We were both very impressed with the midwife. Funny part was, as soon as we walked in, we ran into one of my mom's former co-workers (I also know her) who just had a baby. So, my mom didn't even get to tell her the news, I beat her to it! Ha! I just had a feeling I'd run into someone I knew and as soon as I walked in, I saw someone I knew!
Our appointment was about 45 minutes long and she basically explained what midwife care is, how they are regulated to consult with physicians when certain things arise, etc. I really feel good about this. Over the course of the pregnancy, they like you to meet a total of three midwives (there are 6 in total in the practice) and then 2 of those 3 will be present at the birth. One to look after me, one to look after the baby.
Appointment frequency is the same as with a doctor, once every 4 weeks for the first 28 weeks, then every 2 weeks until 36 weeks, at which point they do a home visit to have some more time to discuss the birth plan in detail and to make sure they know where your house is, and then appointments are every week until the birth.
They are available 24 hours a day by pager should any problems or questions arise inbetween visits. If your primary midwife is not on call (since they do take 4 days off per month along with holidays), then you call one of the other 2 midwives that are on your "team".
And when you're in labour, you page your midwife and they come and check you. If it's way too early to go to the hospital, they will leave for a bit and come back to check you later. I found that really nice because it takes all the guess work about when to go to the hospital. No need to go hours before you need to and then have the hospital send you home.
So, my official due date as of right now is February 2, 2009. That was 2 days off from what I had previously calculated, so I changed my ticker to reflect the new date.
Well, we are heading to the cottage soon and won't be back until Wed likely, so have a great Canada Day everyone!
2 comments:
I'm so happy for you that your appointment went well (and that it sounds like that is the route you are going).
I really do wish there were more options for midwife-care in AB. But, as there is no funding and parents-to-be have to pay, there aren't even any midwifes serving central-AB (as they are still regulated by the gov't and have to attend so many births per year, they go where the work is... and it's not here).
Groundhog day!
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