Resolve a debate... - Page 2

[wbg]

Congrats on your beautiful birth. I just wanted to say that I can relate to your debate.

I agree with most PPs in that I think that no discount is necessary. Your MW did all her pre and post natal care and arranged adequate coverage due to the unfortunate situation of both her and her back up being unavailable.

I think it is fair to discuss your concerns and disappointments so that in the future, she might address the issue of over lapping births with her clients in an appropriate manner. My MW was also vague with me and although she was at my birth, in retrospect I spent a lot of time stressing that she would not make it. Her back ups did not live any where near me and she did not even say whether they would attend. I certainly did not meet them. In retrospect, I feel that I should have been a little more proactive and advocated mt needs a little clearer. Ah, the benefit of hindsight!

As to your DP, I think it is a little male-mentality! My DP is usually very chilled and relaxed and yet he felt that our MW dropped the ball with quite a few aspects of my labor and postpartum care. While I agree that she did, I also feel that she delivered the basic level of care necessary and that she helped my baby and I stay safe. So he would have happily asked for a discount. I would not hear of it. At the end of the day, I paid her for her time, her on call time etc. So this might just be one of those, youre a boy and I am a girl and you rock, but she is still getting paid moments !

All that aside, I hope you are enjoying your precious little one. And you should be proud!

[dancindoula]

It sounds like the backup-to-the-backup got there pretty darn fast (got out of bed early in the morning and ran over to your house). You didn't mention, but I bet she didn't just turn around and walk out again either when she heard you'd already had the baby, did she? So, she stayed and provided early postpartum care for probably several hours. She provided valuable support to you when she could have just said "not my client, not my problem." I'm imagining she doesn't generally volunteer her time - she very likely has a fee system set up with the other midwives. Your regular midwife also came over as soon as she could, after having been up who-knows-how-long attending another birth. They both deserve to be fully compensated for it. And, I agree with the pp who mentioned having a very long labor - she wouldn't have charged you more for a 50-hour labor, so why should she and the other attending birth professional be compensated less because she only had 50 minutes notice.

One other thought to consider: if you had been planning a hospital birth you would have already paid your OB up front. Even if you didn't make it to the hospital in time, turned around and went home, and saved yourself the hospital fee, do you think your husband would also be demanding a refund from the doctor? Do you think he would get it?

[nashvillemidwife]

Originally Posted by dancindoula

One other thought to consider: if you had been planning a hospital birth you would have already paid your OB up front. Even if you didn't make it to the hospital in time, turned around and went home, and saved yourself the hospital fee, do you think your husband would also be demanding a refund from the doctor? Do you think he would get it?

Actually, yes, in that case the doctor should give you a refund. He didn't do what you paid him for. That's an entirely different set of responsibilities that you've paid the doctor for. Bad argument.