interviewing homebirth midwife, HELP! - Page 2

[Merry Baron]

Midwife search

Thank you everyone for the extensive list of questions/suggestions to ask when interviewing a midwife.
Now I just need to figure out how to find one and if my insurance will cover it. My husband is military, I am set on having a Home birth and until recently just assumed I'd have to save up and pay for it myself but somewhere I saw posts that said it may at least be partially covered (I am trying to find that discussion, I am new to mothering discussions and haven't quite figured out how to look for a specific topic).

[3cuties]

These questions are great, but I can picture myself feeling very uncomfortable going through such a long list -- how do careporivders normally react?

[Linzie2]

Originally Posted by 3cuties

These questions are great, but I can picture myself feeling very uncomfortable going through such a long list -- how do careporivders normally react?

I was thinking the same thing! We had our interview today and I took a list of questions....maybe about 20 or so. I think that's good enough to get a feeling on someone, YKWIM? Then I'll use this list to ask furthur questions along the way. I mean, I do need to know if the MW or assistants need us to keep the pets elsewhere but that's not a dealbreaker for us !

[janasmama]

Here is a link to a site that has a list of questions you can ask a m/w...

http://www.familymidwifery.com/interview.html

[SuperB]

heres another good list


http://www.mothersownbirth.com/quest...20midwives.pdf

I am going through interviews right now too Its a hard pick!

[Salema]

For my first pregnancy, we interviewed a few different people and only had to ask a couple of questions to get a "feel" for the MWs. To one of them, we'd asked, "how do you feel about DH catching the baby?" and her answer wasn't bad, but the way she delivered her answer was so off-putting that we ruled her out almost immediately.

So you don't have to have a ton of questions, and you don't have to go through them all to get to know a person.

But it's very important to know what their medical skills are, what their medical back up is (if any), and how they handle transfer of care. Some of that will depend on how MWs are treated in your area.

Good luck choosing!

[funkymum]

We interviewed a midwife today for transfer-of-care and I was so impressed when DH asked what her examples of the most positive homebirth experience vs. the not-so-ideal homebirth experience. (Had he not asked this question, we wouldn't have found out how strongly she felt about aiding us in finding the beauty of our own natural birth process and how open she was to being as hands-off as the situation and our comfort zones dictated. We also wouldn't have found out that she hasn't had an infant or maternal mortality, but statistically it will likely happen to her as a care provider in her career. She talked about the possible situation with such compassion and empathy that I knew she would be a good match for us.)

[ivonnenyc]

One that's a little unusual, but I found very helpful in assessing a midwife's philosophy (as well as opening up the conversation to the more emotional side of the topic) -

What made you become a homebirth midwife?

[Thursday Girl]

: subbing for when i have time to copy these.

[kristine7]

midwife

does anyone know sum midwifes phone numbers I have sum q and none in my area

[lovetheheights]

Just to answer your question about not wanting to go down a list...we interviewed two midwives and I just said "I don't want to overwhlem you with questions, so do you just want to talk or ask us questions?" and one did, and the other preferred just answering questions- and MANY times two or three were answered when she was answering one...so it was fine.

[ZoeyZoo]

One question I found very telling that wasn't in the above posts is "What do you require of your clients?".

I found some were telling me I had to have a certain type of pool, # of ultrasounds, certain childbirth class, certain pre-natal tests, etc. These were all HB MWs that has very similar answers to the questions on this thread. Really helped me figure out who would listen to what I wanted and who wanted to push their beliefs on me.

[mamalink4]

Just marking this thread so I can find it later (in a week-ish) when I need it!! Great info mama's!

[mrizzo]

These questions have me so excited to start looking for a mw

[Nicole730]

I am interviewing my first midwife next week - all these questions are just getting me excited again! I can't wait

[witchypants]

How many of you did a phone screen first vs just an inital interview. We'd have to pay each midwife we interview an 'interview fee' each being over $100. So I'm thinking it might be a good idea to screen some on the phone first. But on the other hand I'm having a hard time determining which questions to ask on the phone and which ones I'd like DH to be hearing the answer at the same time YKWIM? Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? What did you ladies do?

[homestyle]

what a great thread ... thank you!
:

[leila1213]

subbing!!