Midwife thank you gifts?

[usagi]

Hello,

A question for the midwives here.

Is it traditional for the client to give some sort of gift of gratitude? I do not mean a monetary gift as that seems very impersonal and weird. Have you received gifts of thanks from clients after the birth?

We live very remotely and our midwife drives over an hour each way each time she comes to see us... which will include the 5 day postnatal check ups. I want to show some sort of thanks but do not know what would be considered appropriate.

Thank you

[Jane]

Mostly no, I don't get gifts from a majority of clients.
I do really like if people keep in touch - christmas cards, facebook, things like that.
I keep a scrapbook of cards that I get - they mean a lot to me.

I've also much appreciated cookies, starbucks, warm socks, birth pictures.

If you really want to give her something special because of the drive, what about a gas card?

[cileag]

I gave my 2 midwives and aprentice midwife each a card, birth photos, and a gift card to a local cafe.

[ScarletBegonias]

not a mw yet.......

but for our wonderful mw we had with dd, we did give her $200 cash (so glad we did, she was still fighting to get paid from insurance almost 2 years later!); a *gorgeous* hand carved wood statue from africa (fair-trade) about 15" tall that was a woman supporting a woman in birth, with the mama holding her baby; a hand-dyed silk hankerchief and a $25 gift certificate to the local organic new orleans-cuisine cafe.

sounds like overkill maybe, but i thoroughly enjoyed selecting gifts, i felt that a monetary gift was not impersonal based on our relationship, and dh and i also felt that she was so incredibly wonderful and beautiful as our midwife that we wanted to give her gifts. we only wished we had had more cash to give her.

she also had a super awesome tiny little office with birth art on the walls and birth statues and things everywhere that clients had given her over the years. i wanted her to look at the statue we gave her and remember how awesome the first homebirth she ever attended was (she was a hosp mw that had started a hb practice and we were her first clients).

[MonkeyPrincess]

Pictures and birth storybooks are my favorites!

[Tizzy]

I gave our midwife a card with a photo (she jokes that she won't sign any client off until she has a nice picture of the baby) and I did up a small gift basket with local cheeses, apple cider, some home preserves etc.

[Contented73]

I am a doula, so not exactly the same, but I love any gift. Cash is awesome. Gift cards are great. Mugs, socks, wine, whiskey, birth art. All good. Honestly, your midwife will appreciate any gesture that shows your gratitude. I agree that a gas gift card could be nice in this case.

[Awaken]

subbing, since I just asked this question in my DDC. What to get midwives who've been doing this for years and have probably already gotten every type of gift imaginable?

I like the idea of local foods...I think that's what I did for my previous midwife. And it's what I personally like to get as a gift.

[Sweetiemommy]

I have made my midwives jewelry (a website called The Attachment Catalog has some cool birth related jewelry and books). I have given children's books to her office for the waiting room, I have made cookies or food gifts that I know she likes. You could also ask someone else in the office if there is something that she would like. I know someone who gave their midwife an old fashioned fetal scope that traditional midwives used/use to listen to the heartbeat, it was a wooden tube with flared ends to listen to the baby. I have also seen websites (similar to Heifer International) that donate birth supplies or training to midwives in developing nations, you could give that as a gift in her name. Practical things like a subscription to Midwifery Today or to Mothering or Compleat Mother for the office, something for the office (they have all sorts of cool stuff in medical supply catalogs) might be nice, depending on how much you want to spend.

[Tulafina]

I loved picking gifts out for my MW's. I'm a pretty crafty person so I made my main mw an afgan in the colours of her office and also gave her a silver necklace in the shape of a woman's pregnant body.
I gave a different necklace to her apprentice.

http://www.labelledame.com/pregnancy-jewelry.html

I'm not sure what I will do this time....still thinking....I like the gift basket idea.

[momtofourinhawaii]

I've gotten lots of interesting things. I love photos of the family with the new baby or a card the best. I have gotten:

red envelopes of coins (from Chinese moms for good luck)
bottles of tequila (from my Mexican moms)
home baked cakes (yeah!)
jewelry-especially all midwives I know love earrings for some reason including me!
art (also awesome)
a pie
a pair of Sketchers clogs (this was a strange but appreciated one as they happened to be in my size)
a 'placenta print'-my husband was not a huge fan of that hanging in our house to be honest

[BrooklynDoula]

When I had a homebirth, I gave our midwife (Marcy Tardio, she is amazing), two cutting boards. We had cutting boards from a loacl artist in the town my mom lived in and Marcy had mentioned that she liked them when she was here months before the birth. We got my mom to buy some for her and gave them to her at the 6 week visit with a card expressing our thanks. She still has them and usues them in the kitchen, which I love seeing when I am over visiting.

As a doula (different, I know), I have gotten a variety of gifts and loved them all. Cards or emails of thanks, pictures of the babies as they grow, books, gift cards, money, wool socks, wooden bowl, and other lovely things have all been gifted to me. I am sure your midwife will appreciate whatever you give her and really treasure the thought behind the present.

[ANaturalPush]

Midwifery/Doula Gifts:

I didn't think that anyone had posted this link - but http://www.moonovermaize.com/ has some really gorgeous jewelry for all sorts of pregnancy, midwifery, doula occasions - it's really unique.

[NashvilleAwesome]

Gift Baskets

I think a small gift is great if that's on your heart! People in healthcare live for those special personal moments. I think a great idea is a cute gift basket. Something they can use, but won't be clutter forever. I found some cute ones here: Corporate Gift Baskets

Hope that helps!
-Casey