[19spitfire]

I've been doing dual care and am finding that the closer we get to the birth the more my ob mentions a repeat CS. Right now I am at 24 weeks. I am very straight forward with her and say that this is just not an option. On the other hand, I haven't told her that we are planning a homebirth because I truely don't want to argue the points of hb with her. So, this is my question, what are your reasons for or against dual care? Do your reasons differ for someone attempting their first hb and an hbac at that? Would you do dual care for free labs? What do you think?

 

[Fly Girl]

I am 16 weeks preggo with my first and currently doing dual care. My insurance is a HMO and will not cover any of my planned homebirth. I also have not told my OB that I am planning a homebirth and haven't decided if I'm going to tell him or not. I am only doing dual care for the free labs and ultrasounds. I will probably "switch" to midwife only care at about 24 weeks.

 

[Changed]

Well, just a warning- I was told recently that dual care was a liability to the Dr. and that it's unacceptable if they know about it and that they will give you the legally required 30 days notice. Hopefully all Dr.'s don't feel that way.

 

[meredyth0315]

All good questions <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> For me, I saw the OB until I was 19 weeks. I had 2 appts with my mw before I decided wholeheartedly that was the route I was going. I'm also looking at an HBA2C, so TOL was absolutely no option where the OB was concerned and this was a huge issue for me. At first I was torn about seeing them both, but then realized that I'm getting more personal care with my mw than with the OB. I'm also fortunate as my insurance will cover most of her fee, labs & u/s, so that's not an issue. I have an u/s scheduled for this week (booked a month ago at the OB's office), but I will be cancelling and not going back or calling for anything; I assume they'll forget all about me (not that they remember you anyway <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eyesroll.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="roll">)

 

[barefootpoetry]

I am 24 weeks and still seeing OBs. I don't have a car right now, and the closest CPMs are over an hour away, so I will be switching late in the game most likely. I do plan on it though, and will most likely continue to see the OBs simply because they are so much closer to me and gas is almost $4 a gallon now. I haven't figured out what I'll do when the birth happens and I obviously never showed up at the hospital, but ehh, cross that bridge when I come to it!

 

[TCA2008]

After 2 c-sections, I had a homebirth last July. I however, kept my dual care until I reached 37 weeks (at which point I told them I was having a homebirth and they dropped me), but here is why - because if anything happened earlier, like premature labor or some other complication, my midwife would have had to turn me over to doctors anyhow and a homebirth wasn't possible - so I figured it would be best if I had regular doctors to go to if something happened. At 37 weeks, I knew that at anytime after that if I went into labor, the midwife could attend me. Also, I figured if something happened and I needed to transfer, the hospital would have access to a full record of pre-natal care since I had received doctor care to term.<br><br>
Fortunately, there was no need and I had a wonderful HBA2C. I was very happy to follow up with the doctor practice to let them know how wonderful my homebirth was, and I certainly hope it made an impression on them so that they are supportive of other VBA2Cs (they were pretty hestitant to "let me have a trial of labor").