I agree with the others--both on weekly visits starting at/near 36wks, and on homebirth midwife care being very different from OB care. Besides, for me, being a homebirth midwife means having a pretty close, warm relationship with my ladies/families. I find that in those later weeks, when seeing each other more often, is when our relationship really starts to come together in the needed ways. Hopefully, up to that point we have already begun to get to know each other, but those final, more frequent visits do add depth to our connection, to our trust and understanding with each other....and since birth is nearing, it is also when things are more likely to come up for the mom/family that may have seemed unimportant before, or just did not occur to anyone before that time. Not so much physical issues as emotional ones and/or preferences about the birth...we start talking much more in depth about birth and baby, people's roles at the birth, fears, expectations, wishes, changes to original plans for birth (like, who will be there, what will their jobs be)...so many possible things. There is a growing sense of becoming a team, that building excitement/anticipation...and the chance to cover anything at all that might not have been as well-addressed earlier as we now understand it needs to be covered.<br><br>
Only once have I gone with a fam's wish to skip some of those weeklies--and I regretted it. The birth actually went fine, but dad just really wasn't as well prepared as he should have been. There were also so postpartum issues that I think could have been avoided. All in all, everything was ok--and both parents were intensely pleased with their birth. Still, I wished later that I had been a bit more firm about having those weekly visits (well, they did start care fairly late, so that might have made a difference, too). But at least this fam was willing and able to do mom's b/p and babies heart, and to stay in touch by phone. I do want to know just how both mom and baby are doing at the end, to be prepared for any changes in their status as can occur in the final weeks.<br><br>
The main things seem to be: how happy are you, right now with the care situation and terms, and your level of trust with your midwife? And then, after the birth--I will wonder if you are still happy with that, or if you have realized through events that too much was taken for granted, and not enough care was provided, or not enough building of trust and good communication with your midwife--?<br><br>
best!
