Midwife or ob?

I had a midwife and she was great. I have never been to an obs so I am not too sure of the difference. But if you feel uncomfortable then seriously look into changing - you shouldn't be made to feel like that.

in my experience an ob is not as personal as a midwife. they usually dont have alot of time to spend with you. I wish you lived where i do I did have the best ob he always spent time awnsering my questions and he was always interested in what I had to say.

i'd say midwives are better.

ob's are usually men, and what do men know about birthing children? i'd like to keep medicine out of childbirth as much as possible unless there's a real need for intervention. so yeah, i'd go with a midwife.

I'm not sure where you are from. In Texas, midwives can't take medicaid so I had to go to an ob. I liked him. He was really old and really patient. I would have loved to have a midwife though and I think that if that is an option for you, you should go for it.

i started with a doctor and switched to a midwife. she was within a practice so i met a few of the doctors too. but she focused on me and like a pp said she spent more time with me then a doctor would have. but remember midwives aren't doctors. they can't perform c-sections. so met a few of the doctors that might be on call so you know who would be if the situation arises.

I found my OB by searching online for local feminist health centers.
She is awesome and totally supportive of any decisions I made/make.
It really is dependent on the person.
I thought I wanted a midwife because I like to birth without much intervention but my OB was able to facilitate that, too.

when i was in oregon, i went to a midwife. it was nice there because they let me meet with a different midwife at every appointment, until i found someone i was comfortable with, and then she was supposed to be with me for the rest of my pregnancy. however, i moved during my pregnancy back to california, and i ended up having an ob. there were 3 different ones where i went, 2 male and 1 female. i made sure to meet with all 3 of them so i could choose which one i liked best. i thought i'd want a female because itd be more comfortable, but i ended up not liking her. so the doctor i liked best was a guy, and he was really helpful and supportive of everything i wanted to do and always answered any of my questions thoroughly. he was even really cool about me wanting to go through labor as natural as possible, even though i ended up needing a csection because my baby was too big for me.

anyways, if there are other doctors at the place you are going, you can reschedule your next appointment to see one of them. and if you can't for your second appointment, then you can do it for you 3rd or so on. i'd suggest meeting with a few, just so you can choose one that's right for you, and if you can find one at the same clinic/dr. office/whereever you go, that'd be better because it saves you from having to have paperwork/test results/etc sent to a different place, which i found to be a hassle (my paperwork from my midwife in oregon, wasn't released to my doctor in cali until my post partum check up!)

Depends on the practice, but many do. Many practices, both OB and midwife, will let you schedule a consultation: ask.

CNMs practice for the most part in hospitals, and I've NEVER seen any of them deny a pt pain meds.

I personally have opted for an OB with both my pregnancies because I'm at risk of preterm labor and I have some other health issues, but for low-risk normal pregnancies I've heard great things about midwives. I'd maybe see if you could meet a couple different providers and pick the one you seem most comfortable with.. Good luck in finding a provider you like!

I had an OB when i was first preg. there was a midwife in her office, but i didn't know that at the time. The one day my OB was just gone, and didn't tell me she was leaving. So i had to pick a new doc. and i went with the midwife. She was so nice to me, not that my other doc wasn't. I really didn't see a difference in the way they practiced. But there was always an OB in the office in case Melanie needed something. All the women in the office were women. To me that is more important then thier title. Because if something happened and you doc couldn't make it they might send in one of the other docs and it could be a man. I would not be okay with that. But I might be odd.

My first pregnancy was high risk so I had an OB. My second went smoothly and I had a midwife. I cannot begin to express how wonderful that experience was; I had a home delivery and no need for pain medication. Optimally you want to pick someone with whom you are comfortable with and who can take care of your health needs.