From your first prenatal appointment to postpartum care, the person you trust with your care will be with you throughout your pregnancy journey. While OB-GYNs are one option for pregnant women , many choose midwives — particularly certified nurse-midwives — to provide their pregnancy care. Could a midwife be the right choice for you? Then we can move on to the kind of care you can expect from a midwife during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum, and when choosing a midwife may make the most sense.
But they can do so much more. While midwives provide pregnancy, birth and postpartum care, they can also provide annual exams, educational support, birth control, sexually transmitted infection STI screenings and more. This means you can see a midwife through many stages of your life. In fact, midwives are growing in popularity across the U.
Midwives and OB-GYNs are highly trained and experienced in providing pregnancy care and delivering babies. But there are a few things that set them apart, and one of the main differences between midwives and OB-GYNs are their birthing specialties.
OB-GYNs can handle complex and high-risk pregnancies and births. Midwives focus on low-risk pregnancies and births, and typically use a wellness approach with minimal intervention. In many places around the world, midwives, rather than doctors, are the most frequent birth attendant.
And depending on your preferences, you may be looking for someone who has specific experience. Here are a few examples:. OB-GYNs almost always deliver babies inside a hospital-based birth center. But midwives can deliver babies in a few different ways:. Doulas are trained professionals who provide physical, emotional and informational support throughout the pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience. Doulas do not deliver babies, rather they provide support through the process.
Midwives and OB-GYNs deliver babies and are responsible for the health and well-being of their patients. At HealthPartners, we can help connect expectant mothers with doulas and welcome them in our hospitals.
Family medicine doctors can provide care during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. But not all family doctors practice pregnancy care. And for those that do, not all have trained to perform C-sections. So, if you already have a family doctor and think you may want to continue to see them, check with them to see if they can provide you the right care.
Think a family doctor may be right for you pregnancy? Find a family doctor and schedule an appointment. Your goals, preferences, and health and safety should all be top of mind. Here are some things to consider as you weigh your options. Remember, midwives focus only on low-risk pregnancies and births.
What is a high-risk pregnancy? If you have a preexisting medical condition like diabetes or high blood pressure, you may be considered high risk. But the vast majority of births happen at hospitals or their attached birth centers, where both OB-GYNs and midwives can deliver babies.
Hospitals are always the safest place to deliver your baby. If you want a wide range of birthing and pain management options so you can have flexibility when birth day arrives, finding a midwife or an OB-GYN who delivers at a hospital is key. That said, midwives often specialize in natural or little-to-no pain medication births. Your pain management options will also be limited if you choose a home birth or a freestanding birth center. The person you choose will likely be part of a larger team.
Some teams are multi-disciplinary, meaning they work alongside a lot of different specialists. Other teams may be more focused within their specialty area. OB-GYNs and midwives can provide ongoing care for your reproductive health. Think about the qualities and areas of expertise that are important to you, from preventive care to fertility. But the cost of delivering a baby primarily varies based on where you deliver and what type of delivery you have, not who delivers your baby.
Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. Midwives have been around for centuries, and historically, it was common practice for midwives to attend most births. Although today more than 90 percent of women opt for an obstetrician-gynecologist OB-GYN during pregnancy and at birth, some may prefer the mom-centered care that comes with choosing a midwife.
So when is hiring a midwife a good option, and is it something you should consider? Midwives provide pre- and postnatal care to pregnant moms as well as performing births and offering breastfeeding and nutritional support. No, a midwife is not a doctor. While licensed and certified midwives are highly trained, they cannot perform cesarean sections on their own.
They can prescribe epidurals and labor-inducing drugs, but they are less likely to do so compared to doctors. While midwives can attend low-risk births without a doctor present, in the event of a complication like an emergency C-section, they'll have to get an on-call physician to perform the surgery.
In some states, midwives must work in a collaborative practice with a doctor, and in others they can work in a solo practice. Midwives are a good choice for moms with low-risk pregnancies and for women who want a home birth , a birthing center delivery, a natural birth without epidurals or labor-inducing drugs, or a water birth. Most midwives should be covered by insurance, but you should talk to your insurance provider to make sure.
While the majority of health plans cover midwife deliveries at hospitals, they may not cover home births or those that take place at birthing centers. Midwives can refer a patient to an anesthesiologist for an epidural though many women who choose a midwife would prefer to give birth without any pain medications. They do not, however, actually perform epidurals. You'll only be able to get an epidural if you're delivering in a place with anesthesiology available like a hospital , not if you're at a birthing center or at home.
The best way to find a good midwife is to do your research.
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