when do you call your midwife?

[swissmiss2584]

I was wondering when everyone called their midwife? I don't want to call too early. I think it will be nice having my husband there alone laboring for awhile before a bunch of people show up and start walking around my small apartment.

[aprilsfools]

I will probably call my MW pretty early as she lives at least an hour away and has small children. This does not mean that she will come right away, but will know to be on call.

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

Mine are close by, but ask that we call early on so they can come and check me out, and then they'll leave if it's too early. They prefer that approach to the wild drive to catch a baby in time Ask yours if that works for them!

[apelilae]

I'll be calling once a steady labor builds up just to let them know and to let them make the call as to when they should come. With it being my second, I've heard it can potentially go very fast.

[CanidFL]

My labor moved really fast and we didn't ask her to come soon enough. She got there about 10 min before DS came out. I should have asked her to come over sooner but was confused by the speed of labor.

She always said call when contractions are lasting 1 min every 5 min for 1 hour.

[janasmama]

I always call early just to let them know that the baby is coming soon but that it's not time to come yet. Then when your contractions are strong and about 3 minutes apart is probably the norm.

[babyjelly]

i probably won't be calling them...i'm sure dh will the second he thinks i might possibly be in labor. he's terrified of uc, and it has actually become my fantasy the last couple of months. eh, maybe i'll get him convinced for the next one, right?

[MsBlack]

As a mw I have to say that I really try to get clients to call me the minute they have a sign that labor has started....or might be about to start (such as water breaking, mucus plug...). This does NOT mean that I will rush right over, only that I have a head's up and time to plan. Of course, some labors are very fast, and I don't get any lead time--and that's ok too--but when it is possible, I really like getting those early ph calls.

There really are no general rules about 'when' the mw should come. Some women don't have contrax every 3 minutes, or contrax that last 1 min or more, until the final hr or so. Some never see a sign of bloody show, or mucus plug, or....So I really like to hear any news that labor is occurring, or probably impending, pretty soon into things. Now, if your water breaks in the middle of the night but you have no contrax and the water is clear, please wait til morning to call--or at least until contrax start.

And for women/fams who don't need to me come right away and/or seek a lot of privacy, we will simply do occasional ph consults on progress ('call if there is any change in things') until either mom says she wants me there--or I can hear from signs that things are likely progressing more rapidly than mom realizes. Of course, if I'm an hour or more away, then I may choose to hit the road sooner than mom absolutely needs me to; if I arrive 'too early' by the woman/fam's preference, then I can take a walk, a nap, a trip to a nearby library or cafe....

[pixiepunk]

As a mw I have to say that I really try to get clients to call me the minute they have a sign that labor has started....or might be about to start (such as water breaking, mucus plug...). This does NOT mean that I will rush right over, only that I have a head's up and time to plan. Of course, some labors are very fast, and I don't get any lead time--and that's ok too--but when it is possible, I really like getting those early ph calls.

There really are no general rules about 'when' the mw should come. Some women don't have contrax every 3 minutes, or contrax that last 1 min or more, until the final hr or so. Some never see a sign of bloody show, or mucus plug, or....So I really like to hear any news that labor is occurring, or probably impending, pretty soon into things. Now, if your water breaks in the middle of the night but you have no contrax and the water is clear, please wait til morning to call--or at least until contrax start.

And for women/fams who don't need to me come right away and/or seek a lot of privacy, we will simply do occasional ph consults on progress ('call if there is any change in things') until either mom says she wants me there--or I can hear from signs that things are likely progressing more rapidly than mom realizes. Of course, if I'm an hour or more away, then I may choose to hit the road sooner than mom absolutely needs me to; if I arrive 'too early' by the woman/fam's preference, then I can take a walk, a nap, a trip to a nearby library or cafe....

this was exactly my m/w's philosophy, too. especially if the m/w has young kids that she needs to arrange care for, it's best to call early just as a heads up. and even if she does come out 'early' she can always sit in another room and read a book or knit or something. since my m/w lived close to an hour away, and we are about 45 minutes from the nearest hospital, i wanted to be sure she got there in time just in case. and she's super laid back and unobtrusive, and personality-wise we meshed so well, so i knew her presence in the house wouldn't bother and that she'd leave me alone to do my thing.

[happy & blessed]

I called my midwife when I knew it was "real" labor - contractions were about 1 minute long and about 5 minutes apart - this had lasted about an hour or so. I wish she hadn't come over right then though. At the time, we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment and there was no privacy. I felt like I was just being "watched" the whole time. I think this time, I'll call when I know it's real, but tell them that I'll call back when labor gets more intense.

[mommathea]

Since I have very fast labors, 1/2hr was my shortest, I plan on calling as soon as I think something's up.
She isn't to far away that a false alarm would be a pain in the butt, but just far enough away that if she didn't come right away and it was the real thing then she could get there to late

[amymaew]

I call right away, but I have quick labors. I called when my water broke with Henry (first sign I might have been having a baby that day!) and she got there with 20 minutes to spare. She lives about 45 minutes away, too, so I'd rather have her closer and go get something to eat or something if my labor wasn't crazy quick like the last one (if that makes any sense lol!)

[nashvillemidwife]

When does your midwife want you to call her?

[mustangtbn]

I'd recommend asking the midwife when she'd like a call. With my last birth, my MW wanted a "heads up" call anytime we thought we might be in labor so that she could plan accordingly. Then, she'd assess the situation, decide whether it sounded like time for her to come over, and give advice accordingly, which would include when to call her back if she wasn't heading over.

You could also tell her that you are wanting to labor for a while with just your husband first and she may have some input on how to time that effectively.

[swissmiss2584]

Well, my MW has a problem with telling me things so I feel in the dark. I am making a list of things to ask her at my prenatal tomorrow that I thought she would have covered by 34 weeks. I thought that she would be slowly giving me info on this or that but she hasn't. So when to call her is one of my questions.

I think I more or less wanted to know at what point did you feel like "this was It" call the MW. Of course water breaking is a clue.

[possum]

I started having bloody show late on a Saturday night and didn't think it was worth worrying the mw's over at that hour.
That night I woke with contractions fairly frequently, and Sunday we went out (to walk around the pedestrian mall, to a movie, to get something to eat. . . all to get things moving a bit). Prodromal labor continued all day, and I called one of the mw's Sunday evening when we were headed home to let her know what was going on - in case things got going late. I didn't just want to surprise them at midnight.
The mw's checked in with me Monday morning and afternoon, and we decided to keep our appointment Tuesday morning.
They called Wednesday morning to see if we'd had the baby without them, but no baby just prodromal labor and a very tired mama from little sleep.
Wednesday afternoon labor got going well, and my husband called to let them know things were picking up.
The midwife he called asked to talk to me, and when I told her not to bother coming that I was NEVER going to have the baby, she knew it was time!
She came, and I was 6 cm. She ran home for some b'day cake with her daughter, and the other mw arrived.
Baby was born just after midnight, about 8 hours after my husband had called the first mw "for real."

I am glad that we stayed in touch with the mw's throughout my labor. I think it is wise to keep them aware of what is going on and that they may be needed quickly (or not for several days as in my case.) My mw's always asked if they could call back at a certain time (tomorrow morning, this afternoon . . .) so I didn't feel like a watched pot.

Melinda

[IowaMom]

My midwife tells me to call her as soon as I think I'm in labor. This way she can plan her trip (it's over an hour) and get childcare for her kids. Then, we continue to communicate via phone until I say, "Get here now." lol.However, my midwife prefers to not be at my house during early labor - a watched pot never boils - as she put it. She normally doesn't get there until about 2 hours before the woman actually delivers.

[DreamsInDigital]

I like to give my midwife plenty of warning, so I call as soon as I'm sure I'm in labor. I usually have quick labors, so the last 2 times my midwife has only been there for about 3-4 hours before birth.

[Belle]

I always seem to have prodromal labor for a week or so before my babies are born. I called my midwives out three times before my homebirthed baby was born. The third time they gently asked them to be sure before I called them again. I started crying because I felt so guilty. My water had broken and I was having irregular contractions between 2-10 minutes apart. I took a couple glasses of wine so I could sleep.

About 4 hours later at 3:30 in the morning I woke up to lots of blood show and contractions 2 minutes apart. My dh refused to call them because he didn't want to disturb them again. Finally when I started getting shaky and pushy he thought it might be a good idea to call them. My baby was born at 7:17am. They got there about 45 min before that.

[Spark]

I think your own MW would best answer this question.

When do *I* want to call my MW? To come do a well baby check after I've given birth or if I get the feeling I want her to attend the birth. But, that's just me (and she knows this).