How to Choose a Midwife

Though most births in the United States are attended by physicians, more and more women are choosing to have midwives, who specialize in personalized care and low-technology births, help them through labor and delivery.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Yellow Pages
• Telephones
• Health Insurance
• Pencils Or Pens

1. Ask friends, neighbors, co-workers, your gynecologist or primary care physician, childbirth educators or anyone else you trust for recommendations.
2. Try a local chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, La Leche League, or Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies for a list of midwives in your area.
3. Decide whether you want a midwife who is also a nurse. Most are, but some are not.
4. Interview several midwives. Ask out about their experience, philosophy, general practices and anything else that's of particular concern to you.
5. Choose someone whose ideas about birth mesh with your own.
6. Check with your insurance company to verify coverage.
7. Meet your midwife's partners, if any; it's very possible one of them will attend your birth. Also ask to meet her backup obstetrician; that's who you'll see if you have any complications.

Tips & Warnings

• If you find you're not getting along with your midwife or there's a clash of styles, look for someone new. Relaxation and comfort while you're in labor are central to a healthy birth.
• Choosing a midwife in a small practice means you're more likely to get someone you know for the birth.
• Midwives work with women whose pregnancies are low-risk. If you develop complications during your pregnancy, be prepared to switch to an obstetrician for primary care.