When did you/or do you plan to call your midwife?

[vermontgirl]

Hi there, 

I am having my third baby and am planning my second home birth. The first one went very smoothly, and I could have truthfully done it without a midwife. The only tough part was the placenta, which took a whole hour to come out. I am feeling just so excited to do this one quietly without much assistance. I have a wonderful midwife, and she is happy to be hands off...I am thinking about when to call her. I could call her right away and have her there for most of it, or I could wait and call her so that she comes at the very end or even right after the baby is born to help with post birth and newborn stuff. 

I am 5 minutes from a hospital. 

When did you or will you call your midwife and why? 

[revolting]

My first was precipitous birth, so I called as soon as I was in active labor with the second. My second took longer, and I regretted calling so early because they stressed me out. Not sure what I'll do about number three.
 

[mamajennmiller]

I have a very intuitive and hands off MW. I had some bloody show at 8PM and mild contractions all through the night. I called her when I got up for good, around 8AM. She came over around 9:00 to watch me have a few contractions, then she left and came back when I called her around 10:00, and stayed until about 4:30 (DC was born at 2:15). So, I knew her well and felt sure that she would give me space if she knew I needed it. Would you feel comfortable having a conversation with her about when she prefers you to call her, what will happen when you do, and how you feel about all of it? That would be my suggestion.

[womenswisdom]

I will call my mw as soon as I'm sure it's really labor and hope she makes it there. I do want someone who is hands-off but also want to have someone on-hand in case of an issue like shoulder dystocia that couldn't be resolved by position change, hemorrhage, resuscitation, etc. My second labor was not technically precipitous but it was 4.5 hours and my first vaginal birth so I'm thinking I might go fast enough that no one will make it. I am okay with it if that happens, but would rather have someone there if possible.

[LaotianMama]

I asked this exact same question to, who else, my midwife! She said that if I am calling my doula, then I need to call her too since this was my second birth. I did and I'm glad because my main midwife and the student midwife were both great!

I made an active labor to-do list of what I *wanted* to do when active labor hit, including when and whom to call: http://thelaotiancommotion.com/2013/02/04/home-birth-active-labor-to-do-list/

[Vaquitita]

My second home birth, with a hands off midwife, I called her when I knew that this was it because of commute traffic I needed to give her time to get there. She actually came, set up her stuff, checked me, and then she and her assistant left and went to eat dinner and leave me in peace to labor. My dh called her just as they were finishing up dinner to say come, they got there for transition. It was perfect, I had the space i needed, but also didn't have them rushing around because they were arriving so close to the end.

[fourlittlebirds]

I called my midwife as soon as I was sure that I was in labor and it was progressing. I think they started to arrive around 3:00 and baby was born at 5:30. I plan on doing the same with this birth. 

[SunnyMuffin]

I will call her as soon as I realize I'm in labor because shes 1.5 hrs away and could be busy with something else. 

[LeighPF]

I will call to check in as soon as I know I am in labour and we can decide when she and her assistant (who comes separately) should come.

[GISDiva]

I too am calling as soon as I know.  She lives a fair distance away and she's predicting an even faster birth (barring any bad positioning or whatever of course).  She's pretty hands off and I like her so very much, I wouldn't mind if she was there for the whole thing.  

[Miss Ess]

Since my first birth was just shy of 4.5 hours long, I plan to call them as soon as I'm sure it's real labour.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

3rd, 4th, or 5th mama who called at the onset of labor (unless it was the middle of the nigh). I figure most MWs would appreciate a heads up so they can arrange for being at a birth. My last labor started at about 6pm so I called to give a heads up for the following AM. Turns out, I was calling back just a few hours later for active labor. Whoohoo! 

[100%mom]

The longest time the midwife was ever at my house before birth was an hour. So because my husband doesn't want to deliver, I call as soon as I know It's the real thing. This hopefully will be my 6th.

[CLplus1]

I'm planning on having a "hands off" midwife as well. I would call her to let her know labor is starting, but I would want her to wait hours before coming unless I needed support. Ideally she'd get there an hour before the baby is born, but I'm realizing that may be really hard for me to pull off. I'm hoping to know when things pick up enough to have her head my way, but that might not be realistic since this is my first time.