Midwifery Care by Ali

So when I first found out I was pregnant, there was no question in my mind that I wanted an OB. I wanted a "real" doctor and because of my back surgery, I didn't want to mess around. Then I talked through the two different approaches with my Doula while I waited to get accepted into Mt. Sinai and it really changed my perspective. Here's everything I know know and have experienced with midwives vs. OBs: 

• Midwives often have more experience actually delivering babies than OBs. They are trained to deliver babies naturally (vs. OBs who tend to get higher risk pregnancies, and therefore higher Csection rates, and this is what they know and are comfortable with). 
• Midwives tend to feel that our health care system and OBs treat pregnancy as a disease and create a fear based process. They take a completely opposite approach -- no choices should ever be made out of fear, and they combat this all through spending TONS of time with their patients and making sure that they fully understand all of their options and are prepared for anything (even worst case scenarios, and OB intervention) and truly are in control of their birth to the greatest extent they can be. 
• Midwives will spend 45 - 1 hour with you every month. OBs will give you 7 minute appointments. 
• Midwives work in teams - you know get to meet and know every member on that team and one of them will be present at your birth. With an OB, it's actually very unlikely your OB will be the one that delivers your baby. 
• Midwives will take their time and they will let you and your baby take your time. When labour isn't progressing "fast enough" they don't induce you -- instead they try all natural methods first (they don't give a crap about getting people in and out of a hospital to clear out beds, nor do they care about getting back to their own lives). As an aside, my boss just had his second child with an OB at Sinai and half way through their labour the OB had to leave to go to Raptor's game and a new OB stepped in to deliver their baby - NO JOKE!. 
• Midwives are on call for you. If anything out of the ordinary ever happens, you page the team and someone calls you back in minutes. I used this service when I found out I had singles. They were more helpful and more informative than my family doctor and the clinic I went to. 
• They actually come to your house and labour with you before you go to the hospital. They do this so that you don't go to the hospital too early and get sent home, etc. They make sure you get to the right points so that you immediately get seen and treated when you get to the hospital. 
• They will make home visits to you and your baby (instead of you having to take your baby to the doctor) in the first few weeks after birth 
• They will provide lactation support, sleep advice, etc. 
• If something gets complicated and even after a few months your pregnancy makes you higher risk and you need to be transferred to an OB, you still get all the benefits and services of your midwife. You still get your monthly appointments, they will still be at your birth, they will still provide you with after care, etc. So basically, you get the best of both worlds. 
• Overall, they've made this process so much better for me and I feel like I have a team in my corner vs. being put through the system. 
• Downside: they don't believe in over ultra sounding. If you're like me / maggie and are anxious they can give you an extra one if it's causing you so much stress that you just need the comfort of one, but generally after your 18/20 week anatomy ultra sound, you might not have another one until before you give birth. I'm likely going to make them give me one.