[Brighids Flame]

 

[Defenestrator]

I've had lots of positive experiences with them as a doula and as a midwife collaborating with them. I've also had experiences working with clients with blood clotting disorders as both a midwife and doula, so if you want to talk about that, feel free to pm me. I have found that even though UofM has a lot of flaws, there is a culture of trying to respect patient wishes there and trying to preserve informed consent. Their new hospital, which will be open in November, has better waterbirth facilities than the current one, so I hope that they will do better with making waterbirth a viable option. The delayed cord clamping and the placenta-keeping are non-issues there -- they will respect your wishes with those.

There are several midwives I recommend there -- Joann Bailey, Heather Lemon, Lisa Schieman, among others.

Good luck!

 

[pizbo]

When you say that UofM has a lot of flaws, what kinds of flaws are you talking about. I've scheduled an appointment with the UofM midwives and am very interested in a natural birth (waterbirth if possible). I'm looking for someplace that will respect my wishes and am hoping that University Hospital will be a good fit.

 

[Brighids Flame]

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[LMonterosso]

Hi,

I'm due in March with my first baby and am also using the U of M midwives. I have not had too many visits, honestly, because I have been completing an internship out of state, but will be back in a few weeks for good.

The visits that I have had have gone really well though.

Does anyone know what the new hospital is like? I heard that it opened this month and have not been able to see it since I have been out of state.

Would love any info on that and any input on working with U of M midwives that you might have.

Thank you!

 

[amberbirthdoula]

The new hospital is going to be awesome! It will be open Dec 4th & there will now be 8 rooms with tubs (before there were only 3 so sometimes I had clients who wanted one and didn't get one) so that will be great. There are also more rooms overall so hopefully less time spent in triage/no sharing rooms on the 7th floor for post-c-section moms. Also, the U of M midwives are wonderful, I've had a chance to work with 9 of them and they were all very sweet and open to whatever the moms wanted. You have a lot more freedom when you deliver with them.

I would recommend scheduling a tour of the new birth center before you deliver so you feel more comfortable when you're in labor.

Best of luck with baby #1!

~Amber

 

[thebyr]

Sounds awesome. I just found out I was preggers and my OB/GYN already works in the women's clinic. I'm excited to see the new space when I go for my first prenatal appt in a few weeks. Amber - I'll be looking for a Doula that knows the midwives too - I might be emailing you! Headed to check out your site now.

 

[amberbirthdoula]

Congratulations! I'd love to hear from you when you start your hunt.

 

[thebyr]

yeah - about that.. when should my hunt start? Maybe that's a dorky question - but I just made my first appt with the CNMs at UMICH. I go on the 27th of December. How early do you usually start seeing your patients (lol - is that even what you call them?)?

 

[amberbirthdoula]

I've already chatted with Thebyr, but for other moms with the same question I'd say start your hunt whenever you'd like. At least for me, the earlier I'm hired the more 'bang for your buck' you get so to speak. Having your doula picked out allows you to get to know her better before you birth and gives you someone to bounce ideas off of throughout the pregnancy. Really it's just another resource for you. But on the other end, I've been hired as late at 37 weeks before and everything still worked out great, so no stress on either end.