Choosing Your Ideal Home Birth Midwife: Empowering Questions for a Positive Birth Experience
As a dedicated birth photographer serving South Florida, I understand the profound significance of your birth story. Each family I work with holds a special place in my heart, and I'm committed to providing personalized support and guidance throughout your pregnancy and birth journey.
My Commitment to You: Personalized Care and Support
I intentionally limit the number of birth clients I take on each month, ensuring I can dedicate my full attention and energy to each family. My role extends beyond capturing beautiful images; I strive to be a silent, supportive member of your birth team, fostering a safe and empowering environment.
Guiding You Through Informed Choices:
My goal is for every woman to experience a happy, safe, and supported pregnancy and birth. That's why I'm passionate about sharing information and resources that empower you to make informed decisions about your care.
Learning from My Own Journey:
My personal experiences with childbirth, both positive and challenging, have shaped my approach to birth photography. I understand the importance of feeling heard, respected, and empowered during pregnancy and birth.
Choosing the Right Midwife: Key Questions to Ask
When considering a home birth, selecting the right midwife is crucial. Below you’ll find a list of essential questions to ask during your initial consultation with a home birth midwife.
Before you dive in… What is your own personal criteria for choosing a midwife? Begin by reflecting on your values, preferences, and desired birth experience. What qualities and skills are most important to you in a midwife?
This question sets the foundation for your decision-making process. It's crucial to find a midwife whose philosophy and approach align with your own, ensuring you feel comfortable, confident, and supported throughout your journey.
Additional Questions to Ask Your Home Birth Midwife:
(These can also be adapted for hospital-based midwives and OBGYNs)
Question #1
The most important questions, are going to be the Questions to Yourself. Because ultimately, as skilled, recommended and pleasant a midwife might be, they won't be the right midwife for you unless they meet your personal criteria.
As an innately wise woman, you carrying with you the gift of motherly instinct and intuition to guard yourself and your little growing life. I urge you to consider the following:
When you interview a home birth midwife, once the interview is complete, and you return home, allow yourself quiet, down time to reflect on the experience. Allow yourself to process how the meeting went.
How did you feel as the midwife spoke?
How did the things she said make you feel?
Did she let you feel heard and not rushed?
Did her personality help you to feel connected and instantly safe and supported?
Take note of what feelings may rise from your instincts.
Those feelings will always be 100% right.
They will become LOUD during your pregnancy and birth.
There is a difference, of course, between leaving the meeting with a midwife and realizing you have more questions for her, and feel unsettled until you follow up and clear up uncertainties. Not every first meeting will be perfectly complete.
However, if you feel hesitant or unsure regarding your very first meeting, and if any negative feelings are present, as your pregnancy proceeds, take into consideration that those instinctual feelings you had the first time will become louder and more pronounced and ultimately, unavoidable. It is impossible to hush the roar of your maternal instincts without compromising your peace. I speak so profoundly to this matter because I have lived this reality with my own experiences.
Alternately, if during the very first meeting with a midwife you felt connected, safe, supported, and you smiled, perhaps a tear welled up in your eye because you felt like you found 'home' with this person, those feelings will amplify as you get closer to your meeting day with your baby and aid in creating a positive mindset for your labor and birth and boost your self confidence. And in order to have the peaceful, calm birth you desire, you must believe in yourself and feel supported in your decisions.
Here are some additional questions from the Birth Without Fear blog that I felt are very helpful in aiding you to process how you feel after your first meeting with a new midwife:
Would you be friends with this person? Why/Why not?
Does either remind you of your mother? How do you feel about this?
Were you able to ask all the questions you wanted to? Why/Why not?
How did you feel about the birth when talking with them, compared to how you feel about it normally? More or less excited, more or less anxious?
Was the visit enjoyable?
If there were other family members present, what was their experience of the interaction?
The following questions are designed to help you explore various aspects of home birth and midwifery care. Feel free to personalize this list based on your specific birth plan and priorities. Choose the questions that resonate with you and spark your curiosity, as they'll lead to the most insightful conversations during your midwife interviews.
Question #2
Vaginal Checks
How many vaginal checks do you do, during pregnancy, during labor; should I get them, how necessary are they, what are the benefits/downsides and when do I need to have them done?
Question #3
Do you deliver breech? Do you deliver all kinds of breech? Do you have training and experience in this kind of delivery? If not, do you have a midwife you would refer me to if the baby had not turned? Do you have experience with turning babies, not hospital version-style?
Question #4
Medical Situations
What kind of medical situations during pregnancy would require me to be transferred into the care of an OBGYN?
Question #5
Transfers
Under what circumstances would you transfer to the hospital? In the event of a transfer, (whether or not you have any privileges at the medical facility or know the doctor who I was transferred to, ) will you stay with me and support me through my entire birth and for the first couple of hours once the baby is born?
What constitutes a non-emergent transfer vs. emergent transfer? Where do I go in the event of a non-emergent transfer vs. emergent transfer? Who is your back up OBGYN, Who is your back up midwife in the event you have an emergency when I am giving birth? How many weeks ‘overdue’ could I go before you transferred my care to a doctor? How many minimum weeks pregnant must I be to be able to have a home birth (36 weeks? 37 weeks? 38 weeks?)
When can I meet your back up midwife and back up OBGYN?
What is your hospital transfer rate?
Question #6
Under what less than ideal circumstances would you stay at home?
Questions #7
Delivery & Cord Clamping
What are your feelings on the dad catching the baby, or me catching my own baby? Will you deliver the baby, or will you assist me in birthing him/her/them?
What are your feelings about delayed cord clamping?
Question #8
How many births have you attended? (From the mamabirth.com website, "Some mothers prefer a very experienced midwife, some don't. Some want a midwife who can handle anything that goes wrong and recognize it well before it even happens. If one of the midwives is newer, maybe her back up OBGYN is more experienced and she may prefer to transfer you than handle a situation on her own. You may want to know how many births they attended prior to being licensed AND after.")
How long have you been practicing midwifery? Why did you become a midwife? What is your training/education/certification?
Question #9
Do you do the Gestational Diabetes screening? Do you continue to see clients with Gestational Diabetes, or do you refer them to an obstetrics practice?
Question #10
How does it work with my insurance covering your midwifery services, how much do you charge, and by what date would the full amount be due? Do you accept payment plans? What is your refund policy if we decide to switch care providers?
Question #11
What equipment do you bring with you to a birth? Are you legally allowed to carry Pitocin (for rare post-birth hemorrhaging)? Do you? Are you trained in neonatal resuscitation?
Question #12
Are you planning any vacations, trips, major surgeries, or other events 3-4 weeks before my due date, or up to 2 weeks after my due date that would interfere with your attendance at the birth?
Question #13
What kind of postpartum care do you offer? Do you work with post partum doulas?
Do you do placenta encapsulation? Is there an extra charge? Do you facilitate water birth? What methods of pain management do you recommend?
Question #14
My partner has x, y, z fears about home birth. How have you dealt with this in the past?
Question #15
Communication
What is your preferred method of communication, prenatally (phone, email, text)?
Question #16
Have you had any loss (baby or mother)? Why and what happened?
Question #17
If I change my mind about home birth and ASK to be taken to the hospital, how will you respond?
Question #18
Who comes with you to the birth? If that person is another midwife, how experienced is she? If that person is NOT another midwife, what qualifies her as a birth attendant?
Question #19
Can you resuscitate an infant? Are you NRP certified?
Question #20
How bad would a perineum tear need to be for you to feel it required a hospital transfer?
Question #21
What things would make me "high risk" and necessitate transfer of care either during pregnancy or labor? (Again a question from mamabirth.com - "Some midwives are only comfortable with very low risk and very healthy women. Limit how often they see things go wrong and may impact if they will or won't recognize it." "You deserve to know what your midwife is or isn't comfortable with before the eleventh hour.")
Question #22
At what point during my labor will you come to my home? When should I call you?
*** Mention any concerns at this point about a history of labors women in your family have had that may be of importance to you for your birth
Question #23
How does it work if I am GBS positive - how often do you administer antibiotics during labor and do you do specific procedures with the baby after birth
Question #24
What are the pros and cons of vitamin K shot and eye ointment
Question #25
Do I need to order a home birth kit on my own or do you bring it and include it in your fees?
Do you bring an inflatable water birthing tub with you or do I need to privately rent one and purchase a tub liner for it? How easy is it to connect a hose to your sink to fill a tub and are there certain plumbing situations that could prevent that?
Question #26
Do you prefer working with a doula?
Question #27
What is your experience with herbs, homeopathy, and alternative medicine as pregnancy and labor support?
Question #28
Do you offer or suggest taking childbirth preparation courses?
Question #29
Do you routinely check glucose and protein levels via urine samples at visits?
Question #30
If my water breaks before labor (contractions) even begins, how long can I labor at home for before you are required to transfer me to the hospital?
** I personally include this question on this list, because it was one of my biggest concerns that this would happen due to my history of a medical condition I had with both of my pregnancies, and because this question was answered incorrectly by my midwife during my pregnancy and during my labor, because she did not confirm the answer during my pregnancy with her back up OBGYN, and it ultimately affected how and where my child was born and how I perceive my labor experience to this day.
Question #31
What happens in the event of pre-term labor or a medically necessary induction?
Question #32
What do you do in the case of a nuchal cord? Or if the baby changes into a breech position during labor and it is too later to be transferred to the hospital
Question #33
Under what circumstances, if any, do you perform episiotomies?
Question #34
How long will you and/or your support team stay with mom and baby after the birth?
Question #35
How many postpartum visits are offered under your care and on what days do these visits occur?
Question #36
Is breastfeeding support offered?
Additional Bonus Questions for Finding Your Home Birth Midwife:
Prenatal Care:
How often will we have prenatal appointments, and what do they typically involve?
Do you offer any additional prenatal services, such as childbirth education classes or nutritional counseling?
Labor & Delivery:
What are your views on pain management options during labor?
How do you handle unexpected situations or complications during birth?
What is your approach to postpartum hemorrhage prevention and management?
Newborn Care:
What newborn screenings and procedures do you perform after birth?
What are your views on Vitamin K and eye ointment administration?
Do you offer breastfeeding support and guidance?
Logistics & Practicalities:
What is included in your fee, and are there any additional costs I should be aware of?
Do you accept payment plans?
What is your cancellation or refund policy?
What equipment do you bring to the birth?
Personal Connection & Philosophy:
Can you share a bit about your philosophy of care and approach to birth?
How do you foster a sense of trust and empowerment with your clients?
What are your thoughts on the role of the partner and family during the birth?
Remember:
The goal is to find a midwife who aligns with your values and preferences.
Don't hesitate to ask any questions that are important to you, even if they're not on this list.
Trust your instincts and choose a midwife who makes you feel confident, informed, and supported.
Empowering Your Birth Journey:
I encourage every woman to embrace the power of knowledge and informed decision-making. By actively seeking information and asking thoughtful questions, you can create a birth experience that is both beautiful and empowering.
While this list provides a strong foundation, personalized questions tailored to your individual needs and birth plan are crucial. As you interview potential midwives, pay close attention to their responses and how they make you feel. The right midwife will thoughtfully address your questions, demonstrating a genuine interest in your unique needs and preferences.
Remember, trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, explore those feelings and consider other options. On the other hand, if you feel a sense of peace, confidence, and excitement, embrace it! You deserve a birth experience that empowers and honors your intuition.
Ultimately, choosing a midwife is about finding a partner who supports your vision and helps you navigate your journey with confidence.
Empower Yourself: Knowledge is Key
Whether you're opting for a home birth, hospital birth, or birth center birth, information is your greatest ally. Research your options, ask questions, and trust your instincts. You have the power to create a birth experience that is both beautiful and empowering.
Boca Raton & South Florida Birth Photography: Documenting Your Sacred Moments
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