Sarah88

I just have to add, that I LOVE my midwife. She has been so nice, she has gotten my into hypnobirthing and very supportive of it; plus she is going to ask another of her patients if she would rent me her birthing pool and how much. She definately goes the extra mile which a doctor wouldn't have time to do.

Younglutonmum

Wow im so amazed that in some parts of the world you don't automatically get a Midwife!!

God my doctor ships us off to the MW asap!! I had one appt with him to confirm my pregnancy & haveb't seen him since! Has been MW led care the whole way thru

claire roach

i had my midwife home visit on monday she was here about 40mins, but said id have to be cared for by a obgyn aswell because of various reasons. but i still get 2 see her as i normally would have. so i guess i get the 2 of them 2 look after me n bean

masi

I am under shared care ie;midwife, and consultant, but hopefully i will be giving birth at home with 2 midwifes present, and no doctor involvement at all.

Lois

Broad sweeping statement alert!!

This is not true of everyone but in general I think midwives take a client-centred approach where the mum-to-be is considered as much an expert on her own pregnancy as the midwife is (which I think leads to a closer and more open relationship between mum and midwife) whereas doctors take a more medical model approach where doctor knows best and mother should do as she is told (which I think can leave mothers feeling disempowered and unwilling to ask questions). Again, I wouldn't say this is true in every case and there are plenty of doctors who have a wonderfully client-centred approach.

In Britain you are automatically referred to a midwife or team of midwives who will look after your needs through pregnancy, birth and early infanthood. My booking in appointment was very comprehensive and lasted an hour and a half...it was fantastic!

And here the essay ends!!

Lx

heather91

My pregnancy didn't even get confirmed! I went to the doctor and said I'd had a positive test and he sent me straight to the midwife who I saw there and then! In certain circumstances you can have what's called 'shared care' where you see the consultant and the midwife. That's usually if there's a family history of something, or you have any problems etc.

Shifter

I'm very pro-midwife. I was really surprised a few years back when I found out that the UK is quite rare in its approach. It makes so much sense to have professionals who specialise in pregnancy and childbirth, people who have three years training just on that area. They are true experts in the field and do a fantastic job.

I agree with Lois, although there are some fantastic doctors out there, the standard training of midwives is different to that of doctors and it generally leads to a different type of practice.

My MIL is a midwife, having recently retrained after spending twenty years in maternity nursing. So I guess I am a bit biased!

I saw my doctor once after my basically just to get me on the system, she didn't confirm the pregnancy or do any tests or anything. My maternity care will be completely transferred to the midwife at my health centre, provided there are no complications.

enigma

Im under shared care from my midwife and consultant.
I wont always see the same midwife, but they are fron the same clinic, so will have a good understanding of my case.
Ill only have to see my consultant toward the end to go over the prosedure for the section, but its mainly the midwifes that see me.
You'd think they had this is most countries, i dident realise they dident. It would make the doctors job so much easier if they did.

becky1978

I saw the doctor to start with and told him I was pregnant (he didn't even do a confirmation test) and then saw the midwife for the first time about 3 weeks later. I will be under a consultant and midwife as I had a C section before, but I still assume most of the care will be from the midwife.