OB vs Midwife Decision

If you remember from my last post we were struggling with the pros and cons of an OB delivery in the hospital vs a midwife delivery in our local birth center. Both seemed to have their fair share of positives and negatives. Here are the lists I was able to come up with for both:


First for the Hospital's list:

Many Cons, not a good deal of Pros. For the BC list:

What do we see here? (Besides a hormonal pregnant woman trying to rationalize what society makes seem wrong) We see MANY more pros than cons. I knew when I walked in to the Birth Center today and they told me to "empty your bladder for comfort" instead of "provide a urine specimen" that I was sold. Not only was I spared having to piss in a cup for once, but I was handed my own medical folder and a pen and told to weight MYSELF, with no one else around. They trusted that I knew how to get on a scale and read numbers and to be honest as I wrote it down on my chart. In my own hand-writing with MY own terms. Then, get this! I was even trusted to take my own blood pressure (GASP!) and record that for them too. My folder's content wasn't a secret from me. In fact, it was written by me. All of the content had been written on my chart by me. They treated me like a grown woman who knew how to handle simple tasks and I was thrilled. 


Look at me, gushing about this place and we hadn't even been taken back by the midwife yet. You know how in the OB/GYN office you sort of just "pick" a doctor. You see that doctor every single visit and maybe even develop a relationship with him/her. You go through your pregnancy thinking how wonderful it will be to have doctor so-and-so deliver your child because he/she knows you and is willing to stick to your birth plan. Then, you go into labor and your doctor isn't on call. You end up meeting a stranger for the 2 hours or so that you push, and then they disappear. Never to be heard from again. In the Birth Center we're using, you see a different midwife each week. This way by the time you give birth you know each Midwife, no matter which one is on call at the time, and no one is uncomfortable with each other. 


Naturally, Nick and I went into this appointment not knowing what to expect and had lots of questions. We saw Jessica for this appointment and her answers to our questions made us feel so much better. It was also comforting to us that our hour and a half long appointment wasn't rushed and that most of our appointments would take about that long, if not longer. Midwifery is more than just childbirth. It's about mentally and physically training yourself to get there. Call them therapy sessions if you will.


Baby's heartbeat today was at a strong 160 bpm, up from the 150's on Monday. But my blood pressure and pulse were also up from 98/44 on Monday to 129/64 today. Probably just nervous/excited.