know any midwives

[judahsmama]

hi, my sister in law is having her first baby. she lives in beacon, ny. she would like to have her baby at a birth center with a midwife, but has been intimidated by long lists of midwives in her area. she doesn't know where to start. i was wondering if anyone who lives in her area has any suggestions either for a specific midwife that you had a great experience with; or on how to narrow down her options. i had a wonderful homebirth with an incredible midwife, and hope for a similar experience for her. can anyone help?

[Becca's momma]

I had a wonderful birthing experience at Northern Dutchess Hospital with a terrific midwife...NDH isn't too far from your sister, but a friend also had a great experience at the birthing center associated with the Peekskill Hospital (very close to your sister).

I hope to have a homebirth next time and have been exploring the midwife options in our area (since my wonderful midwife moved to NH), so I can understand your sister's dilemma. Just tell her to check with friends and interview many different people.

Although I loved all the midwives associated with my practice, I adore the OB-GYN (who has operated on me) and this confidence in him is why I have stayed with the practice even though the original reasons I went there were b/c of the reputation of the midwives.

If your sister wants more info, be in touch. Good luck!

[Rastamom]

Just a warning:

I had my dd at NDH, too. And had an OB with a midwife in the practice. However, the practice was much more conservative than I had though. The my water broke and the doctor basically insisted on pitocin. The nurses there lied to me to try to get me out of the shower by telling me that they would cut the dosge of pit in half, but told my husband that they were really going to increase the concentration so the numbers were lower on the gauge. Horrid.

I also had a lot of nursing trouble and I really feel the hospital contributed to it. Every nurse had a differnt "solution" and the head dr. of pediatrics tried to force us to give bottles of formula!!! He gave dd sugar water. I didn't even meet the LC until she was wheeling a pump into my room. And she basically told me, week later, when DD still had only latched a few times "I don't know what to tell you." She gave up. But I found an awsome LC at Benedictine H. in Kingston (across the river from your SIL) who never gave up and DD latched on day 16.

I'm not sure I should post the doctors names but they are located in Rhinebeck and have 2 women doc and a midwife in the practice. Please beware of them. They are very nice and supportive at visists but whn it came down to the birth the doc was all about doing what she thought was convienient and even threatened me with a c-section. the head nurse was excellent and told me she didn't think I needed the pit, that I WAs in labor but the doc. told me I was not because I was not in pain. So basically she augmented with high doses of pit and refused to acknowledge that pit makes the labor harder. GRRRRR!!! However, the hospital did let us room in and sleep with dd. Dh stayed, too. And the doc was good about the pushing stage...she had a good manner about instilling confidence in me when that got rough.

If you want the name please pm me and I'll tell you.