[dw'smamma]

Hello,

I am in the process of finding a MW that I am compatible with. I have already met with one.....however, she had only done 3 HB's Total. The other lady I am looking forward to meeting has done 50.

I know one of the questions you should ask is how many homebirths have you attended. But......what is enough?? Is there a certain amount of HB's that your MW has attended that makes you feel confident in her capablities??

I was just wondering what other mammas' MW's experience was and if it really matters.

Thanks!

 

[phoebemommy]

Mine is at something like 400 (she'd lost track of counting for a while when I asked). She's been in it for 10 years. It wasn't the number that impressed me so much as her confidence level. It was pretty clear to me from discussion that she wouldn't fail me in a pinch, either way -- we'd go to the hospital if it really was the best thing for me, but if staying at home was possible and safe, we'd stay.

I don't really know what's a good number to insist on, but it's worth considering that homebirth midwives only attend a small handful of births every month, rather than five a day like some doctors.

 

[tika]

oops

 

[momto l&a]

Mine has doing hb's for 20 years and has about 500 under her belt.

There is another "mw" starting in our area and she has only been to about 30 births, shes too cocky and I wouldn't use her till she has a lot more years of experience. She has way to much to learn. I use "mw" because she calls herself one but IMO she an assistant and not enough experience to call herself one. She attended my birth as an assistant and fortunately she listened to what I wanted and thankfully I knew what I wanted because other wise the cord would have been cut too soon and other such stuff.

 

[Full Heart]

My mw is newly licensed but she'd been assiting for 16 years previous. She was also a doula during that time. Shes attended several hundred births. But not many as primary. But that doesn't bother me because I know how confindent she is. My past mw was extremly busy (twice she had another lady in labor the same time as me). She once did 100 births in 1 year! Thats way way way too much. You can't get to know your patients, you don't have enough time with your own family, you rush through appts cause you always have so many. It wasn't a good thing. I would rather have someone not busy than one who is really busy. Just from experience. Dh couldn't get over the difference in care.

 

[Emilie]

hmmm.... mine has done hundereds....

does your mw work alone? do you feel confident with her? obviously to get her number up she will have to attend births.......

 

[pamamidwife]

how many births has she been to during her apprenticeship? who did she apprentice with? has she only been to three since she started her own practice or three total?

I've had my own practice for five years. I think I'm up to about 160 births as primary midwife. I think. I have to re-count. In my apprenticeship, I went to about 50 births as observer/assistant.

 

[PortraitPixie]

My mw has done approx. 800 homebirths....

She's been in practice since 1978....

 

[MamaTaraX]

Umm..I forget? Mine had done 400 births in 14 years? I think? I forget. That wasn't terribly important to me though, which is why I forget.

Namaste, Tara

 

[Pandora114]

Mine's been around for 25+ years....

If that tells you anything...They've been catching since before it was even legalized/covered in this province...

 

[dw'smamma]

I have not met with the mw in person, but over the email, she said she has attended around 500 births total....and 50homebirths....so I don't know about her apprenticeship.....should I ask those questions when I interview her?

She said she has had 4.5 years hosptial experience and another 3 years in the HB setting.

How do I know how much is enough?

Thanks for replying!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamamidwife how many births has she been to during her apprenticeship? who did she apprentice with? has she only been to three since she started her own practice or three total? I've had my own practice for five years. I think I'm up to about 160 births as primary midwife. I think. I have to re-count. In my apprenticeship, I went to about 50 births as observer/assistant.

 

[Jude Rose]

Mine has done over 1700. Isn't that insane?
She's been doing it since the early 70's and takes care of our local Amish community. I'm sure that helps with the numbers!

The one thing she said that was interesting is that the more births she does, the wider the range of 'normal' is. Things that would have made her stop the birth and transfer to a hospital are less because she's dealt with them so often.

 

[midwifetx]

I don't know about my midwife (Cori? Do you know how many she's done?)

I've done 349births either as primary or partner (I had a midwife partner for quite a while and we worked as a unit)

 

[ckhagen]

Mine did her 1000th birth sometime last year. She's been in practice close to 30 years now IIRC.

 

[dw'smamma]

WOW!!! I feel like the MW I am going to meet and interview is on the wayyyyy LOW end of the scale.....compared to the ones you are talking about with hundreds, even thousands of HB's under their belt!!!

So....should I let this smaller number affect my decision to choose her as a MW??

Any more advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

How do you all find midwifes with that MUCH experience?? I have only contacted the ones I have seen listed on the internet in the area we will be moving to......how do I find the ones unlisted, who may have lots more experience??

THanks!

 

[Emilie]

i think there is a link on here for friends of midwives- maybe www.friendsofmidwives.com

I do not know .... what i would do.... hugs mama.

 

[flapjack]

The lady that you've met with already: with 3 homebirths under her belt. Is she direct entry, or a nurse midwife? Has she been practicing in a hospital already? What made her decide that homebirth midwifery was for her?

The one with 50 under her belt, if she's been working in a hospital environment, I'd trust her. If she moved from hospital to home there's obviously a commitment to natural childbirth and the ideologies, and 50 isn't a novices figure.
The point at which I start flinching is when I hear people talking about using midwives with less than 50 births overall:in the 3 years training over here, students are expected to get 40 births in before they're allowed to practice as a midwife. It seems a reasonable figure.

 

[MamaJame]

1017 - I just met with her last night and she had just updated her stats for the first half of the year, and this is her grand total so far after 25 years, now doing about 100-120 per year.

Jamie

 

[lotusdebi]

Around 650 in 13 years.
I felt an immediate connection, and picked her because of our similar beliefs about birth, but the number of homebirths she's attended and the number of years she has been working as a midwife really helped me feel more comfortable with her as a professional. I believe that she has had enough experience to do the right thing in most any situation. And it helped me get over that last little concern I had about picking a CPM over a CNM.

 

[dw'smamma]

Thanks for the reply!

The one with 3 is a CNM...however she just started doing homebirths not too long ago, obviously. Yes, she has been in a hospital setting for a while. I don't know why she made the switch. Regardless of that number, which I do feel is too small, she lives further away than the other MW.

Yah, I am starting to feel ok about the MW having 50....she has worked in a hospital and said she realize that pregnancy and birth are better at home because there are less interventions, which make both pregnancy and birth happen more naturally.

Thanks for letting me know about the number thing....it makes me feel better if we decide to go w/ her even though she has only done 50.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by flapjack The lady that you've met with already: with 3 homebirths under her belt. Is she direct entry, or a nurse midwife? Has she been practicing in a hospital already? What made her decide that homebirth midwifery was for her? The one with 50 under her belt, if she's been working in a hospital environment, I'd trust her. If she moved from hospital to home there's obviously a commitment to natural childbirth and the ideologies, and 50 isn't a novices figure. The point at which I start flinching is when I hear people talking about using midwives with less than 50 births overall:in the 3 years training over here, students are expected to get 40 births in before they're allowed to practice as a midwife. It seems a reasonable figure.