How To: Pick Your Midwife

Thankfully, in the DFW area we have lots of options but it does not always make it easy to pick your midwife.

Picking your midwife can be hard and overwhelming

Yay! You just found out you are pregnant and know you want to use a midwife. Or maybe you’ve been receiving care from another provider and have decided that you are better suited for midwifery care.

Whatever the case may be, now you have to decide what midwife will be your midwife.

There are a few things to consider

Do you want a home birth or birth center birth?
Do you plan on using traditional insurance to pay?
Are you a part of a health sharing company?
Do you want a more traditional hands on care or hands off care?
Are you willing to take charge of your pregnancy to keep yourself low risk?
Have you had any complications that could rule you out of midwifery care? (Always ask! What you may think will rule you out may not.)
Do you have support from your family? (While this is not necessary, it is beneficial to have a supportive network.)

Home Birth or Birth Center?

Start here. Do you see yourself at home or at a birth center? This will narrow your search to help you better pick your midwife. Some midwives only attend home births, some only attend birth center births while others offer both.

Do You Have Traditional Insurance?

Most traditional insurances make it very hard to cover home births and can pay anywhere from $0.00 to covering most of your care. It is rare that they cover your care though. It can be easier to use a birth center with traditional insurances but many still have to fight to get them to pay.

Both home and birth center midwives are able to accept payments from your HSA accounts though!

Do You Have A Heath Sharing Plan?

Health share plans such as the ones offered by Christian Healthshare Ministries, Samaritan and others are great at covering 100% or most of your home or birth center birth. This makes it easy to pick your midwife.

In fact, if you come to me for preconception counseling I always recommend to become a member of one of these companies because we know they will pay for your home birth.

There are certain plans you have to be on like the “gold plan” for Christian Healthshare Ministries for all of your care to be covered. Most of these companies require that you be on the plan for so many days before delivery. Meaning, that you have to be on the plan before becoming pregnant.

Do You Want Hands On or Hands Off Care?

You have options. Thank heaven for options! There are many different personalities and practice styles in the midwifery community and one of them matches you perfectly.

Just like there are doctors who are more holistic, there are more or less holistic midwives. If you have a certain wish or want for your pregnancy or birth that is important to you, you can typically find a midwife that will honor that request.

Not every midwife practices the same and that’s a good thing. You want someone who you click with. There is a midwife for everyone.

Will You Take Charge of Your Health and Be Low Risk?

Midwives outside of the hospital handle low risk clients. If you become high risk in your pregnancy we are required to transfer you out of care by the state of Texas. This is a good thing, as we want mom and baby to be well taken care of and sometimes that means the hospital BUT we do not want it to get to that point.

This means that you eat well, participate in light exercise as often as you can, come to us as problems develop instead of after they develop and listen to our advice.

We cannot carry the health of your pregnancy for you as much as we wish we could. This is 100% up to you and there are options for every budget and family. We aren’t asking you to buy the most expensive free range, organic, fairy dust items. We just need you to take care of you so we can take care of you.

Related: Prenatal Chiropractic Care

Have You Had Complications?

Some complications can rule you out of out of hospital midwifery care such as having a classical incision from a cesarean section, being insulin dependent for diabetes or gestational diabetes or having a baby who is not growing.

There are many complications of pregnancy that can be avoided by light exercise and choosing better food options. We work with you to give you the best chance at staying low risk but you have to work with us too.

Always ask if your complication rules you out of a home or birth center birth. I’ve heard from some women that they did not seek out midwifery care because they thought they were high risk when they were not.

Also, because every midwife is different, ask around. If one midwife turns you away another may not. For example, some midwives accept VBAC clients where as others do not.

Are You Well Supported?

Does your husband or partner support your decision to birth out of hospital? Does your close family? Like it or not, your support system plays into how you pick your midwife or doctor.

Sometimes, I receive calls from moms desperate to have a home birth but they cannot due to their family not supporting them. One woman desired a home birth and was going to appointments with a midwife but once labor started her husband drove her strait to the hospital. He refused to let her birth anywhere else.

Some women do well without support but others need it to thrive, to make it to their appointments or pay for their care.

It may be your dream to birth out of hospital but without the support you need it may be less stressful and easier on you to birth in the hospital. If that’s you, that’s okay. I understand.

There are wonderful hospital care providers in the DFW area that you can be referred to. While I wish I could fix it and make everyone supportive of home and birth center birth, I cannot.

You Have Options

Whom you seek care from is all about personal preference. While I would love to be your midwife and support you, your baby and your family through this wonderful journey, I know I am not the midwife for everyone. I am so thankful for that because you deserve options and the ability to pick your midwife.

If you are interested in midwifery care reach out to me and let’s figure out if I’m the midwife for you. If I am not, I know plenty of wonderful midwives to refer you on to.