Family Doctor at homebirth?

[jesbentink]

I have a wonderful family Doctor(D.O.) who is very holistic as far as medicine is concerned. He never just resorts to drugs like most docs and is very, very supportive of my decision to have a HBAC with this baby. With that said, he offered to come by the house either during the birth or shortly after to check on the baby. I think he would like to experience a home birth too and that it would probably help him in his practice. Anyway, I am worried about what the midwife might think, whether she might be against it or not. If she is against it I will not have him there because I know that she is going to be the one I am counting on as far as birth is concerned. But I also feel like it would be cool for our doc to check this baby out considering he's going to be his patient in the future. I also think that if this doctor can experience this it will be great as far as a movement toward more natural births. I would love to hear what anyone has to say about this, birthing mommy's and midwives too! Thank you!

[nashvillemidwife]

Does the midwife know the doctor? It's your birth and you are right that it would be a great experience for the doctor, but as a midwife it would probably make me very nervous. I have had clients in the past who have invited their doctors and I was sitting in the corner privately praying that they would say "no" (they always do). Again, it is your birth, but I'm glad you are taking her feelings into consideration. If she's not comfortable with it, throwing her a curve ball like this really isn't fair. We have enough to deal with without having to worry about a doctor watching over our shoulder while we work. But of course your midwife may have no problem with it either.

[jesbentink]

The midwife does not know the doctor. I am going to gently bring it up with her. He offered, I did not ask so if she is not okay with it, that's that. I would have never just invited him but I just think he just really wants to learn about it. He wasn't pushy about it at all, just said that he would like to be there if I wanted him to be. If not, he would like to come by shortly after to check on us. I just thought it was really cool that he offered...something that is definitely unexpected from a general practitioner.

[pazerific]

our family doc offered to be at dd2's birth to help with hypnosis pain relief. i politely declined, just b/c it felt like "too many cooks in the kitchen" IYKWIM. my MW was relieved.

i would definitely consider having the doc come by for a home visit *after* babe and placenta are born if you're thinking of doing an office visit otherwise (who wants a healthy baby around a germy doctor's office). personally, i wouldn't have anyone extra at a birth unless there was a strong reason i wanted them there. them learning from the experience wouldn't be a good enough reason to have them there for me. hth and gl!

[the_lissa]

I love my family doctor, but I wouldn't want him at my house for or after teh birth. My midwife can and does everything for the baby until we are discharged at 6 weeks.

[jesbentink]

Thanks for all your responses so far. All good stuff for me to think about.
I think I'll probably just have him come by later in the day to check on us. Luckily I have a long time to decide!

[devon]

one thing to consider though, in support of the dr.

We are always looking for doctors who will support our decision to homebirth and understand the safe-ness of it. Many dr's don't understand because they have not experienced a home birth before (or even a natural birth). If I had a dr that wanted to experience it, I would be Ecstatic! I would feel like it is a great opportunity to educate. Especially if he is supportive to begin with.

My midwife (and actually both the midwives I've interviewed) have brought up that if we feel comfortable doing so, we should invite the dr to be there for part of the home birth, to spread the wonderfulness of it and give them the chance to experience something many do not - the whole idea of ignorance making statements (about HB) because they have not experienced it. My Midwife also considers having any med students who want to observe do so.

All of this being said - it really depends on the comfort of the mom. If it would make me uncomfortable having my dr there, my midwife would never encourage it. I would only consider it with a dr I felt very comfortable with, and would also talk to the dr about my choice to ask them to leave at any time. If I thought the dr could sit back and not do anything/intervene, I would ask them. If I thought they would intervene/try to do something, I would not.

My dr that is providing shadow care for me (not affliated with my midwife but a family practice doctor at my office who I could go to if I had to have a hospital birth for some reason) is really supportive of home birth.

My second son was born at home, unplanned. My family practice dr at the time is actually our neighbor and ran over and delivered him (he was crowning when she got there). I'm seeing a different FP dr for the shadow care who is very HB friendly, and she said "I was so jealous that Dr. B* got to do a home birth! I would love to do one/be there". I'm considering asking her this time around but she didn't ask as of yet.

Just another perspective.

[jesbentink]

Devon, you make some wonderful points. I feel that if this doctor gets to experience this in our small hometown that maybe, just maybe he will persuade other patients and even doctors that is is a healthy alternative. (The reason I chose a homebirth to begin with is the lack of support for a VBAC this time around.) He is always ready and willing to read up and study something that he doesn't know much about. I brought up the webster technique the other day and he didnt know what it was. After I explained it to him(he does adjustments as well) he told me how he had written this report about the importance of chiropractic work during pregnancy and the benefit of "opening" the pelvis to help reduce the chance of a breech or posterior baby. And then he concluded with the promise to read up on the Webster technique. I do go to a different chiropractor about once a month for regular check ups but when I get adjusted by my family doc he is so much gentler.

[shanahan]

in our area, CNM's can legally do homebirths, but only if they have a doctor "sign off" saying they are back-up - but because there are so few who are willing to sign off as an "on paper backup" because of medical insurance crap, the few who will are usually so far away from the CNM and the homebirth, that they really aren't back-up at all....

so, in my long-winded way, what I'm trying to say is that my thoughts are that midwives, at least in my area, are HUNGRY to meet local doctors who might be seen as or might become advocates or supporters. We are in the heart of AMA territory, so the relationship between MD's and CNM's is often not warm, so I think they would love to find doctors where they can have that nice relationship with so perhaps a reciprocal relationship of some sort can be formed....

I find that good, "holistic" providers are often cut from similar cloths, and enjoy networking with one another, learning more about the other's particular area, finding ways they can be supportive of each other, etc....

BUT, obviously, go with whatever your midwife says!!

[rockportmidwife]

We had a situation like that come up recently. At first we thought, "Cool this could really help us." But then we realized since the Dr is considered a higher authority that if we did anything different than what he was taught and was comfortable with, it could be a potential problem. If he decided at anytime that it was taking to long etc and she needed to go in, then we would have to submit to his authority whether we agreed or not. Having him come after everything is over to help cultivate that relationship if all parties are in agreement, could be a good thing though.

[*MamaJen*]

If I were a midwife, I could see myself not wanting to have a doctor hovering over my shoulder. That said, it sort of sounds like the doctor simply wants to observe a homebirth -- sort of like a midwife's apprentice would do. I think if you did have him come, it would have to be very clear what his role and his authority was in the situation. Midwives are very competent in post-natal care for the mother and the babe.
I do think it's great that he's interested in homebirth and supportive of it. I wish there were more doctors like him.

[mwherbs]

only way to know is to mention it to your midwife, see what she thinks.then talk to the doc-
we have had clients who were docs or their dh is a doc or children of doctors- and actually 2 of my long time midwife friends are married to docs- one is a DO who does all sorts of alternative care and the other is a GPwho has added some degree of alternative practice into his life--so it is very possible that your doc may want to come and see.

[themammy]

I had a similar situation, except my GP is a woman, around the same age as me. She was also an aquaintance, before I found out she was our doctor. She was in my yoga class and her fiance surfs with my dh.

My midwife was completely comfortable with the idea of having her there. However, we made it really clear that she would be there as a friend and not in her professional capacity at all. I really wanted her to see a home birth, to spread the good word.

As it turns out, her fiance proposed - and they were off on their honeymoon when ds was born. In hindsight, I think I'm glad it was only dh, midwife, me and the dogs. It felt like our special little circle and nobody else belonged in it. Nothing against the GP - I wouldn't have even wanted my sister or best friend there.

[HeatherHeather]

We had a family friend who is a surgeon at all three births attended by midwives. It was never a problem. His attitude about homebirth changed dramatically from the first to the third.

[MelW]

My midwife once attended a homebirth with a perinatologist there as a support person (a family member or friend). She said it went very well- they had talked about it beforehand to clarify their roles- the peri was there purely as support, and the midwife was the "care provider" for the client.

I would make sure that you were really clear with your midwife and your doctor about what their roles would be. Would the doctor just be an observer until after the baby is born. What if there is a need for extra support/resuscitation for the baby at the birth? etc. etc.

It could be a great experience, I think, if everyone involved has the same goals

[kltroy]

I had a natural hospital VBAC with a family doc. It was a really great experience and it was great that now I take my baby to see him for checkups. I don't think your MW would be offended if you framed it properly. Good luck!!