Congratulations on your pregnancy! It’s time to get serious with your planning. Aside from preparing a space in your home, we find that preparing a care team is quite a challenge for many mothers and partners. Here, we explore the top reasons to hire a midwife for prenatal care to help you understand your options and all possibilities.
A Personal Experience
Every pregnancy, mother, and baby is unique and one-of-a-kind. Your existing OB will serve you well because they understand your health history and distinct personality. But hiring a midwife in addition to your other doctors can offer you a more personal experience throughout your pregnancy.
Midwives typically only have the capacity for so many patients at one time, but this aids their ability to offer custom, specialized care. You also remain in much closer contact with your midwife than you do with your overseeing OB team, so it’s to your benefit to add this individual to create a well-rounded team.
Our tip: It’s essential to note that some midwives accept insurance, and some don’t. You may need to ask your midwife of interest if they accept your insurance policy or partner with your provider to understand the coverage available to you.
Proximity Matters
A relatively significant decision when choosing the right obstetrician for your pregnancy is their proximity to your primary residence or area. And when hiring a midwife, proximity also matters.
Even if a midwife offers you the best care, you don’t want to risk driving an hour or more to reach them if your water breaks or you’re contracting. It’s common for midwives to only work with patients within a certain mile radius for this reason, so if your obstetrician is farther away, you can count on your hired midwife to fill in the gaps and be nearby.
Increased Chances of Positive Birth Outcomes
Midwifery has a long-standing history in offering prenatal care, and history shows much more positive birth outcomes when a midwife is present. These highly skilled individuals have a way with pregnancies that equip them with the knowledge and skillset to offer low-risk, 100 percent safe care that helps a mother achieve the birth experience she desires from the start. When you tell a midwife you wish for a home water birth, they see that these wishes come to fruition and can support you in your home or a birth center.
Improved Safety for You and Your Baby
One of the top reasons to hire a midwife for prenatal care is the improved safety it provides for both you and your baby. Midwives have lower rates of cesarean, episiotomy, and labor augmentation.
Should your pregnancy evolve, and you and your care team agree you need any of these interventions, trust your care team to deliver your baby safely. But suppose you’re adamant about avoiding risky interventions. In that case, a midwife can help secure these wishes and be a guiding light during a home birth, vaginal delivery, water birth, or any other preferred birth method.
Selecting who is and isn’t on your pregnancy and birth team is a challenging decision. We hope these suggestions help you explore all options and bring you closer to your desired birth wishes.
