Midwives or Doctors?

It's funny how people react when they hear the word midwife. Before I started working in prenatal, I also had the same reaction. What exactly does a midwife do? How qualified are they to be delivering babies? Are they like nurses? I started working with midwives a little over 2 years ago and I truly believe in their quality of care. Yeah, they are kinda touchy-feely (no pun intended), but they are so passionate about pregnancy and childbirth. That is their focus. They don't work on anybody else, but pregnant women. I believe they are more than just qualified.

So naturally, I chose to see a midwife for my pregnancy. What's interesting is that because I have this funky-shaped uterus, I get so many different opinions. At one point, the 1st doctor I saw said that she was going to treat me like a regular patient. I wasn't high-risk in her eyes. Great! I switch to the midwife and she also states that she will not be treating me as a high-risk patient, but for precautionary measures, she asked me if I wanted to consult another dr. I said yes and this dr. who had never seen me or spoken with me, said I needed ultrasounds every 2 weeks from 12-28 weeks. That's 10 intra-vaginal ultrasounds! I could tell that the midwife wasn't too happy about it and I certainly wasn't either. She suggested I speak with a dr. from the same medical group to see if I could advocate for myself.

My husband and I felt that if "it wasn't broken, why try to fix it?" I wasn't cramping or bleeding and felt great. Why mess with it? So, I went to "advocate" for myself.

The dr. (a different one) I met with was awesome. Very smart, direct, and sat with me for 45 min explaining why it wouldn't make sense for me to have all these ultrasounds. She said that because I have a bicornuate uterus, doesn't mean that I have an incompentent one. She asked for me to come back at 30 weeks, and then we could see how the baby and I were progressing. I was so glad to hear it, and also glad that I had taken the time to see if the ultrasounds were at all necessary. It would've been a waste of time and money.

Today, I'm 19 weeks and 1 day. Yesterday, another midwife said to me that I should get an ultrasound (because of my condition) sooner than later (my 20 week survey is scheduled for next week) because it will show how much space the baby actually has to grow. I set one up for yesterday, went to the appointment, and the radiologist stated that it wasn't necessary at this point. That I should just wait until next week. (I almost peed on myself because I had to have a full-bladder - all of this for nothin'!) I said fine, let me pee and I left.

Now see, I would've liked an ultrasound at that point because the midwife had given me something to think about. She was being thorough and I liked that. But the different opinions is what gets me. I've learned that the best way to handle things is to go with your gut. If it feels good, then it is good. Always get second or third opinions too. You have nothing to lose. I was ok with yesterday's outcome - I figured I've done well for 19 weeks, I'm not going to worry about it now.

So, bottom line. See a midwife if know you aren't a high-risk patient. If you become one, the midwife will tell you, and they'll transfer you to a competent dr for the rest of your care. Midwives are all different too. Some act like mothers, some like doctors, but all in all they'll take care of you. If you don't jive with one, switch to another. Just like you would do with a doctor.