Minor birth center vent...

[mom2fussy]

Just wanted to express my frustration & concerns with some people who might understand!

Today was supposed to be my 1st visit with the midwife at the birth center - the only place like that anywhere around. I made the decision about the birth center after much debating (long story), and DH is still not 100% OK with it.

The birth center is about 40 mins from my house. One hour before my appointment, the midwife called to say she had someone coming in who was in labor. Once the lady got there, the midwife would evaluate her & see if we could keep the appointment or not. I had already packed a lunch for DS & we were out at a store on our way to the appointment.

It's now 15 minutes past my original appointment time & the lady in labor STILL isn't there! Not only that, but we had just gone out today & bought DS a new toy that will only be for office visits with the midwife. We don't do things like that often, and I made a big deal of it because it was just for him while the midwife was talking to me & checking on the baby.

I also turned down a last-minute babysitting job for a neighbor who really needed the help today. Her DS & my DS get along really well & I had seriously debated about rescheduling my appointment just to help out the neighbor.

To top it all off, assuming I don't get in to see the midwife today, I'm going to have to tell DH that the appointment was canceled. He's already iffy about the birth center, and this won't help to make him feel any better about it!

Thanks for "listening"!

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

for you. Sounds like a stressfull situation. I hope you can get things resolved with your mw.

[PrettyHippie]

Sorry mama. These sort of things just really are a pain in the backside. ESPECIALLY when other plans are made around it. I would be more than frustrated too. Hopefully your DH will not take this and run with it. Let us know what happens.

[CherryBomb]

Uggh, that stuff drives me nuts.

[Hedgehog Mtn]

I totally know how frustrating this is for you. I do want to mention though that this just happened to my friend who is seeing an OB. Not sure why another OB couldn't just see her but they called and canceled her appointment after she left the house so it's not just birth centers or midwives.

Actually I just thought of a different friend with a different OB who also mentioned this happening to her.

[Lady Lilya]

Yeah, happened to me with an OB. After waiting 2 hours in the office, she had to go to attend a birth.

But really, I think it is a good thing that she'd make the laboring woman a priority. When you are in labor, you want to be the priority over a person who is a few weeks along and coming in for a routine visit.

[Jayray]

I'm assuming your going to the same BC that I went to for my last preg and will be for this one since you're in NC. A situation like that only happened to me once the entire time with my other pregnancy. The midwife that was seeing me said she had a mama in labor coming in and she might have to leave the appointment early (she ended up not having to, though).

I think it is kind of weird that they have the on call midwives taking appointments, but like I said, it only effected me once during my whole pregnancy. So maybe this is your one time and that will be it!

The BC is SO WONDERFUL. I would hate for you to be turned off by this one bad situation!!

[mom2fussy]

JayRay - the BC I'm going to is in SC, so it might not be the one you're thinking of... At this one, the midwife you've been seeing all along is also the one who attends your delivery. Basically, they're all "on call" all the time.

As far as what others said - I totally understand these things happen, and I don't blame the midwife in the least. A woman in labor is definitely the priority, and it's not the midwife's fault that the lady said she'd be there in 1/2 hour, but really took 1 1/2+ hrs to show up.

It's just been a difficult day with DS & his new toy (that I let him play with a *little* bit after all) and because I'm nervous about how DH will take it. I also just hate that I could have had some good entertainment for DS in the form of the neighbor boy... DS is VERY social & would be happy having a playdate all day every day. The neighbor really needed my help, too! Sigh...

[Ola_]

That sucks! Our midwife always says to call before we leave for an appointment to make sure something like this hasn't happened. But at least she called you to try and prevent inconvenience - I know many doctors wouldn't have done that.

[pollyanna123]

I never had this problem with my last birth center because there were three midwives that all worked together. If one of them had to attend a birth, another one would cover the appointments. In two pregnancies, they never once canceled or moved an appointment.

This time, I'm going to a midwife who works alone (she has a backup for births, but not for clinicals). I had my first appointment rescheduled TWICE because of laboring women. Dh had arranged to take off work and I had babysitting scheduled for my older two. Both times, she canceled within 20 minutes of our appointment time.

It's soooo frustrating! However, it's definitely a good thing that they prioritize laboring women. We'll be happy about that when it's us in labor.