Place of Business - Page 2

[DisplacedYooper]

My midwife practiced out of her home. We did the early prenatals there and at 38 wks she started coming to our house. It wasn't really a "home office" setup either... Dsicussion happened in her living room, and exams were on her own bed. (She did external exams only) Her house was impeccable, so it didn't bother me at all. I guess I probably wouldn't mind a messy living room but probably wouldn't be OK lying down on an unmade bed!

[mwherbs]

so for me I need a down time place and cannot have an at home office- yes I know I am on call 24/7 and for the most part I can handle that but at my home it would be the fastest way to burn me out of midwifery. But at gas prices now , renting an office room is looking tempting--

[leavemealone]

Originally Posted by nashvillemidwife

I don't follow that. If they suspect she has evidence at two locations, they just get a warrant for both locations. However, if she has an office they are less likely to search her home.

Honestly, I've haven't asked why, but you may be right and I am just thinking of it backwards. It's actually a shorter drive for me to her office than to her home so it doesn't bother me.

[Charmie981]

If someone were to look up my "office" address and drive by, it would look terrible because I haven't been in there in months. I'm not practicing out of it, which is a long story, and it's for lease. I'd hate for someone to judge my practice of midwifery based on the way I maintain an address that I no longer practice out of.

So my advice is to call the midwife and talk to her. We're used to fielding calls from non-pregnant folks, too...there are people who plan that far ahead .

[Kylix]

Originally Posted by Kim919

I would make sure that the place you went really is her place of business, but if it is, you have every right to be turned off. Its not unreasonable to expect a HB midwife to also be professional.

My midwife only attends home births, but you go to her office for visits. She only has office hours one day a week. That day she rents an office that is in a large old house that rents out different rooms for different reasons all week (one day there is a yoga class, sometimes they have poetry classes, a massage therapist rents one office, there is a small daycare in the downstairs, etc.) It is a well maintained building, but there is not specifically a sign out front for her. Its a very casual setting, but well kept.

I think you have every right to take it into consideration.

Thanks

For those who suggested I call to talk to her, thanks for the feedback. If I were pregnant, I'd definitely call (in spite of my impression). But I'm not, so I don't feel comfortable calling and asking her questions.

I actually know of a woman (we aren't friends, I just met her IRL through a mutual friend) that used her as her midwife for two home births so I'm sure that she is a fine midwife. I was honestly wondering about how common having a place of business is vs. practicing out of your home. For some reason, I think I was envisioning that alot of midwifes have offices that they work out of but reading your responses, I can see why that is probably not practical.

Thanks for all the info! It will be useful to know what to expect when it comes time for me to plan my home births in the future

Kylix

[pamamidwife]

I have a small office in my home. If someone needs a formal, fancy office in a medical building I'm not likely to be the right midwife for them.

[pamamidwife]

Kylix, definitely call her even if you're not pregnant. I meet with couples that are not yet pregnant often.

[Past_VNE]

I've met with several midwives and there was a variety of "offices."

The midwives for my son had two women. Each woman had an office in her respective home. Each office was a bedroom. One was in a big old Victorian home in a small town. One was in a nice, but small brick rowhouse in a major city.


We interviewed a midwife who had her office in a bedroom in her home, but met with us for the interview in her living room.

We interviewed two midwives who didn't keep any office for clients, but went to their houses instead.

We interviewed a midwife who keeps some kind of "real office" but also has an office in a converted garage at her home, which is what we went to, since it was closer than her "real office."

There was also great diversity in the level of medical-ness/formality and the level of homey-ness/casualness. I am a big fan of the hippie casual homey office, personally.

If it's clean and neat (even if it's cluttered) and she's a good midwife, I don't care where it is.

[2+twins]

My mw does have her own office space but the first homebirth prenatal I ever went to (it was a friends' pregnancy) was held in a private home that had a portion of it converted into an office just for her practice. I believe lots of mw's practice out of their homes - I plan to once I'm practicing - however, it is important that the space looks clean and setup in a comfortable way IMO.

[ZoeyZoo]

Originally Posted by Kim919

My midwife only attends home births, but you go to her office for visits. She only has office hours one day a week. That day she rents an office that is in a large old house that rents out different rooms for different reasons all week (one day there is a yoga class, sometimes they have poetry classes, a massage therapist rents one office, there is a small daycare in the downstairs, etc.) It is a well maintained building, but there is not specifically a sign out front for her. Its a very casual setting, but well kept.

Several midwives in my area rent their offices in a similar setup. The building isn't great on the outside... but they try to make them look nice inside. These are some midwives which I have either used or came highly recommended within the HB community.

[sharr610]

All of our prenatals and meetings minus the interview were in our home. I liked it this way and can't imagine it any other way. She was such a familiar face in our household by the time the birth came around, it was that much more comfortable, kwim? It made post pardom stuff pretty fantastic as well...

[janasmama]

Both of my mw's have worked out of their homes. My first team of mw's had a bedroom with a full size bed that they did prenatals on. There was also an attached bathroom for doing the urine strip tests, etc. in.

My current mw has a den in her house and does prenatal visits in there for people who live out of the immediate area. Her house has weeds in front of it too. Often I'm there watching her toddler with my other two while she has visits so there are toys in the living room when the clients come in but we try to maintain peace. They do close the doors. She has a nice 1/2 bath that she keeps reserved for the clients during visits but they have to walk through part of the house to get there.

I like the idea of having visits in a private home setting. I think it kind of goes rigth along with the idea of a homebirth even if the prenatals are at her house... it takes the 'professional/medicalization' out of the birth. Also, mw's don't make a whole lot of money, typically so the added overhead of a professional office space would raise the cost of homebirth services. Please, don't do that.