certified nurse midwife?

[COgirl19]

Can anyone share there experiences? When I had DD I used a standard OB-GYN practice and hated it. They did all sorts of interventions including induction, weekly ultrasounds, ect. for the babies "safety". All of it was unnecessary. I am not ready to go for a homebirth yet (DH won't agree to it anyway) but we are both looking into CNMs. I have a "meet and greet" interveiw with a CNM practice next week and it sounds like it is more like what I am looking for - a more natural hands-off pregnancy with only absolutely necessary interventions. Anyone have positive or negative experiences with certified nurse midwives?

[starkyld]

I adore my CNM, but she does homebirths and this will be my first child, so I don't have a full wealth of experience to impart yet. I do know that I wouldn't trade her for anyone.

[Jenica]

Well I haven't had this baby yet but I started off this pregnancy with an OB and switched to a midwife, the difference is night and day. My OB's office response to any little problem was to prescribe something and if I was lucky the doctor would spend 10 minutes with me at each appointment. My midwife spends an hour with me and she's much more into holistic health rather than treating symptoms with drugs. The intervention rates are totally different too. My midwife practice has episiotomy rates of less than 1% while it's standard practice at the OB's. The same goes for inductions, c-sections and all other interventions.

[Jennifer222]

Birth Center in CO

I'm going to a birth center with all CNMs that I absolutely adore. It looks like you're in Colorado too - if so, check out Mountain Midwifery in Englewood. They have three birthing rooms, plus all the prenatal care and classes are done there, and they're only a couple blocks from a hospital, so if you do need to be transferred for any reason, it's really low-risk. Best of luck!

[npl]

Having had 3 pregnancies followed by OBs, where there was no time to discuss the little stuff, and anything more serious was treated very seriously without explanations, I'm loving seeing my CNM!
We start each appt with a general "how are you" chat, we discuss important choices, and the initial physical wasn't completed till the end of the 3rd visit - first was get to know you, second was taking a history and a bit of the exam, third was the rest of the exam. And I haven't had an internal yet at 25wks!
I'm so much more relaxed this time, because the pregnancy is being treated as a normal healthy part of life, but with encouragement to ask questions and find solutions to problems so I can feel good. And I think that's probably why I'm having an easier pregnancy so far. I feel so much more in control of my health this time around!

[Jelinifer]

We started out this pregnancy seeing a practice of CNMs who deliver in the local hospital... we quickly learned they were pretty much as bad as the OBs we were hoping to avoid.... just with a crunchy natural-looking waiting room We just switched to a CPM-run birth center that so far seems to be completely different

[sostinkinhappy]

I delivered my last one with a CNM and loved the experience. I was GBS+ and so we opted for a hospital birth w/antibiotics (hubby was more comfortable with that as we had some friends who had lost a son about 6 months before to a GBS infection). The CNM was wonderful and very much an advocate for us w/ hospital staff.

I am currently with an Ob/Gyn group right now and feel like I am receiving excellent care, but I think it has more to do with the fact they are all interested/vested in my unusual OB situation rather than being interested in me, per se. I had some surgery done about three years ago and there are no published reports of a woman having a baby after having the surgery. Consequently, all of of the docs in the practice are very interested in seeing how this all turns out and have even joked about writing up a paper about the experience. I told them as long as I get to be one of the authors, I don't mind!

That being said, I do miss the more "connected" feeling I had with my CNM. I felt like she really "got" why I was so adamant about my choices during birthing as she had four children, the last two born at home.

[neonalee]

I saw a CNM for my yearly appointments for years and I thought she was the best. I can only guess that she took notes after an appt and read them before the next cuz a year later she'd always be asking about things in my life from the previous year. I kept seeing her after I moved nearly 2 hours away until I realized if I wanted to get comfortable with someone close for pregnancy I should probably do so! I am now at a CNM practice that is associated with an OB/GYN practice. I won't see the OB unless something bad happens. I can't talk about the final experience yet, but I have good feelings about it so far.

[jillmamma]

I am this time seeing a group practice of CNMs that also practices with OBs. I will be having a hospital delivery, but this practice also came highly recommended by some other MDC moms in FYT. You may want to check in your area there to see who others recommend. So far, I am very impressed with their bedside manner (I have seen 3 out of 4 in the practice for prenatals), and their recommendations and the time they take to listen and answer my concerns and questions. The only issue I have had is sometimes a long wait if other pg mamas before me have had issues. I can let you know in a month how the delivery goes.

[mommysaurus]

I'm currently seeing a group of CNM's. Definitely take the time to get to know you, talk with you and answer any questions you may have. The only reason I'd ever go back to an OB is if it became medically necessary, out of the midwives scope to care for me. Anyway, love my CNM's! They're great!

[rlmueller]

Don't rule out

CPM's as I found out later that the two CPMs I interviewed are nurses--one for 9 years and one for 25 years. They just didn't practice under the CNM umbrella. I'll take a 25 year RN CPM over a 2 year CNM probably any day of the week.

[cc_mama]

CNM's are a great option. I saw them with my dd's pregnancy and one of my homebirth mw's in a CNM.

I would recommend you do your research - the practice I saw with DD were with the OB/GYN practice and although gave the 'hands off' approach speeches were bound by the DR's orders and standards of care and the hospital's also.

Good luck.

[Plummeting]

I loved the CNM who delivered DD five years ago. If I still lived there I'd use her again. She did work under an OB (in his office), but I only had to see him once and I actually liked set up, because it meant that if there was some emergency that cropped up he would already know me and be familiar with the situation. I wouldn't get treated like crap by whatever random doctor was on duty at the hospital at that time. I didn't end up having any emergencies and had a beautiful hospital birth with the CNM.

[newmommy7-08]

I delivered DS w/ a CNM practice 18 months ago and will use the same group for the twins I am now expecting. The experience was AMAZING!!! I had started w/ an OB practice and didn't feel respected in the least so I switched to my midwives and it was a completely different experience. Each appt took as long as I needed it to. I no longer felt like a #. and my fabulous midwife fought her overseeing ob who wanted me to have an epi just in case... I never needed it!

[hapersmion]

CNMs can vary widely - I recommend looking at their birth statistics.

I had a very good experience in my first pregnancy with a group of CNMs at a free-standing birth center, at least as I saw it then. I considered them very nicely hands-off and willing to discuss options with me. (Nowadays they're too interventive for me, but it was a good starting point.) The only problem was that when my son turned out to be breech at the end of pregnancy, they weren't allowed by their insurance rules to attend my birth any more, and had to refer me to an OB who would only consider c-section for breech birth. That left me scrambling at the very end of pregnancy to find a different care provider! Thank goodness for the Farm!

This time around I'm going with a homebirth and CPM, who is much more hands-off and much more willing to let me be in charge of my care. It's funny how different the same set of CNMs can seem now that I've had more experience with pregnancy and birth.

[tngirl11]

I have had both types of deliveries (in the hospital with regular OB/GYNs and in a birthing center with a CNM), and I definitely had a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience at the birthing center. My first delivery was premature twins, so I didn't really have a choice, and fortunately I was still able to have a natural birth, but I really had to fight for it. At the birthing center the midwives are not easily flustered and know just what to do to avoid interventions. I'm sure it does depend on the particular midwives that you're dealing with, but it seems like this is the case more often than not.

[strawberryprincess]

I loved the CNM i had with dd, my first baby. She was fabulous, and amazing, and gentle. I always felt relaxed and totally comfortable with her. After dd was born, she moved away. When I got pregnant with ds, I switched offices to a new practice that was more of the med-wife variety...actually felt like it was a baby factory in that office...get 'em in, spit 'em out. I switched to yet another CNM group at about 25 weeks, and they were much, much better--more natual minded, hands-0ff etc.

This time i am using a hb m/w. loving her so far.

my point is, as others have stated, do your research, have an interview visit, and don't be afraid to transfer if you are feeling uncomfortable. I knew on the first visit at the horrible group that it wasn't a good match, but i went for 2 or 3 more appointments, because i was afraid i was making a harsh or rash decision. I am so thankful that i switched!