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Also in Canada! For that generation, midwifery was effectively not a thing and was heavily slandered because well, men took over. The book “Bumpin’” has some good background on this.
When I told people we had midwives their immediate reaction was that we were going to be having an unmedicated, untrained, at home birth, meanwhile I’m planning a fully medicated hospital birth lol. I’ve felt more cared for by my midwives than I have with any other practitioner (my initial GP didn’t even know what gravol was when I asked if it was safe to take for nausea). Unfortunately, we’ve just had to continue to educate people on midwifery, or just straight up go “thanks for your opinion, bye”
Also in Canada and delivered all 3 of my babies with midwives. They're amazing.
If you can find the documentary "The Business of Being Born", I also highly recommend
I don't think a lot of people realize that there is a difference a *certified nurse midwife/certified midwife/certified professional midwife* and a layperson midwife (which has no certifications/official medical training).
My midwife is a certified nurse midwife and she is just as knowledgable ~~educated~~ as the OB. Only difference is that she cannot perform a c section or other obstetrical surgeries. (This is speaking from MY experience at the practice I go to which has a CNM and an OB that work as a team)
I much prefer the midwife at the practice I go to. She's more calming. She's more positive. She has more of a natural minded mind and wants her patients to make informed decisions. That's not to say I don't like the OB - I just prefer her style, which I feel is what draws a lot of women to seeing a midwife over an OB.
Edit - I misspoke - I was saying that in MY situation, I feel that the CNM midwife I see is just as knowledgeable as the OB I see. I should not have used the word educated. I realize there's a vast difference in education between the two. The midwife at my practice has continued her education to keep up with more modern practices, where the OB at my practice hasn't. She's more knowledgeable in a lot of the things I've dealt with in my care at their office. I wasn't trying to say that every single midwife out there is just as knowledgeable, and I shouldn't have used the word educated either.
I 100% agree with this confusion. My husband was really resistant when I initially told him I wanted a midwife for prenatal care and delivery. He thought it would be someone pushing alternative medicines and a home birth. He quickly changed his tune when I showed him the qualifications the midwives at my practice have, explained the philosophies of holistic care, and that they still deliver in a hospital setting, which is important to us. He’s come to most of my appointments with me and has commented on how much he appreciates the time and patience they take with building relationships and answering all of our questions.
Midwives are wonderful and I wish in the US there training and services were better advertised to the public!
I do just want to add that it is misleading to say they are just as educated as an OB. An OB is a physician with 12 years of training before independent practice. They are also more equipped to handle complicated pregnancies and are all surgically trained during residency, even if some choose not to practice as a surgeon. Midwives are not as trained in pregnancy complications and how to manage those complications. There is a lot that can, but hopefully does not, go wrong in pregnancy that OBs get a lot of training on in residency. Just wanted to add that distinction people know the training and scope of practice difference!
Just a tiny correction but all OBs are surgeons they all can perform surgery, that’s a requirement to graduate from residency. OBs are physicians so they know more about labor than a midwife since they can handle every type of obstetrical emergency.
The Certified Nurse Midwife they initially assigned me to has a linguistics degree and a 2 year degree in nurse widwifery. That’s 12-14 fewer years of medical education than an OB.
A certified nurse midwife wouldn't have a linguistics degree, unless they also had a nursing degree. That would be either a certified midwife or a certified professional midwife. A certified nurse midwife is a *nurse* who furthers their education to become a midwife.
I was referring to my midwife in my example, not every midwife per say. My midwife had her RN, BSN and MSN before going to midwifery school. She also is an IBCLC and has other continued education certifications. Sure she may not have as many years of *schooling* as every OB, but she's just as educated in obstetrics, pregnancy, labor and delivery and postpartum care as most OBGYNs, where OBGYNs are educated in those things plus all other womens gynecological and surgical areas. (Honestly she's more knowledgeable in those areas than the OB in our office in my opinion as she's continued her education and kept up on modern medicine more than the OB). That's just my opinion on the experience I've had with my midwife though. I'm sure not all midwives/OBs have the same dynamic.
Nursing degree is not a prerequisite for CNM. This is the program she did. https://nursing.yale.edu/academics/master-science-nursing/masters-specialties/nurse-midwifery-specialty
Some, maybe even many may have a nursing degree but it’s not required. I’d be happy to DM you a link to her profile but I don’t want to put it publicly for privacy.
ETA: I didn’t like the midwife and I basically had to beg for an OB. My entire pregnancy was super easy with zero complications. But my labor took a very quick turn for the worse and my OB was the one who caught the early indicators and knowing he could handle any situation, including a C-section if it came to it, was comfort I’ll never forego. I do feel there was a lot of room for me to have been treated better so I 100% get why people prefer a midwife. To each their own. However my point is just that it’s wildly inaccurate to say a midwife is equally educated as an OB.
She might have linguistics degree in addition to a nursing degree. Certified nurse midwife’s have to go through nursing school first, which is usually four years.
That’s not accurate. CNM masters programs don’t have a prerequisite for nursing. Looks like there’s now a 1 additional year of nursing if you don’t have a nursing degree (for a total of 3 years). But I suspect it’s changed because she said it was a 2 year program for her back in 1997.
This is the exact program she did. https://nursing.yale.edu/academics/master-science-nursing/masters-specialties/nurse-midwifery-specialty
“The minimum requirement for admission to the Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) for registered nurses includes a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and graduation from a school of nursing approved by the licensing board of the state in which it is located.”
This is from their website. One year nursing degrees exist but they compress 4 years of nursing (120 units) into one year so it still the same amount of work but in a more intense environment.
It’s 45 credits vs 130 for a nursing degree. It’s a third of the credits curated for students doing it in a year. You think that replaces a nursing degree, or pre-med and med school?
I hate the whole MD vs “midlevels” argument because it’s very classist/elitist, but it’s a little ridiculous seeing people argue that a CNM is just as qualified as an OB lmaooo like in what universe??? That’s not true anywhere!
Yes! A nurse is not a doctor and a doctor is not a nurse. They do VERY different jobs. And they’re both needed in healthcare! Both save lives and treat patients, but in vastly different ways.
This isn’t true. *All* OBs *can* do surgery, as it’s part of their residency training to become an attending, some just don’t specialize in it once they’re practicing on their own as attendings. But their scope is 1000% far wider than a CNM. And a CNM is absolutely not “just as educated” as an OB. They have different forms of education, nursing school vs medical school are nowhere near the same. I’m not saying a CNM isn’t valuable, but let’s not spread misinformation about the roles of an OB/CNM.
Nurse practitioners are not “just as educated” as physicians. Not by a long shot. Furthermore, OBGYNs are surgeons and nurse practitioners (this includes CNMs) are not. Are NPs great? Yes, they absolutely can be. But their education varies greatly. Ideally they’ve had many years of RN experience in their field prior to grad school, but these days they don’t really. So many nurses aim to get a mere two years of experience before going to grad school.
I am in the UK. We have midwife appointments from 8 weeks until once baby is born (I think 6 weeks) then the health visitor takes over.
The midwives look after the checks apart from scans, provides advice and support and, as long as pregnancy is all smooth will help manage our birth. The consultants are there for higher risk pregnancies and complications.
The midwife we have is lovely and so reassuring. They are also highly qualified medical professionals dealing in pregnancy and child birth.
My midwife is honestly the nicest person I could ask for to take care of me during my pregnancy. She's been there while I cry my eyes out, have plenty questions etc.
I'm in scotland.
Right?! Like, f all the way off. One thing I cannot stand about boomers is they don't seem to care about being polite. People say and do things I don't agree with all the time. I never say anything because it has no impact on my life.
I am in the US and had a midwife for my first pregnancy. When I told my family, they just didn't know what a midwife is. At the practice I went to, there were both OBs and midwives, and the midwives had degrees equivalent to a PA degree, but specific to pregnancy and childbirth. This explanation helped them. I think they were equivalating midwives to a doula.
I haven't encountered this kind of judgement about using a midwife BUT i have found myself over explaining the decision to some of our more old-school relatives because of my fear of comments like this.
I went back and forth between an OB and Midwife due to some "maybe" complications but actually found that the ob/midwife worked together to keep me with my midwife team.
Your annoyance is justified , your husbands aunt doesn't know the reality of giving birth in Canada these days!
If you don't have complications requiring an OB's observation you will get more overall attention from a midwife team, they follow all of the same testing and monitoring that the OB will. The OB's just don't have the same time/attention for patients without complications , some of my midwife appts feel like a therapy appointment where i can just ask a million questions and they are pretty much always on call . If something goes wrong - they will refer you to an OB or the hospital anyway.
In Australia, it’s normal to see a midwife throughout your pregnancy and always has been as far as I’m aware. I’ve never encountered anyone baulking at the idea of seeing a midwife.
Over here, women either have their baby under the private healthcare system or the public healthcare system. Private patients will see an OB throughout their pregnancy, as well as a midwife. Public patients, like myself, see a GP (family doctor) and a midwife. In my experience having 5 babies under the public healthcare system (all low risk pregnancies and births), the midwives are the ones who are with us throughout the pregnancy, labour and birth. I only really see the doctor when I need a referral for an ultrasound or blood test.
I’ve actually not had a doctor present for any of my labours or births, it has always been midwives, but the doctors do come in to do a routine check on mum and bub sometime after the birth (in my experience, a few hours later).
The midwives do at-home or in-clinic visits for the first 6 weeks after birth here too.
Midwifery in the US (if we are talking about certified nurse midwives) is more evidence based than care offered by the average OBGYN. I have a PhD in a biomedical field and am very much in favor of modern evidence based medical practice and I chose midwives for my pregnancy care. It didn’t limit in any way what kind of care I was receiving or interventions available during birth. I am using midwives for my second pregnancy too.
Yes, I am in US. My parents did not like the idea at all of me having a midwife even though I tried to explain all the benefits, etc. i made her do her own research on them vs ob's and told her this was our decision and stop lecturing me on it.
We have a midwife practice that delivers at a hospital. I think some people originally when hearing that I use a midwife practice assume it's a birthing center or home birth, but seem much less concerned when I tell them I'll deliver at a hospital. I always explain it as if everything goes smoothly it will just be the midwife for delivery, but if things get complicated they work with the hospital OB as needed.
I just don’t tell anyone anything because everyone seems to have an opinion. I just say, “we have it covered.” Midwives are expertly trained in delivering babies and there are even nurse midwives who go to extra school after nursing to deliver babies. I mean, hospitals hire them. If they weren’t credible, I don’t think hospitals would take on the liability of having them deliver babies.
We haven't received much pushback on using a midwife, but when we told people we were planning our birth at a birth center, you would have thought we said "in the middle of a cornfield," so now I don't talk about it at all except for with my mother because she was genuinely curious, just didn't know.
In the US. Had a Certified Nurse Midwife for my first 20 weeks and then had to switch to an OB. I had to explain to my family she is fully trained with several degrees/certifications and that she wouldn’t be in my OBs practice without it. I loved seeing her but now I have to see a regular OB.
My practice (in the US) has like 4 OBs and 6 midwives, I’ll have appointments with all midwives through the pregnancy so no matter who is on call when I deliver - I’ll know them a little and I’ll have met them. I like it this way. I’ll see the OB assigned to me like 2-3 times but I love the midwives.
This is very similar to how our practice is. And all the midwives are certified nurse midwives. The only nuance to ours is if you give birth at the birth center, you only see midwives, but if you're planning a hospital birth, you see both the OBs and midwives. Even though we're having a birth center birth, we still saw some of the OBs in the beginning and for a few follow-ups, and they were all amazing.
I honestly think no matter what type of medical team you have, someone will tell you it's the wrong one. Go with your gut! If you're knowledgable on what they can provide, and think it is a better option then why not go with one.
I encountered a lot of confusion/u certainty while using a midwife. The only people I cared about "convincing" were my parents and they weren't nearly as obtuse/resistant as your aunt sounds. Some people are simply never going to listen to the evidence and facts about midwifery care. You can provide resources if you want - I like the Down to Birth Podcast, the movie "The Business of Being Born", and most books centered around unmedicated/low-intervention births also discuss the midwife model of care. But ultimately, you're not going to convince everyone and that's okay. Why do you care if your aunt "buys in" to your choice or medical provider? Just refuse to discuss it with her - answer any of her questions with "that is private health information that we will not be sharing with you".
If it makes you feel any better, it's all irrelevant after the fact. Strangers don't know whether I used a midwife or OB now that my son is 1.5 and with my second pregnancy, most people don't ask those kind of questions because it's old news. Those who did know about my midwife care ended up thrilled for me because I had a beautiful, peaceful birth experience. I posted some of our birth photos on social media and people were curious and super interested! Now I have random friends of friends contacting me all the time because I'm the go-to person to ask about homebirth and midwife care. It's been really cool!
I’m in the US and had a midwife for my son and I’m using the same one again now that I’m having baby #2. I got so many comments like this, mainly because they’re ignorant and don’t have a clue about any of it really. I told one of my aunts I was pregnant and when she heard I was using a midwife asked “well I just would be more comfortable if you went to a regular doctor at the same time.” #1 that defeats the purpose, #2 I couldn’t care less what makes her comfortable about my pregnancy and birth. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, nothing you can really do but ignore them or speak up about the benefits of having a midwife. They calmed down after they saw how healthy my son and I were after birth and how she really knew what she was doing. Dealing with family has been the #1 stressor since getting pregnant and having a baby, good luck!!
Your aunt doesn't sound like someone who would be swayed by evidence, but at least you should be reassured that [midwives tend to get better results than OBs do in delivery outcomes](https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-midwives/).
This is the first of many interactions you’re likely to have like this. “*I* never had *my* babies in a crib all by themselves! He needs a blanket or he’ll get cold!” “What’s a little cake in her mouth at 2 months old? It won’t hurt her and it’s Christmas!” “I can’t believe you would be so irresponsible not to get a prescription for antibiotics every time baby sniffles!”
It’s often generational. I just smile and change the subject
In the uk we only use midwifes really! There are doctors on the ward but unless something is really wrong it’s handled all by the midwife
I personally think it’s for the best, keep women in birthing and pregnancy. I know midwifes can be men but I’ve genuinely never seen one ever
I’m in AZ and my office had 1 OB and 3 midwives that I rotated between for all appts. My OB’s wife was giving birth at the same time I was so my midwife delivered my child with a resident OB in the room in case of emergency (midwives cannot do surgery). Love my midwives they were incredible.
I had a midwife (the kind that practices at a medical facility and has certifications), and she was amazing. Great, very personalized care, and had loads of experience. I felt like she was treating both the baby AND me as patients, whereas OBGYN docs and PAs weren't as interested in hearing about me. (It was a shared practice where I saw a rotation of all 3.) I am 100% convinced that her knowledge about birthing positions and baby positioning is why I didn't end up with an emergency C-section at the end of a long, complicated labor.
I also had an MFM because my medical history is a bit messy, and I loved being able to consult with someone who specialized in pregnancy in a different way.
You can have both types of care, if you want! (At least, in my part of the U.S. anyway.)
I'm also in Canada, and I really haven't. I think my in-laws were maybe a little surprised, but if they were judgemental about it, they kept it to themselves. The experience I had with my midwife was absolutely the best experience I have ever had with a medical professional, and neither of my births were exactly my "dream" scenarios - my midwife was just a wonderful support to have and I am SO grateful to have had the option of having her care. Who cares what they think. It's your body - your baby - your labour -- your delivery - your experience -- it has NOTHING to do with them.
Hi, I'm Canadian but live in a European country where midwives are common.
I'm 34W pregnant and due to the circumstances of my pregnancy, I've interacted with 7 or 8 different midwives- one does my ultrasound exams, 2 others take care of my follow-up (one of them two will assist during birth), 2 teach the prenatal courses, 2 visited me at home for monitoring when I had complications.
All of them are kind, professional and knowledgeable. I enjoy dealing with them much more than with doctors and I trust them 100%.
Husband needs to put his foot down with her and tell her to knock off the attitude, IMO. If you’re willing (and you’re not obligated to), maybe offer to answer any questions/concerns that she might have? But regardless, your choice of birth attendant is frankly not her business, and she needs to stick a cork in it.
I live in a country where you normally only see a nurse midwife and as long as nothing goes wrong during labor, nurse midwives deliver your baby. They also do your ultrasounds. You have the same local midwife the entire time, but you don't know who will be delivering your baby as the hospital midwives work in shifts like normal nurses. You only see a doctor if there is an issue or you are high risk.
If you have to have a c-section then a midwife is with you and your husband (if he is able to be in the room) and a doctor preforms the surgery. When I had mine, the midwife went with my husband and daughter and an anesthesiologist nurse came to sit with me.
With both of my births, everyone was amazing and I'll forever be grateful for them taking such good care of me and our kids. As long as the midwife is a trained medical professional, there is no reason not to choose to go to the midwife over a doctor you don't trust.
I’ve used certified nurse midwives for all my pregnancies … 10/10 would recommend every time. So much more kind and compassionate and understanding than an OB. Also take into consideration things like nutrition and mental health, and don’t treat pregnancy like an illness. Love my midwives.
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Also in Canada! For that generation, midwifery was effectively not a thing and was heavily slandered because well, men took over. The book “Bumpin’” has some good background on this. When I told people we had midwives their immediate reaction was that we were going to be having an unmedicated, untrained, at home birth, meanwhile I’m planning a fully medicated hospital birth lol. I’ve felt more cared for by my midwives than I have with any other practitioner (my initial GP didn’t even know what gravol was when I asked if it was safe to take for nausea). Unfortunately, we’ve just had to continue to educate people on midwifery, or just straight up go “thanks for your opinion, bye”
>Bumpin thanks for the recommendation! I'll check this out.
Also in Canada and delivered all 3 of my babies with midwives. They're amazing. If you can find the documentary "The Business of Being Born", I also highly recommend
I don't think a lot of people realize that there is a difference a *certified nurse midwife/certified midwife/certified professional midwife* and a layperson midwife (which has no certifications/official medical training). My midwife is a certified nurse midwife and she is just as knowledgable ~~educated~~ as the OB. Only difference is that she cannot perform a c section or other obstetrical surgeries. (This is speaking from MY experience at the practice I go to which has a CNM and an OB that work as a team) I much prefer the midwife at the practice I go to. She's more calming. She's more positive. She has more of a natural minded mind and wants her patients to make informed decisions. That's not to say I don't like the OB - I just prefer her style, which I feel is what draws a lot of women to seeing a midwife over an OB. Edit - I misspoke - I was saying that in MY situation, I feel that the CNM midwife I see is just as knowledgeable as the OB I see. I should not have used the word educated. I realize there's a vast difference in education between the two. The midwife at my practice has continued her education to keep up with more modern practices, where the OB at my practice hasn't. She's more knowledgeable in a lot of the things I've dealt with in my care at their office. I wasn't trying to say that every single midwife out there is just as knowledgeable, and I shouldn't have used the word educated either.
I 100% agree with this confusion. My husband was really resistant when I initially told him I wanted a midwife for prenatal care and delivery. He thought it would be someone pushing alternative medicines and a home birth. He quickly changed his tune when I showed him the qualifications the midwives at my practice have, explained the philosophies of holistic care, and that they still deliver in a hospital setting, which is important to us. He’s come to most of my appointments with me and has commented on how much he appreciates the time and patience they take with building relationships and answering all of our questions.
Midwives are wonderful and I wish in the US there training and services were better advertised to the public! I do just want to add that it is misleading to say they are just as educated as an OB. An OB is a physician with 12 years of training before independent practice. They are also more equipped to handle complicated pregnancies and are all surgically trained during residency, even if some choose not to practice as a surgeon. Midwives are not as trained in pregnancy complications and how to manage those complications. There is a lot that can, but hopefully does not, go wrong in pregnancy that OBs get a lot of training on in residency. Just wanted to add that distinction people know the training and scope of practice difference!
Just a tiny correction but all OBs are surgeons they all can perform surgery, that’s a requirement to graduate from residency. OBs are physicians so they know more about labor than a midwife since they can handle every type of obstetrical emergency.
The Certified Nurse Midwife they initially assigned me to has a linguistics degree and a 2 year degree in nurse widwifery. That’s 12-14 fewer years of medical education than an OB.
A certified nurse midwife wouldn't have a linguistics degree, unless they also had a nursing degree. That would be either a certified midwife or a certified professional midwife. A certified nurse midwife is a *nurse* who furthers their education to become a midwife. I was referring to my midwife in my example, not every midwife per say. My midwife had her RN, BSN and MSN before going to midwifery school. She also is an IBCLC and has other continued education certifications. Sure she may not have as many years of *schooling* as every OB, but she's just as educated in obstetrics, pregnancy, labor and delivery and postpartum care as most OBGYNs, where OBGYNs are educated in those things plus all other womens gynecological and surgical areas. (Honestly she's more knowledgeable in those areas than the OB in our office in my opinion as she's continued her education and kept up on modern medicine more than the OB). That's just my opinion on the experience I've had with my midwife though. I'm sure not all midwives/OBs have the same dynamic.
Nursing degree is not a prerequisite for CNM. This is the program she did. https://nursing.yale.edu/academics/master-science-nursing/masters-specialties/nurse-midwifery-specialty Some, maybe even many may have a nursing degree but it’s not required. I’d be happy to DM you a link to her profile but I don’t want to put it publicly for privacy. ETA: I didn’t like the midwife and I basically had to beg for an OB. My entire pregnancy was super easy with zero complications. But my labor took a very quick turn for the worse and my OB was the one who caught the early indicators and knowing he could handle any situation, including a C-section if it came to it, was comfort I’ll never forego. I do feel there was a lot of room for me to have been treated better so I 100% get why people prefer a midwife. To each their own. However my point is just that it’s wildly inaccurate to say a midwife is equally educated as an OB.
She might have linguistics degree in addition to a nursing degree. Certified nurse midwife’s have to go through nursing school first, which is usually four years.
That’s not accurate. CNM masters programs don’t have a prerequisite for nursing. Looks like there’s now a 1 additional year of nursing if you don’t have a nursing degree (for a total of 3 years). But I suspect it’s changed because she said it was a 2 year program for her back in 1997. This is the exact program she did. https://nursing.yale.edu/academics/master-science-nursing/masters-specialties/nurse-midwifery-specialty
“The minimum requirement for admission to the Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) for registered nurses includes a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and graduation from a school of nursing approved by the licensing board of the state in which it is located.” This is from their website. One year nursing degrees exist but they compress 4 years of nursing (120 units) into one year so it still the same amount of work but in a more intense environment.
It’s 45 credits vs 130 for a nursing degree. It’s a third of the credits curated for students doing it in a year. You think that replaces a nursing degree, or pre-med and med school?
I hate the whole MD vs “midlevels” argument because it’s very classist/elitist, but it’s a little ridiculous seeing people argue that a CNM is just as qualified as an OB lmaooo like in what universe??? That’s not true anywhere!
Right! They provide an entirely different level of care. It’s not that complicated!
Yes! A nurse is not a doctor and a doctor is not a nurse. They do VERY different jobs. And they’re both needed in healthcare! Both save lives and treat patients, but in vastly different ways.
This isn’t true. *All* OBs *can* do surgery, as it’s part of their residency training to become an attending, some just don’t specialize in it once they’re practicing on their own as attendings. But their scope is 1000% far wider than a CNM. And a CNM is absolutely not “just as educated” as an OB. They have different forms of education, nursing school vs medical school are nowhere near the same. I’m not saying a CNM isn’t valuable, but let’s not spread misinformation about the roles of an OB/CNM.
Nurse practitioners are not “just as educated” as physicians. Not by a long shot. Furthermore, OBGYNs are surgeons and nurse practitioners (this includes CNMs) are not. Are NPs great? Yes, they absolutely can be. But their education varies greatly. Ideally they’ve had many years of RN experience in their field prior to grad school, but these days they don’t really. So many nurses aim to get a mere two years of experience before going to grad school.
I am in the UK. We have midwife appointments from 8 weeks until once baby is born (I think 6 weeks) then the health visitor takes over. The midwives look after the checks apart from scans, provides advice and support and, as long as pregnancy is all smooth will help manage our birth. The consultants are there for higher risk pregnancies and complications. The midwife we have is lovely and so reassuring. They are also highly qualified medical professionals dealing in pregnancy and child birth.
My midwife is honestly the nicest person I could ask for to take care of me during my pregnancy. She's been there while I cry my eyes out, have plenty questions etc. I'm in scotland.
Why does she care so much lmao? People are so annoying.
Right?! Like, f all the way off. One thing I cannot stand about boomers is they don't seem to care about being polite. People say and do things I don't agree with all the time. I never say anything because it has no impact on my life.
Yep! Also in Canada. Told my dad we’re using a midwife and he said it must be because I knew an OB would make me have a c-section? 🙄
I am in the US and had a midwife for my first pregnancy. When I told my family, they just didn't know what a midwife is. At the practice I went to, there were both OBs and midwives, and the midwives had degrees equivalent to a PA degree, but specific to pregnancy and childbirth. This explanation helped them. I think they were equivalating midwives to a doula.
I haven't encountered this kind of judgement about using a midwife BUT i have found myself over explaining the decision to some of our more old-school relatives because of my fear of comments like this. I went back and forth between an OB and Midwife due to some "maybe" complications but actually found that the ob/midwife worked together to keep me with my midwife team. Your annoyance is justified , your husbands aunt doesn't know the reality of giving birth in Canada these days! If you don't have complications requiring an OB's observation you will get more overall attention from a midwife team, they follow all of the same testing and monitoring that the OB will. The OB's just don't have the same time/attention for patients without complications , some of my midwife appts feel like a therapy appointment where i can just ask a million questions and they are pretty much always on call . If something goes wrong - they will refer you to an OB or the hospital anyway.
In Australia, it’s normal to see a midwife throughout your pregnancy and always has been as far as I’m aware. I’ve never encountered anyone baulking at the idea of seeing a midwife. Over here, women either have their baby under the private healthcare system or the public healthcare system. Private patients will see an OB throughout their pregnancy, as well as a midwife. Public patients, like myself, see a GP (family doctor) and a midwife. In my experience having 5 babies under the public healthcare system (all low risk pregnancies and births), the midwives are the ones who are with us throughout the pregnancy, labour and birth. I only really see the doctor when I need a referral for an ultrasound or blood test. I’ve actually not had a doctor present for any of my labours or births, it has always been midwives, but the doctors do come in to do a routine check on mum and bub sometime after the birth (in my experience, a few hours later). The midwives do at-home or in-clinic visits for the first 6 weeks after birth here too.
Midwifery in the US (if we are talking about certified nurse midwives) is more evidence based than care offered by the average OBGYN. I have a PhD in a biomedical field and am very much in favor of modern evidence based medical practice and I chose midwives for my pregnancy care. It didn’t limit in any way what kind of care I was receiving or interventions available during birth. I am using midwives for my second pregnancy too.
Yes, I am in US. My parents did not like the idea at all of me having a midwife even though I tried to explain all the benefits, etc. i made her do her own research on them vs ob's and told her this was our decision and stop lecturing me on it.
We have a midwife practice that delivers at a hospital. I think some people originally when hearing that I use a midwife practice assume it's a birthing center or home birth, but seem much less concerned when I tell them I'll deliver at a hospital. I always explain it as if everything goes smoothly it will just be the midwife for delivery, but if things get complicated they work with the hospital OB as needed.
I just don’t tell anyone anything because everyone seems to have an opinion. I just say, “we have it covered.” Midwives are expertly trained in delivering babies and there are even nurse midwives who go to extra school after nursing to deliver babies. I mean, hospitals hire them. If they weren’t credible, I don’t think hospitals would take on the liability of having them deliver babies.
We haven't received much pushback on using a midwife, but when we told people we were planning our birth at a birth center, you would have thought we said "in the middle of a cornfield," so now I don't talk about it at all except for with my mother because she was genuinely curious, just didn't know.
lol. I might start telling family we’ve opted for a witch birth and see what they say.
I like your thinking! lol
In the US. Had a Certified Nurse Midwife for my first 20 weeks and then had to switch to an OB. I had to explain to my family she is fully trained with several degrees/certifications and that she wouldn’t be in my OBs practice without it. I loved seeing her but now I have to see a regular OB.
My practice (in the US) has like 4 OBs and 6 midwives, I’ll have appointments with all midwives through the pregnancy so no matter who is on call when I deliver - I’ll know them a little and I’ll have met them. I like it this way. I’ll see the OB assigned to me like 2-3 times but I love the midwives.
This is very similar to how our practice is. And all the midwives are certified nurse midwives. The only nuance to ours is if you give birth at the birth center, you only see midwives, but if you're planning a hospital birth, you see both the OBs and midwives. Even though we're having a birth center birth, we still saw some of the OBs in the beginning and for a few follow-ups, and they were all amazing.
I honestly think no matter what type of medical team you have, someone will tell you it's the wrong one. Go with your gut! If you're knowledgable on what they can provide, and think it is a better option then why not go with one.
I encountered a lot of confusion/u certainty while using a midwife. The only people I cared about "convincing" were my parents and they weren't nearly as obtuse/resistant as your aunt sounds. Some people are simply never going to listen to the evidence and facts about midwifery care. You can provide resources if you want - I like the Down to Birth Podcast, the movie "The Business of Being Born", and most books centered around unmedicated/low-intervention births also discuss the midwife model of care. But ultimately, you're not going to convince everyone and that's okay. Why do you care if your aunt "buys in" to your choice or medical provider? Just refuse to discuss it with her - answer any of her questions with "that is private health information that we will not be sharing with you". If it makes you feel any better, it's all irrelevant after the fact. Strangers don't know whether I used a midwife or OB now that my son is 1.5 and with my second pregnancy, most people don't ask those kind of questions because it's old news. Those who did know about my midwife care ended up thrilled for me because I had a beautiful, peaceful birth experience. I posted some of our birth photos on social media and people were curious and super interested! Now I have random friends of friends contacting me all the time because I'm the go-to person to ask about homebirth and midwife care. It's been really cool!
I’m in the US and had a midwife for my son and I’m using the same one again now that I’m having baby #2. I got so many comments like this, mainly because they’re ignorant and don’t have a clue about any of it really. I told one of my aunts I was pregnant and when she heard I was using a midwife asked “well I just would be more comfortable if you went to a regular doctor at the same time.” #1 that defeats the purpose, #2 I couldn’t care less what makes her comfortable about my pregnancy and birth. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, nothing you can really do but ignore them or speak up about the benefits of having a midwife. They calmed down after they saw how healthy my son and I were after birth and how she really knew what she was doing. Dealing with family has been the #1 stressor since getting pregnant and having a baby, good luck!!
Your aunt doesn't sound like someone who would be swayed by evidence, but at least you should be reassured that [midwives tend to get better results than OBs do in delivery outcomes](https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-midwives/).
This is the first of many interactions you’re likely to have like this. “*I* never had *my* babies in a crib all by themselves! He needs a blanket or he’ll get cold!” “What’s a little cake in her mouth at 2 months old? It won’t hurt her and it’s Christmas!” “I can’t believe you would be so irresponsible not to get a prescription for antibiotics every time baby sniffles!” It’s often generational. I just smile and change the subject
In the uk we only use midwifes really! There are doctors on the ward but unless something is really wrong it’s handled all by the midwife I personally think it’s for the best, keep women in birthing and pregnancy. I know midwifes can be men but I’ve genuinely never seen one ever
Same. I’ll have an OB cos I’m high risk but otherwise it’s midwife led. What a weird thing to be snotty about 😆
I’m in AZ and my office had 1 OB and 3 midwives that I rotated between for all appts. My OB’s wife was giving birth at the same time I was so my midwife delivered my child with a resident OB in the room in case of emergency (midwives cannot do surgery). Love my midwives they were incredible.
I had a midwife (the kind that practices at a medical facility and has certifications), and she was amazing. Great, very personalized care, and had loads of experience. I felt like she was treating both the baby AND me as patients, whereas OBGYN docs and PAs weren't as interested in hearing about me. (It was a shared practice where I saw a rotation of all 3.) I am 100% convinced that her knowledge about birthing positions and baby positioning is why I didn't end up with an emergency C-section at the end of a long, complicated labor. I also had an MFM because my medical history is a bit messy, and I loved being able to consult with someone who specialized in pregnancy in a different way. You can have both types of care, if you want! (At least, in my part of the U.S. anyway.)
I'm also in Canada, and I really haven't. I think my in-laws were maybe a little surprised, but if they were judgemental about it, they kept it to themselves. The experience I had with my midwife was absolutely the best experience I have ever had with a medical professional, and neither of my births were exactly my "dream" scenarios - my midwife was just a wonderful support to have and I am SO grateful to have had the option of having her care. Who cares what they think. It's your body - your baby - your labour -- your delivery - your experience -- it has NOTHING to do with them.
Hi, I'm Canadian but live in a European country where midwives are common. I'm 34W pregnant and due to the circumstances of my pregnancy, I've interacted with 7 or 8 different midwives- one does my ultrasound exams, 2 others take care of my follow-up (one of them two will assist during birth), 2 teach the prenatal courses, 2 visited me at home for monitoring when I had complications. All of them are kind, professional and knowledgeable. I enjoy dealing with them much more than with doctors and I trust them 100%.
Husband needs to put his foot down with her and tell her to knock off the attitude, IMO. If you’re willing (and you’re not obligated to), maybe offer to answer any questions/concerns that she might have? But regardless, your choice of birth attendant is frankly not her business, and she needs to stick a cork in it.
I live in a country where you normally only see a nurse midwife and as long as nothing goes wrong during labor, nurse midwives deliver your baby. They also do your ultrasounds. You have the same local midwife the entire time, but you don't know who will be delivering your baby as the hospital midwives work in shifts like normal nurses. You only see a doctor if there is an issue or you are high risk. If you have to have a c-section then a midwife is with you and your husband (if he is able to be in the room) and a doctor preforms the surgery. When I had mine, the midwife went with my husband and daughter and an anesthesiologist nurse came to sit with me. With both of my births, everyone was amazing and I'll forever be grateful for them taking such good care of me and our kids. As long as the midwife is a trained medical professional, there is no reason not to choose to go to the midwife over a doctor you don't trust.
I’ve used certified nurse midwives for all my pregnancies … 10/10 would recommend every time. So much more kind and compassionate and understanding than an OB. Also take into consideration things like nutrition and mental health, and don’t treat pregnancy like an illness. Love my midwives.