Photograph by Jenni King www.birthandlaborcoach.com
Finding The Right Midwife
It’s like shopping for a new car, only different. It’s the person who will walk with you along the journey of pregnancy and then to doorway of birth. When you are visiting with midwives to see who you like, your intuition is going to tell you who will work best with you. Give your intuition a head start by asking some of the questions here.
22 Questions to ask your Florida midwife
- How many deliveries have you attended?
- What’s the difference between home birth and birth center birth?
- How will you help me cope with the discomfort of labor?
- How many people can be with me when I give birth?
- Do you offer or recommend any pregnancy or childbirth education classes?
- Who will be at my birth?
- What are your transport and cesarean rate?
- Do you have a back up physician?
- What if I go into labor too early?
- What if I haven’t had my baby by my due date?
- What happens if something goes wrong during my labor and I have to go to the hospital?
- If I have to go to the hospital in labor will you stay with me?
- How long have you been licensed as a midwife in Florida?
- How do I find a pediatrician who will support my decision to have a home birth?
- What is the difference between a midwife and a doula?
- What if my baby is born with the cord around his neck?
- Can my partner assist in catching the baby?
- Do I need a doula if I’m using a midwife?
- If my husband is going to be with me in labor why do I need a doula?
- Is water birth safe?
- Can I take photographs and video during the birth?
- Will my health insurance cover a home birth? Medicaid?
Your midwife can be a relationship you will have for the rest of your life if you’d like, and they tend to have all sorts of resources to help you with all sorts of parenting decisions. Finding the right one can bring a quality and value into your life that you won’t be able to imagine living without. Here’s to loving the midwives!
-MAF
