Confused about the midwife's job...

[Youngfrankenstein]

When I've had my babies in the hosp. I had a CNM who was with me thoughout the whole scene.

Now, contemplating the homebirth, I see so many people saying they hired doulas and that the mw didn't get there until "3 mins apart" or whatever.

I feel that I would need a mw's support for active labor. Is the "call when they're 3 mins apart" because that indicates to the mw that this is "the real thing" or because they aren't usually there for the "whole thing". (I use a lot of quotes, don't I!)

I labored at home with my last baby until my water broke and the ctx were on top of each other and I was perfectly happy and managing at that point so I guess if the midwife would have come at that time when I was leaving for the hospital, I would be fine with that.

So did you hire a doula because you needed more help in early labor, is she the one doing the support while the mw is the "medical one".....

Any help or thoughts would be nice.

[MommaSomeday]

I had a homebirth with my first. My midwives typically come whenever you want them to. Since I had 12 days of prodromal labor and was a first timer, they came a couple times to check. When it was finally the time, I asked them to come sooner rather than later so I wouldn't worry (I live about an hour from them). I did not have a doula. They were as present or not as I asked. I wanted to be alone some, and they left me. When I wanted some reassurance and support, they were there when I asked. My midwife had 2 students with her (the birth team we asked for).

I think a lot of it depends on the midwife. As them if they act as labor support as well or if you need someone separate for that. Ask when they will come and when they prefer to be called. And good luck planning you homebirth - such an incredible experience.

[aiyasmama]

It probably depends on the mw...mine comes when I feel I need her, at any point in labor. I also hired a doula because my first birth was a hospital c/s and I had ptsd for a year afterwards so I just want to have lots of support this time and feel that all my bases are covered.

[xixstar]

I agree that it probably depends. I hired a hands off midwife, but maybe she is only hands off when asked to be, I don't know. I wanted a midwife that was invisible and hired a doula to be my labor support person. I read some stories about midwives that offer lots of hands on support, so I'm sure they exisit. But I'd find out in advance what you want and what your midwife offers because I've also met some disappointed women who wanted more from their midwife than they got. Good communiation about both of your expectations is a good idea.

[LiLStar]

Think of the midwife arriving at your house sort of equivalent to you arriving at the hospital. You go to the hospital at the point when you feel like you need to be there.. whichever point in your labor that may be. Same as homebirth. "When contractions are 3 minutes apart" is an easy, concrete guideline that midwives can tell their clients that they should call. But I'm sure if at any point in any stage of labor you really felt like you needed your midwife to be there, that she'd come. If you were pretty early in labor, she may leave then come back later, but she'd discuss that with you before hand and see how you felt about it. Whenever I've called my midwives to say I'm in labor, the answer has always been "I'll be there at___/xx hours..unless you want me to come sooner"

[dziwozony]

i called my MWs when labour began to give them a heads up, then checked in later when contractions were happening about 5 min apart. my first was 8 hours start to finish, so for DS2 the MW wanted to come as soon as i was definitely having contractions since she lived 1 hour away from me & we knew it would be quicker! (and it was, about 4-5 hours).

doula's haven't really made their way into NZ yet, so i didn't have the option of hiring one. but i prefer hands-off midwives that just hang out in the background, so i didn't need a support person that was really involved. i prefer to labour mostly alone, so it depends on what your needs are.

but, they both would jump in during strong contractions to massage my lower back & provide hot rags, bring me warm honey tea, & hold my puke bowl for me! ;-) i really appreciated having them there casually & not just rushing in last minute.