Question about midwives.

[MountainMamaGC]

In the city that I plan of giving birth in someday, the demand for midwives is high. Some have waiting lists. I am not pregnant yet. Should I find a midwife before I am pregnant? Or have one on standby to call as soon as I do get pregnant? For a city of 1 million people there is only 30 midwives.

I dont know what to do to ensure I have a midwife when they are in such short supply? I just know that I dont want an OB, I want a midwife and I will be crushed if I dont get one.

My GP cleared me health wise to do a VBAC so long as my crohns is in remission. I am happy but I want to make sure I have a midwife.

[Stitches]

I live where you do...yes it sucks that there are so few midwives, and the demand is even higher now that midwifery is funded. With DD I just lucked out, it was back when you had to pay and I waited a long time (like 8 weeks) to call and luckily they had a spot. This time I didn't have to worry quite so much as they give preference to repeat clients, but I still called pretty much the minute the pee dried on the stick. I know in the past you could pay to keep a spot but that was before funding. I'd suggest you give each office a call and see what they have to say. Hopefully you can get in, my midwives are currently seeing a number of clients who already have kids but it's their first time with a midwife.

[AmaraMonillas]

If I were you, I would interview them now so when you do get pregnant you can call one right away and not have to worry about it being a bad match.

[MountainMamaGC]

So I decided to start calling and I found a midwife who seems to want me as a client. She told me to call her as soon as I get a positive test. I told her about my story and she was very interested. She cant promise me anything, but she says she will remember me and even gave me her cell number and personal email. Her practice gives preference to VBACs and high risk pregnancies. Yay.

[MountainMamaGC]

I was wrong about how many midwives there are. There are 30 for the entire province and 9 in the city I want to go to. Holy cow. They are dying for midwives in this province.

[mandib50]

actually i believe alberta has 43 midwives as of 2009 (still no where near enough, but until there is a program it won't change too quickly) but i know there are a few new registrants ... are you in edmonton? calgary has the most by far for some reason. good luck though!

[MountainMamaGC]

I will be in Edmonton. I saw that Calgary has way more.

[Ola_]

It's a similar situation in Ontario and I was quite concerned also. I called the day I got the positive test and by the time we went in for our info session they still had spots available which was surprising. I hope you will be able to get one!

[lifeguard]

The group closest to me here (Ontario) tells you to call the minute you get a positive test. Then they have a monthly meeting where they review all the new calls they've received & decide how many & which they can take on. Which realllllly sucks if you're history gives you higher risks for anything 'cause you'll end up at the bottom of the list.

[CookAMH]

This may have been said, but I would interview or do meet-n-greets with the midwives you like while you are not pregnant and have a couple in mind with whom you would like to book and that takes your insurance, and have their number ready when you become pregnant. If one is booked, go to the next one. They won't take you if you are not pregnant. Chances are, if you get a BFP early enough and know exactly who you want, they will be available. And, if none are, get on waiting lists of more than one, and there would be a strong possibility that one would free up either because of someone else having a miscarriage or transfering care for risk or having an insurance issue. If you get in with one you don't like as much but are on the waiting list for one you do like and she becomes available, go ahead and switch (I just did this).

Happy hunting!!

[jeninejessica]

Glad to know I'm not the only one doing this! I started researching midwives before we even deciding to go ahead and ttc, and I have it down to my top three, and have their contact numbers and reviews in a word doc. I will literally be calling them as soon as I tell my dh once we get out BFP. If somehow none of them is available, I'll be going down the list until I find one.

[is it puppies?]

A lot of it is luck- I got in at like 6 mos. pregnant, couldn't get in when I tried around 6 weeks! I was waitlisted- but- I think I would not have gotten in on a waitlist (though a friend of mine recently did, and then she dropped out anyways) due to being risky- first birth at 35, and I am overweight. The midwives in Edmonton/area really do have varying beliefs- I am SO lucky I had who I did or I would have most certainly ended in a CSection despite everything ending well and section free. I know the midwives ALL prefer to take repeat clients though, or people with connections
A friend of mine got in with my MW because they liked her on the phone, so it's got a lot of randomness in it.
There are a couple of GPs in the area that are more naturally minded and you can easily get in with them.

[is it puppies?]

Oh- and my MW told me to call as soon as possible next time, and that she takes certain months off so make sure I'm pregnant when she's working. Now that it's covered they are only allowed so many births per year but apparently it doesn't matter how many they do per month!