Dilemna: OB or midwife for HB?

[twilight girl]

I'll try to make the long story short:

I've decided on a homebirth. Initially decided that I would have my current OB be our "backup," which he routinely does for the midwives in this country. Had an appointment with the midwife to talk about it all, went well, etc.

Tell the OB my decision is to HB, and he says "oh, well I can work that out with you since you live so close." DH and I decide to stick with OB, who will do the HB, and hire the midwife as a doula.

Go to my next OB appt., and he is kind of noncommittal about the whole thing. Like he forgot that he said he would do it, and then saying well, there's time, yeah, okay, we see what we can work out .... Not filling me with confidence that he's actually wanting to do this.

DH and I like the idea of the OB attending the HB, just to have the medical there if we need it (first homebirth and all). BUT, I'm thinking that the midwife, first off is going to be much more attentive, and if the OB agrees to be the backup, he'll come if we need him. She says that he has always been a very reliable back up and always come when/if they need him.

Am I answering my own doubts? Midwife, with OB as the backup, right?

[the_lissa]

I would just do a midwife.

[koru]

yeah...that's exactly what i was thinking. it sounds like he's open to the idea but not completely on board. if the midwife says he's a great back up, i'd be confident in his medical knowledge & ability to be present if need be but leave the catchin' up to the mw!

[SublimeBirthGirl]

I honestly can't fathom using an OB for anything other than a high risk pregnancy. You hire a surgical specialist if you want surgery, IMO. I'd go with the midwife. Why risk it?

[GinaRae]

MWs can do everything an OB could do in that setting, and in fact, I would think she would know BETTER how to deal with a birth (and possible crisis) in the home, being that she deals with it all the time. She has the knowledge, experience, education, and tools needed. He's used to a hospital and nurses helping.

I would go with the midwife.

[jessitron]

You don't want anyone the least bit skeptical to be present at the home birth. Go with the midwife. However, if she is considering transfer, you have the option of calling your doctor and asking him if he can come over and check it out. That's neat!

[AnneCordelia]

I avoid hospitals to avoid OB's. LOL.

Go with the midwife!

[twilight girl]

No, no, I may have misrepresented my OB. He used to do homebirths all the time, but I think lately he's just gotten comfy with the convenience of hospital births. He's totally 100% supportive of homebirths, and is the ONLY OB in the country that will attend a homebirth. So, he's very capable of dealing with issues that can arise in a homebirth setting. He just kind of stopped doing it, and I think it has to do with the time commitment and the convenience. He's very pro-natural, has his own birthing tub that he takes to the hospital for the moms, etc. He works very well with the midwives, and will even sign and notarize a letter saying that he delivered the baby. Legally, lay midwives here cannot attend homebirths.

The midwife is a CPM, not a CNM, so legally here she can't attend the birth. She's very comfortable with him as the backup, and he only comes if we call him for an emergency, or situation she feels she can't handle. I think probably this is the best of both worlds. I have her attentiveness, and she comes when we call her and stays til it's over, and comes back for 3 postnatal visits to our home. Plus, we have him on standby if anything comes up, or he'll meet us at the hospital if we had to transfer.

Yeah, midwife, with the OB on alert that I'm in labor if we need him. Otherwise, I guess I'll see him when I ask him to lie for us and say he delivered the baby