Midwife travel

[kasiaimichael]

I spoke to my midwife and she agreed to attend my home birth. The problem is she lives 2 hours away. I wonder when I should call her. My last birth was 18 hours long, but I think most of the time was due to being in the hospital, filling the papers and feeling not safe with the midwife and the doc who were there. My contractions stopped twice once after 45 min of filling the papers and answering stupid questions (this is the procedure in Poland) and then second time when I was about 6cm dilated. I just did not want to give birth when this woman was there. They did not start for a while even after they gave me oxitocin, but came right back when she left (her shift was finished).

[momto l&a]

Hard so say

The mw missed my last birth because it was so fast

But the ones before that she made.

This time the mw has I am using has a bit more travel to get here but I dont want her here to early. I think she knows that I want her to be hands off so maybe shell just go read a book in the living room or something.

[Yo Becca]

My MW is about 75 minutes away. She asked me to call her when I feel that I am definitely in labor or if there are clear signs of imminent labor (water breaks, suddenly start having frequent bowel movements, etc.). At that point, we'll discuss what is going on and when she will come (if my ctx are still far apart and fairly short, we'll probably check back in a while, if close and intense, sh'll probably go ahead and come). But she wants to know to go ahead and clear her schedule, get her stuff together, notify her assistant, etc. She doesn't like to show up at the last possible minute, but she's flexible if that were my preference. She has said she'd rather come early and go "hang out" some where nearby than show up as the baby is crowning.

I would talk about it with your MW - what she prefers and what you prefer. This is my 2nd baby - my first labor was 19 hours. I'm counting on at least a 10 hour labor...we'll see.

[rad]

My labors have all been so fast. I call my midwife the second something feels like labor. She says she'd rather head over for a false alarm then miss it. But she's also only 20 minutes away. She walked in with my first as he was starting to crown.

I'd say call when you're having very regular contractions.

[crunchy_mama]

Mine is traveling about 1.5 - 1.75 hrs away, so I am hoping she makes it. The assistant is only about 15-20 minutes away though. I am reading up on emergency childbirth just in case

[Lady Lilya]

I would call her right away and describe what you are feeling. She will probably have an idea about when you will give birth based on your symptoms. And, if she isn't busy, she may prefer to come a little on the early side just to be safe.

[krismarie]

if you are nervous about her making it, just have her come when labor still feels early... my mw was afraid i'd have a fast birth b/c my mom had three fast ones and she ended up coming (a little over an hour away) 20 hours b/f ds was born but it was fine, she slept on our futon and just hung out in our house.

[Lady Lilya]

Yeah, fast labors run in my family. My mother didn't feel anything until about 20 mins before we came out.

[Baby Hopes]

My midwife is about a half an hour away on a slow traffic day and an hour or more away during rush hour. I called her for my last labor when I knew that labor was getting serious. I had my first contractions early (6:00 ish?) in the morning but didn't really feel things "kick in" until 11:00. And even then I only called her to warn her that I would be calling her soon to tell her to come. About 2:00 I called her and told her it was time for her to start coming. She arrived at 3:30-ish, I entered the birth pool at 4:45 p.m. and DD2 made her arrival at 5:45 p.m.

For me, it couldn't have been more perfect.

I'm hoping to replicate our sucess this next time around.

[chrissy]

last time my midwife got there just in time to catch the baby. my first labor was a hospital induction and took 36 hours or so. i was totally expecting another long labor. instead, it was about 2 hours start to finish!

this time i am a little concerned. i'm using the same midwife but it looks like we'll be moving before baby. so she'll be 2 hours away. she is going to try to find somebody closer to me to assist, and just in case she doesn't make it in time. i have heard that second babies often come quickly and third babies often take their time, so we'll see.

i'm not so concerned about her being there for the actual birth (though my dh sort of is ) but the aftermath. last time i bled a ton. we tried lots of nursing, herbs, homeopathics... but in the end it took a shot of pitocin to stop my bleeding. the birth was easy, it was the after that i really needed my midwife.

anyway, to answer your original question, my midwife said pretty much what becca's said. she said to call her as soon as i knew that i was in labor. when i did we talked about my contractions, how far apart they were and all that. she wanted me to time them and call her back when they were 5 minutes apart or less (i think that was the timing). well, we timed them and they were 2 minutes apart, so we called her right back and she got on the road!

[DoomaYula]

My mw is 2.5-3h away, and I'm not thrilled about it, but she's the closest hb mw so I can deal. I'm only like 9w pregnant so we have a long time to discuss it. But my last 3 births have all been 4-6h so I'm pretty sure I'll call her as soon as I feel anything. I have a nice extra room with a futon!

[kasiaimichael]

worried

Thank you all for your responses. Right now I am really worried that the HB I wanted will not happen. I got an email from a girl from my town, who wanted a homebirth with the same midwife. She called the midwife and the midwife told her it's too far away and that she is not taking any births from there. I don't know if she just did not want to take this birth or changed her mind about my birth too. I was trying to reach her all day long and she is unavaliable:
God if she won't do it the only option for me is the horrible hospital
But this will be soooo unprofessional, she agreed to attend the birth
Sorry for this small vent, needed to clear my head. Can't reach her:

[BoGiBoBo]

I can't imagine she would change her mind and not tell you that she can't attend yours. Maybe she only drives that far once a month or something. Wait until you talk to her before you get all worried!

[goodearthmama]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

Mine is traveling about 1.5 - 1.75 hrs away, so I am hoping she makes it. The assistant is only about 15-20 minutes away though. I am reading up on emergency childbirth just in case

WoW! Me, too. We actually talked about this a good portion of my visit last week. Since I am a first timer and don't know how long labor will be, I am going to call her with the first signs and keep in constant contact, well maybe not me but dh or my mom. Also, my father will be there and he has delivered his fair share of babies in out-of-hospital settings as he was a fireman/chief/emergency responder for 30 years. He actually started a "Golden Glove" award in our state for exceptional responders helping mothers in labor! So I feel ok, about travel time. Just call asap!