Why I Chose a Certified Nurse Midwife

It seems like when you're pregnant everyone wants to know who your OB is. When I respond with, "I actually don't go to an OB, I go to a group of Nurse Midwives," I get a varied range of responses- some positive, some negative- but all asking me why. I usually give some in-a-nutshell answer about how they are supportive of natural birth and I like their philosophy on pregnancy. But when it comes down to it, I put a lot of thought into this decision. I'm not against OB's at all. I may not be an L&D nurse, but I saw some OB's do some pretty amazing things during my clinicals. So I hope this doesn't come across as me being anti-OB, because I'm not. They're just not for me.

I've researched this a lot. And I studied it extensively in an elective Advanced Reproduction class I had a few years ago. But in an effort not to be too horribly wordy, I won't give you the whole back story to how I came to my decision. Just the whys of my decision.

1. OB's approach pregnancy as a condition, or a disease process, and labor and delivery as an emergency that should be controlled. Midwives approach pregnancy as a natural process, as do they labor and delivery. They are there to keep me and my baby safe, and to help ME deliver my baby. I once heard a midwife say she doesn't deliver babies, mothers deliver babies. She's there to catch them. Oh how I love that!

2. I'm an RN. I know there are some truly amazing nurses who have fantastic clinical skills, wonderful bedside skills, and are very good at what they do. I also know there are some nurses who are lazy, who make some pretty bad calls, or are maybe just a little inexperienced. When you deliver in a hospital, you don't exactly get to choose who is on shift that day. And when you deliver with an OB, you'll be spending a WHOLE lot more time with your nurse than you will with your doctor. Which can be fine if your nurse is awesome. But what if you have the inexperienced nurse? Or the lazy nurse? Or the nurse who makes bad calls? And she's the one deciding whether or not to call the doctor to tell them somethings not going right with your labor. No thank you. Midwives don't just stay at the office seeing other patients while you're dilating and contracting away in the hospital. They're there with you. And I feel so much safer knowing that.

3. I really want to deliver this baby naturally. I know I can do it, I'm just going to need to prepare myself, and I'm going to need support. One of my midwives already talked to me about how if I choose to deliver this baby without drugs, they will be there supporting me 100%. But if I change my mind and want an epidural, they'll support me completely in that as well. It's my decision.

4. I use to see an OB. I saw an OB through most of our "trying to have a baby" years. Every appointment was the same. Me bringing in my ovulation charts which showed a whole lot of nothing, them telling me my charts were useless but to keep doing them because they needed them for documentation purposes, and then ultimately them suggesting the same blood test to see if I ovulated, which I never did. They never suggested anything after that. Just more of the same. And they never, ever listened to me. When I'd finally had enough, I changed to midwives. Roberta diagnosed me with PCOS at our first visit and started treating it that day. She never made me do another single ovulation chart because they really were useless, and why on earth would she make me do something useless? :) Midwives actually LISTEN to me! I love it!

5. This one is for my dad, because I know he's concerned about my not having a "doctor." Because the midwife will be there with me the whole time, she'll catch anything that's going wrong sooner than the nurse who is in and out checking on me will. If it's something she can take care of, she will. If it's not, she'll call one of the OB's at the office and they'll come in and do it. For example, if I need a C-Section, one of the OB's at the same office where I see the midwives will do the C-Section, with my midwife assisting. Even if I end up going to surgery, she stays with me. Love that! And when it comes right down to it, the nurse midwives I've chosen have been educated in some of the very best schools in the country, and just as (if not more) importantly, have a lot of experience.

Anyway, I have a lot of reasons for why I chose Nurse Midwives for me and our baby. Those are just the biggies :) I hope I didn't bore or offend anyone! And believe it or not, I really did try not to be too wordy. haha