Thread: Met my midwife and ALL of her current clients!

So my midwife does this cool thing- she does all of her exams once a month. All of her clients come for the powwow, hear birth stories from recently delivered mommas, participate in a prenatal class, watch birthing videos... meanwhile she takes us aside one by one for our exam.
So even though I'm barely 4 weeks along, she invited me down. I'm so glad! A mom that had a successful VBAC two weeks ago shared a wonderful birth story.
There were maybe 10 pregnant mommies present. 4 of them are trying for HBAC. 2 of them are first time mommies.
Of the 14 VBACs my midwife has delivered, 2 have been transferred. Of first timers, she says about 9% transfer, usually from exhaustion (midwife kind of rolled her eyes and laughed that the first timers are so excited and eager and nervous that they can't rest when they have the chance and they wear themselves out with eagerness).

When she grabbed my file she put it in a green folder- apparently green stands for "already experienced at least one successful vaginal birth". She then told me she has NEVER had a "green folder" transfer to the hospital. So the odds are in my favor!
She has her own birthing tub she loans out for free, we just pay for a liner.

She gave me a lot of health supplements, chatted about my first pregnancy.. no internal exam or anything. We both suspect I will need to tear a bit because it sounds like my first tear didn't heal correctly.

All in all, it went great, I'm excited about my new found friend/co-clients, and look forward to next month's party/exam

That sounds awesome! I'm jealous.

How cool! I love that it's like a midwife appointment and birth support group all in one!

I totally had the "exhaustion" problem with my first birth. Your midwife sounds so great!

Thats cool My midwife hosts a Mama's meeting for all of the Mom's who deliver with her once a month. Potluck, community, friendship, kids play group all in one. We have one this thursday right after my 34 week appointment actually. She is also hosting a "Mamas and babies in arms" night this Sunday ~ sortov an open forum birth story sharing/discussion time ~ I'm really excited. It's great to hear that your midwife is working with HBAC Mama's ~ and glad that you really seem to like her!

Very cool! My prenatal appointments at the birth center are like that--a group class/hang out/etc. loosely led by a nurse while the mw takes us each aside for our exams. It's a really great format, I think--lots of support, and you get to hear questions you may not have thought of asking. I'm glad it sounds like you have a great situation!

Good to hear that about FTMs...knowing it's a risk, I'll try very hard not to fall into that trap

That is a great way to do office visits - I've read about that in some mainstream research program, for example for larger practices having all the 2 month or 3 month moms come in at the same time and doing a presentation that covers issues relevant to all of them, and having social time for those waiting for exams.

My midwife just warned me about the "whether it is day or night, when you are early labor, you should nap as much as you can." It totally turned my researched idea that if it is daylight and you are in early labor, you should get up and do a 2 hour hike or something to help labor progress, or clean the house so it is ready for the newborn. I guess I'll just try to find a quiet corner and do sitting meditation instead.

That sounds great! Glad you got a green folder!

Totaly cool! I think having everyone come together like that sounds great, like a support group.

That sounds like a wonderful way to get to know other mama's! I'm totally jealous!

That's great! What a neat idea. Glad you enjoyed your meeting/appointment/party! Yay GREEN FOLDER MAMMA!