Anyone have a doctor and midwife?

[MSWR0319]

I delivered DS with a midwife. Because of some hemorrhaging I had a week pp, I decided to go to an OB this time at a larger hospital. Well, she ended up not wanting to deliver me at a hospital she said she delivered at, so she transferred me to another doctor, who happens to be the perinatal doctor in her group. I have my first appointment with him on Friday. I'm still struggling with the idea of having no one with me during labor like my midwife was. doula's aren't common here, so I don't think that's an option. BUT the midwife of the group works directly with this doctor, so I am told. I was thinking about asking him if she could be with me during labor and then he comes in to deliver. Has anyone done this or am I just crazy?

[MoJo]

I had a doctor and a midwife. . . but IME the midwife wasn't with me during either labor until the pushing phase, and the doctor wasn't present at either delivery. Each time, my midwife helped me birth my children in the hospital. The doctor was available/consulted/would have helped if there were problems, but he wasn't actually in the room during the births.

I think it never hurts to ask!

[mommylamb]

My practice has a bunch of doctors and a bunch of midwives. It's really too big to be honest, but overall it's a good practice. They always have one doctor and one midwife at the hospital at all times, so you get who you get depending on when you go into labor and whether there are other patients of theirs in labor at the same time. When I delivered DS, the midwife was the one who was with me the whole time. The doctors actually changed shift in the middle (thankfully, as the first doctor was not one I liked), but the second doctor came in and just held one of my legs while the midwife "caught".

[essnce629]

Sounds like you need a doula and you may be surprised that there probably are some in your area.

Try the DONA (Doulas of North America) website to search for doulas in your area. http://dona.org/ You can even search for a doula training workshop in your area and contact the instructor who will have a list of all the new doulas who may work for a lot cheaper as they're trying to get their hours needed for certification. I had one of my friends do this when I wasn't able to attend her birth. Most of the doulas in Los Angeles charge around $1000, but she was able to find two new doulas who had recently gone through the training workshop (and who were also massage therapists) for just $200 and $300. It's definately worth looking into. You can also attend a local La Leche League meeting and ask for any doula recommendations (as lots of those moms are more crunchy and will have had natural births). http://www.llli.org/webus.html

[MommyAllison]

With DS, my midwife was in practice with an OB group, and they all rotated call. My midwife was on call when DS was born, but if I'd gone into labor a few hours later, I would have had one of the OBs. They did not offer to have one for labor, the other for delivery, you just got who was on call. I would look hard for a doula, if possible!

[citymama]

With DD1 I had a midwife-OB practice with 5 midwives and 2 OBs. The midwives attended the births unless there were any complications. There were with me, so I had a midwife and OB present.

With DD2 I was in a practice with 13 OBs and 3 midwives - and one of the midwives was on call the day I went into labor. I also had a doula. So I had a doula and midwife attend the birth.

Of all of them, the most critical were the OB in the first delivery and the doula in the second! I wasn't thrilled with the midwives in either case, truth be told, but I loved my OBs and doula.

[BabyBearsMom]

My practice has 2 OBs and one midwife. I have the midwife's cell # and she met me at the hospital for DD1. I had intended a midwife delivery but DD was in distress so I had an emergency C. My midwife stayed with me the whole time and walked me through everything going on. She was even there when they prepped me for surgery and DH wasn't allowed in. DH says the only way he stayed calm when they wheeled me away was knowing that the midwife was there with me. We are planning to have her do my VBAC this time.

[MSWR0319]

Thanks for all the great advice! I guess I got lucky with my first delivery in which my midwife was with me from when I got to the hospital until I delivered. I did find one doula from that link provded above and will call her in the morning. I'm starting think I just need to realize I'm not going to get the same attention I did the first time.

[Uno-Mom]

I hope the doula works out for you. I was so glad to have one! I was there through several midwife shift changes. The nice thing was that the last one who actually delivered my daughter was the midwife who saw me all through my pregnancy! She came on shift about 15 minutes before Sprog came.

I still see that midwife for my womany appointments. I get to see her again in a couple weeks, in fact. Maybe I'll bring her a Sprog picture...

[DebbieJ]

In IL all midwives must have a back up doc by law. So, yes, I had a doctor and a midwife.