Would You See This Midwife Again?

[mama2myangels07]

My daughter was born this past October. I went to a normal midwife appointment and my BP was 160 over something. Very high for me. I mentioned it to the midwife and to quote her 'I'm not impressed'. I ended up going to the hospital the next night and was induced because of preeclampsia. I'm pregnant again and due in October again! This midwife is the closest to me and the only one for that hospital that is close to me. There are a bunch of other midwives that deliver at the same hospital too, but for prenatals that last 10-15 minutes, I'd be driving anywhere from 30-45 minutes vs 20-25 max.

[MeepyCat]

That's a huge and valid concern that she dismissed. I wouldn't go back.

[mama2myangels07]

Originally Posted by MeepyCat

That's a huge and valid concern that she dismissed. I wouldn't go back.

That's what I'm worried about cause she NEVER once mentioned any symptoms that could pop up and earlier in the pregnancy I did have the 'black spots that don't go away wherever you look' a couple of times, but since it went away fairly quickly I brushed it off.

[rparker]

I would not go back.

[fairydoula]

Originally Posted by mama2myangels07

My daughter was born this past October. I went to a normal midwife appointment and my BP was 160 over something. Very high for me. I mentioned it to the midwife and to quote her 'I'm not impressed'. I ended up going to the hospital the next night and was induced because of preeclampsia. I'm pregnant again and due in October again! This midwife is the closest to me and the only one for that hospital that is close to me. There are a bunch of other midwives that deliver at the same hospital too, but for prenatals that last 10-15 minutes, I'd be driving anywhere from 30-45 minutes vs 20-25 max.

the "something" matters. What was the diastolic number? Severe hypertension is 170/110, with some practitioners beginning agressive treatment at 160/110.
How many times or for how long did you have a high reading? Was it only once? was it over several weeks? Did the midwife measure your BP only one time during that visit?
Perhaps you had "white coat" syndrome, meaning your BP was abnormally high for just a short period of time.
Normally, a careful midwife would check a second time with a reading that high at one visit. I certainly would. First sitting up, then lying on your left side later, after a chance to relax and see if there were differences.
You don't mention any other symptoms of preE, did you have swelling, did you have vision problems that you mentioned to your midwife?
Just trying to suss out what, exactly, information the midwife had to work with.
What symptoms caused you to go to the hospital the next night? Is it possible that it was simply easier for them to induce you and "get it over with" on a suspicion of pre-e rather than you actually having it?
I've had clients as a doula who were bullied into an induction because they "might have" pre-e and after hearing all the horror stories about what "might" happen, they opted to "get it over with" as well, which was sad to see, when they didn't, IMO have pre-e.
- Jen
Can't say if I'd go back or not, based on the limited info you gave.

[mama2myangels07]

Originally Posted by fairydoula

the "something" matters. What was the diastolic number? Severe hypertension is 170/110, with some practitioners beginning agressive treatment at 160/110.
How many times or for how long did you have a high reading? Was it only once? was it over several weeks? Did the midwife measure your BP only one time during that visit?
Perhaps you had "white coat" syndrome, meaning your BP was abnormally high for just a short period of time.
Normally, a careful midwife would check a second time with a reading that high at one visit. I certainly would. First sitting up, then lying on your left side later, after a chance to relax and see if there were differences.
You don't mention any other symptoms of preE, did you have swelling, did you have vision problems that you mentioned to your midwife?
Just trying to suss out what, exactly, information the midwife had to work with.
- Jen
Can't say if I'd go back or not, based on the limited info you gave.

I don't remember the bottom number. But that was the very first high reading at all. I did have the 'black spot that won't go away' twice earlier in the pregnancy but it went away within a few minutes so I brushed it off. My BP was only taken that one time during that appointment. They rarely checked for protein in urine, IIRC they checked 3-4 times. They did check during that appointment but never said anything about it to me. When I went to the hospital my BP was up there and they found protein in the urine.

[kavamamakava]

Originally Posted by mama2myangels07

My daughter was born this past October. I went to a normal midwife appointment and my BP was 160 over something. Very high for me. I mentioned it to the midwife and to quote her 'I'm not impressed'. I ended up going to the hospital the next night and was induced because of preeclampsia. I'm pregnant again and due in October again! This midwife is the closest to me and the only one for that hospital that is close to me. There are a bunch of other midwives that deliver at the same hospital too, but for prenatals that last 10-15 minutes, I'd be driving anywhere from 30-45 minutes vs 20-25 max.

It doesn't sound super concerning to me. Pre-eclampsia is a collection of symptoms that might lead one to believe a pregnant woman is at risk for developing eclampsia. So if you had a symptom or two of pre-eclampsia but not the collection of symptoms then I guess you could call it pre-pre-eclampsia. But I'm not you and if you're not comfortable with that care, don't go back. I like the more laid back care providers for my own care. Was there a reason you didn't feel comfortable calling this midwife when you decided to head to the hospital for your induction?
Sometimes with the way your eyeballs relax in pregnancy you can see dark floaters here and there and then they go away. That's not the same thing as seeing persistent black spots. But it sounds like you want more involved care from your midwife and not the really laid back type of care. It's all about finding a care provider that you are most comfortable with and trust so that you can have the environment that YOU need for your birth.

[mama2myangels07]

Originally Posted by kavamamakava

It doesn't sound super concerning to me. Pre-eclampsia is a collection of symptoms that might lead one to believe a pregnant woman is at risk for developing eclampsia. So if you had a symptom or two of pre-eclampsia but not the collection of symptoms then I guess you could call it pre-pre-eclampsia. But I'm not you and if you're not comfortable with that care, don't go back. I like the more laid back care providers for my own care. Was there a reason you didn't feel comfortable calling this midwife when you decided to head to the hospital for your induction?
Sometimes with the way your eyeballs relax in pregnancy you can see dark floaters here and there and then they go away. That's not the same thing as seeing persistent black spots. But it sounds like you want more involved care from your midwife and not the really laid back type of care. It's all about finding a care provider that you are most comfortable with and trust so that you can have the environment that YOU need for your birth.

I just went to the hospital since she is a CNM through the hospital I went to. If I had called, I would have ended up talking to whoever was on call that night. Which ended up being the midwife that left it up to me what I wanted to do. I ended up going to the hospital the night I did because I was having strange back pain in between my shoulder blades and I just didn't feel right. My blood pressure was still quite high, and there was protein in my urine. And the black spots were in the middle of the day. It wasn't the flashy type things that you see at night or whatever. This was there no matter where I looked for a few minutes at a time, but was only a couple of times.

[luv-my-boys]

i think that you need to ask yourself whether or not you feel comfortable with the midwife, would you be 2nd guessing or wondering thru the whole pg that she is missing something? not informing you? I know that for me that would drive me crazy and the extra 30 min drive is worth it for my peaceful pg.

[kavamamakava]

It sounds like you were wanting more feedback from your midwife and a feeling from her like you were getting cared for. I've often wanted my midwife to be really hands off but I've never used a CNM, only a DEM for homebirth and really trusted my midwife to tell me when hands on was more appropriate. My youngest had a prolapsed cord and I never even knew about it because when my midwife discovered it and asked me to push her out, I did it. I told her later that I wasn't very comfortable with her telling me when to push and that's when she told me about it. Since I pushed my daughter out in about 7 minutes I guess my midwife had no need to tell me about the prolapsed cord. I had protein in my urine a few times in some of my pregnancies but we always figured it was something I could fix by eating more frequently and adding more protein. It worked. Do you plan to use that same hospital again and just choose a different midwife?

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by kavamamakava

It doesn't sound super concerning to me. Pre-eclampsia is a collection of symptoms that might lead one to believe a pregnant woman is at risk for developing eclampsia. So if you had a symptom or two of pre-eclampsia but not the collection of symptoms then I guess you could call it pre-pre-eclampsia.

That's not exactly true. The clinical definition of preeclampsia is two blood pressure readings of at least 140/90 taken at least 6 hours apart, and at least 300mg of protein in a 24-hour sample. There can be other symptoms, and usually are, but they are not necessary for a preeclampsia diagnosis.

And there are many other risks to having preeclampsia than just developing eclampsia - organ failure, placental abruption, IUGR, etc.

[Burnindinner]

I think my concern would be not that she didn't catch a symptom, or how she handled it, but that YOU had a concern and she didn't talk with you further, she just dismissed it. Was your relationship otherwise overall good? Were there other times you felt like she didn't answer sufficiently questions you had?

Personally, if I trusted my midwife implicitly, then if she just dismissed the reading I'd be OK, but if I didn't trust her anyway, then that would set me off. And make me want to look for another provider.

[BetterTogether]

I would find a new midwife. I drive over an hour to see my midwife...I think it's totally worth it.