Olympia Midwives

[TinyFrog]

I am looking for a midwife, preferably in the Olympia area. Please tell me your experiences with the area midwives. If you want to send your info in a PM feel free to do so. I really look forward to hearing from people who have first hand experience.

[olyfam]

Olympia Midwives - Around the Circle Midwifery

I had Constance and Carolee at Around the Circle Midwifery. My daughter was born at home in April 2008 and these ladies were wonderful. Constance actually attended the birth, but I saw both of them throughout my pregnancy so I would have been comfortable with either one when it came time to have my baby. They now have a beautiful birthing inn at their new offices so if you are uncomfortable doing a home birth, that is an option.

[TinyFrog]

Yes, I am looking for a homebirth midwife.

Thank you for the info on Constance and Carolee. There was some negative info out there a few years ago about Around the Circle, so it is good to hear a positive experience about them.

I am meeting with another midwife soon, I think it will go well. I really would like to hear from others though on how their birth went and who they used.

[imbarefoot]

I've had experience with Audrey Levine, personally. I didn't have the most pleasurable experience- HOWEVER...I have to say that I would feel differently at this point. She attended an undisturbed birthing/midwifery course with the most amazing Traditional Midwife on the Universe with me and I have to say, I believe some of the things that may have held her back have been recognized and moved through? If that makes sense? From what I've heard and seen I think she's grown, as I'm sure all midwives do and I believe she offers higher quality care than what I experienced many many years ago. I do believe she can offer great midwifery care and I would suggest meeting up with her for an interview. Just be upfront with what you want and do not want and she will let you know what she can offer.

As a doula, I've attended births with other midwives. I haven't seen anything alarming but I do think they have their own styles. On a personal level, I really like Carolee from Around the Circle but I haven't had the chance to attend a birth with her. I do think she would be lovely, though.

There are also unlicensed midwives in Olympia, we are lucky for that! If you are looking for a more hands off, undisturbed birthing option, you can PM me and I can give you a couple referrals. The two I am thinking of are AMAZING. One attended my last birth and the other is attending my upcoming birth. Both also went through the Midwifery program I mentioned above that I went to that Audrey also attended. One has apprenticed with nearly every midwife in the area and the other is attending with one right now. They are both very knowledgeable and qualified, in my humble opinion.

Good luck to you and your upcoming birth and midwife searching process!

[milkybean]

Originally Posted by TinyFrog

There was some negative info out there a few years ago about Around the Circle, so it is good to hear a positive experience about them.

Perhaps she has learned a little bit about normal, but not textbook, labor since my experience. That would be good to know. Not sure how I feel about being a teaching experience for her, but when she sent back the postpartum care fee *without being asked to*, I figured she'd gotten some rest and realized what all she did to me in '04. "prodromal labor" shouldn't be a mystery to a midwife, basically, nor should a midwife break one's water as one is saying "no" repeatedly. (and those are just two of the fabulous thing I think of right off the top of my head...oh wait, being accused of having been molested, while you're in labor, yeah, that'll help matters! (for the record, never molested, just shy as heck and dealing with prodromal labor that's being "called" real labor b/c their behind the scenes OB (at the birth center in Tacoma, that I never met b/c I didn't use the birth center in Tacoma) was screaming at them to drop me but of course you can't drop a woman like that.

OK yeah, still not over it!

Should we EVER get pregnant again (trying since our first-try honeymoon baby was 9 months old) I will go to Oregon, assuming they are still as I found out after my experience. WA still feels too dangerous if you're outside the norm, in my opinion.



So anyway, my good friend used...Laura...something or other...Hamilton? Had good experiences, but I wouldn't have. She was happy toeing a line with her last birth that I wouldn't have done...worked for her, though!


That said, I wouldn't get someone from out of the area. That was a huge problem in my experience with Constance. You just can't take someone out of their home area for as long as prodromal labor takes (though if they'd recognized it as such they could have gone home), when they have young children at home (of course her children are 6 years older now). It's not fair to them, and if things go one a bit long, it's not fair to you, since you now have sleep deprived, worried-about-home, people trying to care for you through their "stuff".

[imbarefoot]

Milkybean, I'm sorry you had such a negative experience. Have you considered using an unlicensed midwife in Olympia? There are definitely 2 practicing as of now, and a few more who are on the road to that path. I've used one of them with my last birth and it was AMAZING. So far removed from what typical licensed midwifery care looks like in Wa. I had a truly undisturbed unassisted birth. My "MW" quietly moved about my home, witnessing me during that transformative process. Anyway, it may be something you'd look more into and consider. I'd be happy to give you names and contact numbers if you wish.

[OlyR]

my comments have been removed before so I will be vague. i didn't get the option to have a HB - we selected one MW and she dumped us at 15 weeks (not for medical reasons). In retrospect, I'm glad it happened because she probably wasn't a good fit. BUT it left me scrambling b/c the other Oly practice and distantly-local MWs were all booked my month.

I'm still not over that...

[Luvmy2Joshs]

I had been hoping to find more positive info on here! I'm 7 weeks with my 3rd right now and I'm moving back to Lacey (I lived there for 3 months last year). My older boys were born in NY and I really really love my midwife over there, so I'm already nervous about finding someone else. I looked online but could only find info about around the circle. That someone had issues with them because of prodromal labor really scares me because I experienced for 4 days with my second birth. I need to make sure the birth will be covered by insurance, does WA cover unliscensed midwives?

If I can't find a midwife I like, I'm seriously considering going to NY for a month or two so I can use my midwife over there. But I'd really prefer to stay in Washington.

[nukuspot]

Hi! I just wanted to write to give you some reassurance. I'm a MW in Oly too but am not practicing, doing the SAHM thing with my LO. I've worked with both practices when I was a student and want to say that they are both popular practices. With having so many clients, you are bound to come across someone who wasn't happy with their care, but for every one person who was unhappy you will find 100 that loved their MW. I'm not trying to discount anyone's negative experience, please know that each experience is valid and I'm sorry anyone was unhappy with their care they had with their MW.

The great thing is that both practices offer free consultations (a meet and greet) where you can meet and ask the MW any questions and concerns you might have. So perhaps you might want to take your concerns there, and for example, you could ask ATCM how they feel about prodromal labor? Then you could get a good feel if either practice would be a good fit for you.

And to answer your question, insurance will not cover unlicensed MWs. That is why many MWs get licensed in the first place, to accept insurance.

[Luvmy2Joshs]

I was able to set up a meeting with Audrey Levine for this Friday. Around the circle is already full for April. This kind of irritates me because I emailed them a month ago, and they never replied. I left a voicemail once I arrived out here and they called me back to tell me they had no openings in April. Does anyone have any other midwives in the Olympia area I should consider?

Things sounded good with Audrey over the phone, so hopefully our meeting goes well on Friday and I won't have anything else to worry about.

[nukuspot]

Some people choose to go see the Tacoma midwives. There are many to choose from, but see how things so with Audrey and if you want more names of Tacoma midwives, post back here and I'll tell you a few. Hope things go well with your consultation with Audrey!

[SwanMom]

I think Constance & Carolee are fabulous! I have had 2 babies with them: one at home & one in the Birth House. Carolee attended one birth, and Constance the other. I have no complaints at all. They were both so hands-off, although they would have been more involved if that's what I had wanted. Both were such spiritual experiences & I felt like I had autonomy. I think we're done having babies, but it's almost tempting to have another just so they can be my midwives again.

One of the births ended up with an emergency (nobody's fault), and they were absolutely amazing--the rapport they had with the staff at the hospital was impressive. PM me for more info if you'd like.

[Luvmy2Joshs]

I called around the circle but they are already full for April. Maybe if they had responded when I first contacted them I could have seen them.

[SwanMom]

Originally Posted by Luvmy2Joshs

I called around the circle but they are already full for April. Maybe if they had responded when I first contacted them I could have seen them.

Yeah, they are always booked. When my first son was born, there were at least 3 births during my labor (I was in labor forever). So I think they're careful now to not put themselves into situations like that. I don't know how midwives do it--they are amazing. There is such a need for good home birth midwives. Hope you find someone awesome!

[shawnna007]

Do you still have those names of those unlicensed midwives that you could send me?? My husband is getting stationed at Ft. Lewis and I'd like to get familiar with my midwife options there.  Any idea on what they charge?

[thehappydeer]

I loved Audrey, if you have question pm me :)

[TinyFrog]

I originally started this thread over two years ago. :lol

I ended up going with Audrey and I LOVED her.  She was absolutely fabulous and was very hands off during labor.  I highly recommend her and will use her again if I have more children.