The first search for a doctor
We live in a fairly small town, so the number of obstetricians available to me is small. As most women probably do, I started the search out by asking the women I knew who delivered their babies. Unfortunately, all the doctors that were recommended had already stopped delivering babies. So I continued my search through the doctors available through my insurance company, this is how I choose my first doctor. She was really great with my throughout the pregnancy, although she didn’t deliver my first daughter.
Baby number 2
When I got pregnant with my second there was no reason to look around for another doctor. Three weeks before my son was due, my doctor took a leave of absence. The week before her leave of absence began she moved her clients and their charts to another doctors office. When I went into my second appointment at the new office, the other doctor walked in and informed me that I could either move back to the previous office or stay with her. With three weeks I decided there was no real point in moving back to the office, besides the new doctor already had my chart. She also turned out to be great.
Baby number three
Along comes baby number three, and so what is my natural instinct, that’s right stay right where I am. This time I was not at all happy with my doctor. She very rarely spent any time with me during an appointment and listened to the babies heart beat for all of three seconds every time I saw her. I didn’t change offices but I did stop seeing her for my appointments. I scheduled every appointment with the midwife in her office and she was awesome!
Baby number four
When we found out that we were expecting baby number four I had no idea what I was going to do about a doctor. I knew that I wouldn’t go to the doctor I had with my first and most of my second because she left me right before my second was born. I also knew that I would not go back to the doctor that delivered baby number three because she no longer treated me like a person. So I was back to square one, talking with family and friends about their experiences with their doctors. I decided that the only doctor left was a male doctor, an option I really had hoped not to have to pick.
Other options
That is when I started seriously talking with my husband about the option of having a midwife deliver this baby. When I was pregnant with my first, I really would have loved to have a midwife and have the baby at home. I was convinced that there were way too many unknowns for me to use a midwife, plus my insurance wouldn’t cover it. This time around, my insurance did cover a midwife and home delivery, it was like a dream come true. The only problem is I didn’t think I knew anyone that had used a midwife, but I was wrong.
First meeting
I set up an appointment to meet with our midwife for the first time and my husband had 20 questions for her. He has always been very concerned about mine and the babies safety during delivery. I have told him over and over again that a midwife wouldn’t put me or the baby in jeopardy and if there was any reason to believe that we needed to be transported to a hospital, we would be. I also tried to remind him that I was born at home, five weeks early & never had a need to go to the hospital. The midwife was great with all of his questions, she answered every single one and really put him at ease. When we walked out, he was ready to let my dream become a reality.
I am going to have my last baby at home, a dream come true!!
Photo by: Shira Golding on Flickr