At what point in labor do mw's see you?

[DevaMajka]

Curious when mw generally come to see you during labor. My last labor/birth was with mw, but was a planned hospital birth. She was going to come to my house first, but I was pretty adamant that I get to the hospital asap to get some drugs. I had been in labor a couple hours at that point, and she didn't seem like she thought there was a rush. I never got the drugs, because it was time to push as soon as I got to the hospital. lol. I had a 5 hour labor, from the time I knew I was in labor until he was born.

So this time, I'm planning on having them come, see how far along I am, then making the decision to either stay home (if I'm close to transition) or to go to the hospital (if I'm not).

How soon might they come after I go into labor this time? This is birth #3 for me. My first was an induction, and I was in labor 7 hours, with 2 hours of pushing.

[CookAMH]

I think it really depends on your midwife. Mine would like to be called when I'm in active labor and doesn't mind coming later than sooner, esp since we have a doula. So, your best bet is to ask your midwife.

[dawncayden]

When you think you are in labour you call them (usually dp will) then they will ask to talk to you. They talk to you until you have a contraction so they can hear how quickly they need to come. Depending on how far apart your contractions are , how long they last and how much you can talk through the contractions will determine when they come.

When I was in labour with ds2, Beth came to my neighborhood but had some things to do so told us to call her if contrax got more intense and she would be over in 2 minutes. Turns out this was a good idea, because we called her back in 30 min and told her to head over, and ds2 was born an hour later.

It's great to have a doula because they can come from the start of contractions.

[DevaMajka]

Well, that's what happened last time- we called her, and she didn't seem to think that there was any rush. I REALLY wanted drugs, so she said to head to the hospital. We left pretty soon after that, and I was 9.5cm by the time we got there. I guess I either progressed really fast, or I held it together way better than I should have on the phone. lol

How long had you been in labor before they came?

Is it unreasonable to hope they'll come relatively soon after labor starts? Like after an hour or two? Given that ds2's labor was 5 hours total, yk? Ideally, I think I'd like a hospital birth, I just don't want to be in the car during transition again! lol.

[dawncayden]

Talk to you MW and remind her what happened before. I think the general rule is they come when ctx are 10 min apart. But they want to be updated with every change.

With ds1, I called 3 hours after I thought I was in labour. With ds2, mild/easy labour started 1 hour after my waters broke. We called when my waters broke (at 1am) but she didn't arrive until 9am. At 8am hard labour had started. 10am, ds2 was born.

[MunchiesMom]

I came on here to post a similar question. It was suggested that some MW aren't as hands on because some seem to prefer to show up just to catch the baby. But sounds to me like this is the norm? Should a HBAC midwife arrive sooner - just to make sure there are no extra complications?

[Monarchgrrl]

My midwife wanted the doula to call when I was showing signs of true active labor. I let them know when my water broke and when labor started. When labor really picked up I didn't want my doula. I wanted my beloved midwife, so I called her and made her come over after about 21 hours of labor. LOL! DD was born 6 hours later. As soon as the midwife got there she asked DW to call my doula to come over too. But she would have come over any time I really wanted. She definitely plans to come earlier with second and third labors. I would just talk to her.

[kawa kamuri]

My MWs would like a call when I know somethings up since I have a history of precipitous labour. I prefer they show up as late as possible. Lucky for me I also go through weeks of prodromal labour and don't seem to realise birth is just around the corner until close to transition. 

Only your MW can tell you her preference in relation to your history and comfort level.