudson]

I went with a midwife when I had my son, and with this pregnancy I'm going with them again. They are wonderful! I saw my midwife every month for the first and second trimesters. Then in the third trimester I saw her every two weeks, then every week leading up to my due date. On the day my son was born, she was right there beside me (in fact, she made it to the hospital before I did!).

The reason why we went with a midwife was because they are guaranteed to be there with you when you give birth. My SIL had an OB throughout her pregnancy, and even the OB said that she may not be at the birth. When she finally had her baby, there were at least 6 or 7 different OB's in and out of her birthing room for two days, asking her the same questions. Her original OB was never there.

A midwife is more personal. You get to know them over the course of your pregnancy and develop a relationship with them. By then end of my pregnancy I was so comfortable with my midwife and knew that I could rely on her to be there when I gave birth.

This exactly- even if your midwife can't make it to your birth, your secondary midwife will help deliver and you will have already developed a relationship with her.

I find OB's to be great for crisis situations, but a midwife provides a continuity of care. And not to mention how relaxing it is to know the same care provider will be with you the whole time. No nurses and doctors running in and out of your room. You can deliver where you like. You can have medicated and non-medicated births. Its like an OB and Doula all in one

That's very comforting. I know I'll be absolutely freaked out so I want to be in the hands of someone I know. We've discussed me giving birth at home but I think I would still choose a hospital. Not sure which one yet. We moved in to a new area so I'm not familiar with their hospitals.

 

[bebedreamr]

I went with a midwife when I had my son, and with this pregnancy I'm going with them again. They are wonderful! I saw my midwife every month for the first and second trimesters. Then in the third trimester I saw her every two weeks, then every week leading up to my due date. On the day my son was born, she was right there beside me (in fact, she made it to the hospital before I did!).

The reason why we went with a midwife was because they are guaranteed to be there with you when you give birth. My SIL had an OB throughout her pregnancy, and even the OB said that she may not be at the birth. When she finally had her baby, there were at least 6 or 7 different OB's in and out of her birthing room for two days, asking her the same questions. Her original OB was never there.

A midwife is more personal. You get to know them over the course of your pregnancy and develop a relationship with them. By then end of my pregnancy I was so comfortable with my midwife and knew that I could rely on her to be there when I gave birth.

This exactly- even if your midwife can't make it to your birth, your secondary midwife will help deliver and you will have already developed a relationship with her.

I find OB's to be great for crisis situations, but a midwife provides a continuity of care. And not to mention how relaxing it is to know the same care provider will be with you the whole time. No nurses and doctors running in and out of your room. You can deliver where you like. You can have medicated and non-medicated births. Its like an OB and Doula all in one

That's very comforting. I know I'll be absolutely freaked out so I want to be in the hands of someone I know. We've discussed me giving birth at home but I think I would still choose a hospital. Not sure which one yet. We moved in to a new area so I'm not familiar with their hospitals.

No harm in calling the midwives and asking what their process is, etc! It might help with your decision

 

[zorak]

I went with an OB last time and will this time too. I am with Kaiser in SoCal and they are known to have the lowest c-section rates in the county. My OBGYN is lovely as is all the nurses in her practice. She is level headed and was open to me going 14 days overdue as long as I had non-stress tests. (I only ended up going 3 days over). I knew in advance that it'd be whoever was on call in the hospital that delivered the baby but I was comfortable with that.

We ended up having a fantastic certified nurse midwife who stayed with us for my whole labour. I ended up with a c-section but I feel that they truly tried everything to get me my vaginal birth and I know when the call was finally made that I wanted a c-section too because I knew baby was stuck.

My OB came and saw me as soon as she was on-shift, to see how we'd got on.

I honestly can't praise that hospital enough.