These are some questions/concerns I'm having about my current doctor and I'm hoping all the experiences moms/pregnant women can help me out.
1. Which is better: a doctor or a midwife?
I've heard a midwife can do everything a doctor can do except C-Sections and that they have at a minimum a Master's degree, plus the additional schooling they need to become a midwife. So experience/knowledge is not my concern here. What I'm most curious about is that I've also heard that midwives offer a more holistic approach than doctors. Is this true? I do want to get from point A (being pregnant) to Point B (having a baby) as quickly, efficiently, and as safely as possible. However, I want to know all my options without having to do all the research on my own. I've heard that midwives are more forthcoming with all the information, whereas doctors assume if you don't ask, you either already know or are not interested.
2. Is it better to have a group of doctors (when I say doctors I'm using that term loosely and mean doctors/midwives/nurse practitioners and any other people who will be viewing my Va-jay-jay at this point in time) or an office that uses a handful of doctors?
Right now, I'm going to a practice that has a group of doctors. In the office I will be visiting, there are 2 doctors and 1 midwife. However, within the entire practice there are 10 doctors and 2 midwives. I may or may not see all the doctors before delivery. However, come delivery time, my doctor will be whoever is on call even if I've never met him/her previously. I can see how this is beneficial. If I only had 1 or 2 doctors and both are on vacation, I'm stuck with a doctor I've never heard of, nor do I know what type of practice he/she is in. Also, with 10 doctors, there is a wealth of information if there are any problems throughout my pregnancy.
My concern though is while I realize labor and delivery can be unpredictable, there are still guidelines that I would like to adhere to as closely as possible. With 10 doctors, I feel as if I'm going to have to conduct an interview at each appointment. Then come delivery, if its a doctor I've never met, I have to make sure he/she is fully aware of my birth plan and my concerns. I realize this is the same concern I had when discussing the other side of the coin, but I feel that when using 10 doctors this is a problem that has a greater chance of occurring.
I'm going to my first appointment at the group practice and I'm going to discuss these concerns with them then. Maybe they'll be able to put my fears at ease. Or maybe they'll recommend a smaller practice.
In the meantime, any opinions?
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4 comments:
I've done it both ways: With my first baby I had the "15 doctors at one clinic" scenario, with my second I had a midwife. Or rather, a group of 3 midwives, all of whom I got to know before I had my baby, even though I had one in particular that was technically "my" midwife and I saw her more regularly than the others.
Everyone's preference and experience is different, but personally I liked having a midwife so much better!! They seem to listen to you more and really work with you as a partner to give you the birth experience you want. With the doctors in the clinic I always felt like the next number on the chart- get her in and out as quickly as possible...They were "all business" if you know what I mean, and they never remembered me when I waked in. Not that I hardly ever saw the same doctor to begin with...When I actually went into labor it was all business too, I never even saw the doctor until the very end (after 36 1/2 hours of labor) and then it was very technical and sterile and "institutional". I hated it. Honestly, seeing as I was having my first baby, it was sort of scary. But that was just how it went for me. It might not be that way everywhere.
With my second son, I loved that my midwife was able to stay with me through my entire labor if I wanted her to. She wasn't just there for medical intervention, she was there for me emotionally too, as a labor coach and a friend. She got me water if I needed it, walked the hospital with me, Rubbed my back, helped me labor in different positions...It was an entirely different experience for me the second time. And the best part was she handed my son right to me the second he was born. With the doctors they didn't even allow me to see my baby before the whisked him off the check his O2 levels two years before :(
I think you can have the best of both worlds- if you use a midwife and still give birth in a hospital you have a more calm, personalized experience while every medical option is still available to you if you need it (epidural, C-section, intervention for baby if necessary, etc...)
That's just my opinion :) Good luck making a decision!
Well, for me, I chose the doctor route and am happy with the choice. In the naval hospital, if you picked the midwives, you ended up with the 10 dr. scenerio you described. I had a good friend who did choose this path and really, really hated it, so I avoided it. My first experience was fantastic. I had a female doctor that I really got along with, and when she wasn't available to see (she was a resident, so this happened several times during the pregnancy), I saw another doctor I really liked. I had to be induced early because of complications, and she scheduled it for a night both she and the other doctor would be on the floor. I had a labor nurse I loved for most of the labor (he took forever coming out, so she finally went home, lol), and I left very satisfied with the experience.
I had a dr. the second time around, and even thought he wasn't there for the delivery, he came to see me afterward. It was a MUCH faster, easier delivery the second time around, too. Both times I asked for the baby after he was born and they did that for me before cleaning him up.
My take? It's not so much about whether a midwife is better or not, it's whether you have a doctoror midwife, preferably only one or two, that you really get along with and feel comfortably talking about things with. I'd say this is even more important because it's your first baby and you are bound to have a million questions about the process. Educating people in the delivery room isn't so bad because, to be honest, most birth plans fall apart quickly, especially if your labor isn't progressing the way it should. I found it was more important to have a good nurse than it was to have my doctor there, but that's just me!
With my first I had a doc and saw a midwife occasionally and she gave me lots of 'hints' the doc didn't. Like how to work out the muscle aches. Positions to sit in, work in and have sex in... It was really personal...
With my second, I knew I was most likely going to have a c section again. But I chose to have a midwife and only consult with a doc after my nauseousness (?sp) wouldn't go away. I happened to see a midwife and she gave me a couple of hints and it was amazing how much better I felt and all the doc wanted to do was give me meds... So if you could see a midwife that is consulting and overseen by a doc that is the best of both worlds. The midwife would spend all the time we needed at my appointments and the doc would just come in the last couple of minutes to check on things. Loved it!!!
Val
I went to a practice. There were a bunch of doctors but I always tried to schedule my appts with the same doctor if I could.
I had a scheduled c-section and I only met that doctor once, before I was in the operating room. That's because I scheduled my appt with her so I could meet the lady who was going to cut me open.
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