St. Jacob's Midwives

I haven't said much about my midwives yet, so let's do that. I am not seeing an OB for this pregnancy, instead, I'm in the care of the St. Jacob's Midwives, and I couldn't be happier. Midwives view pregnancy and birth as normal, healthy events in a woman's life, which is my philosophy as well. I am not sick, therefore, I don't need to see a doctor. For anyone unfamiliar with midwifery care, I strongly urge you to visit their website to learn more - I was leaning towards midwifery long before Steve and I were even trying for a baby, and hearing the stories of a few girlfriends who were with this practice sealed the deal for me.

Midwifery is covered by OHIP, so there aren't any extra out-of-pocket expenses. And I would say that the standard of care I get is even better than what I might receive through an OB's office. I spend maybe 5-10 minutes in the waiting room, and then 45 minutes to an hour with the midwife at each appointment. Many women have told me it's the opposite when they're seeing an OB. My primary care midwife is Sky, and my secondary midwife is Joan. All patients are assigned to two midwives. We mostly (yes, Steve comes to as many appointments as he can) see Sky, but we've also seen Joan a few times. We really like them both. And I just found out that Sky has a student midwife working with her now. Her name is Tracy, and that means we will actually have three midwives present at our birth. (Steve is very excited about this, because now there will be one midwife for me, one for the baby, and one for him!)

Sky (or another midwife) is also "on call" for me, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All I
have to do is page, and I get a phone call right back. Early in the pregnancy, when I knew Sky was going to be my midwife, but before I had even had my first appointment with her, I had some spotting, and even though I wasn't "officially" her patient yet, she spoke with me on the phone for half an hour, explaining my options, what could be causing the spotting, what I could do about it, and just generally helping to calm me down. I knew then and there I had definitely made the right decision!

At each appointment, I weigh myself, and I test my own urine to determine glucose and protein levels. (Women-centred care is the cornerstone of midwifery - I am not a "patient", I am an active participant in my own care.) Every appointment, we chat about something different - nutrition, pre-natal testing, our birth plan, etc. We get to hear the baby's heartbeat at every appointment too, and since I hit the second trimester, my belly gets measured every time to ensure the proper rate of growth is happening. Steve and I feel like we're being consulted on everything that is happening, and that we really have been in charge of our own pregnancy, and everything that will happen at the delivery. It's a great feeling to know that everything that happens is being done because of a decision we
made, and isn't something just being done "to" us or the baby.

Although it is perfectly safe to give birth at home with a midwife (remember, you can only be seen by a midwife if you are having an "uncomplicated" or "low-risk" pregnancy - if anything develops that places your pregnancy into a high risk category, the midwives would then transfer your care to an OB) Steve and I have chosen to birth at Grand River Hospital. Contrary to how most women feel, I think I'll be less inhibited in the hospital setting - able to make as much noise as I like, and walk the halls, and do whatever I feel like. They have gorgeous big rooms for labour and delivery, and that is also where you stay after having your baby. Each room has a bed with squatting bar (something I'm planning on using), a lazy-boy style chair or a bench/bed for your partner to sleep on, and a big, private bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. I'm looking forward to labouring in the jacuzzi tub too - ours at home is just a soaker. :)

When the JuneBug is ready to be born, we'll weather the early stages of labour at home. Sky (and now Tracy) will come to the house (my last appointment with Sky was actually at our house, so she knew how to get there ahead of time). When it looks like we're getting close, we'll transfer to the hospital. (Steve is very relieved that Sky will be making
that call, and he doesn't have to try and help me figure out if it's "time to go" or not.) When we're on our way to the hospital, Sky will call Joan to meet us there. We don't have to check in or anything, since the midwives have full hospital priviledges. We will go through the "secret back entrance" and right up to Labour and Delivery. Joan will assist Sky, helping her with anything she needs, and when the baby is born, Sky will continue to look after me, and Joan is there to look after the baby. If everything goes well, the baby will never be out of my arms once born. I'll get to try and breastfeed right away (the midwives are also lactation consultants, and fully prepared to help us get off to a great breastfeeding relationship) and any measuring and post-natal care will take place with
the baby in bed with me. With any luck, we'll be home and in our own beds before 24 hours have passed. (Depending on how I feel, they can get you home as soon as 6 hours after the birth. I'm looking forward to this too, because as much as I want to deliver in the hospital, I have absolutely NO desire to STAY in the hospital. Get me out of there!!)

Sky will come home from the hospital with us, and will stay with us until we are settled. For the first week or two after the baby is born, our post-natal appointments are at home, and Sky will come to see us, making sure breastfeeding is going well, and that the JuneBug is gaining weight, and that we're both recovering and healthy. We stay under her care until the JuneBug is 6 weeks old, at which time, she transfers our care back to our family doctor. (I'm actually getting a little sad thinking about that!)

Steve was not entirely sure how he felt about midwifery at the beginning of our pregnancy. All of his friends' wives were under the care of an OB for their pregnancies, and he didn't know anything different. And actually, the births he was most familiar with at the time, Jack's, Ella's, and Nathan's, ended up as c-sections, or required forceps ntervention, so that's a good thing that they had OBs! (If I do end up requiring a
c-section for any reason, Sky will transfer my care to an OB, but will stay with us as the baby's primary care person still. Same thing if I need an epidural for any reason.) The girls I knew who had been with the St. Jacob's midwives I knew from work, so he hadn't heard from anyone what it was like. I think he started to get less nervous when our family doctor said how happy he was to hear that we were going with midwifery care. (Steve and his mom both seemed to think that our family doctor delivers babies, but the first thing his assistant asked me when I called in for an appointment for them to confirm my pregnancy was whether I had thought about who I would "go with" for my pregnancy care. Um, to me, that makes me think he probably doesn't anymore!)

Although Steve is relieved we're delivering in the hospital (for different reasons than I am), he has definitely come around to midwifery care. He really likes Sky, and has enjoyed all of our appointments - his favourite part (and mine too!) is when we get to hear the JuneBug's heartbeat. I'm not sure how my parents feel about us being under a midwife's care instead of an OB, but I know Steve's mom is not comfortable with it. (Because she's asked me about four times during this pregnancy whether I "get" to see an OB at all even though I'm with a midwife.) The last time she asked, Steve totally jumped in and started explaining all the stuff that I've already told her again: no, we won't see an OB, we're having a low-risk pregnancy, if anything happens that requires intervention, we'll be transferred to an OB, but nothing's going to happen. We have access to all the same testing and everything through the midwives, and we actually probably spend more time with them than we would with an OB. Not to mention, an OB just comes in at the end to catch your baby - you labour with the hospital nurses, who, although I'm told they are fabulous, you've likely never met before that day. Plus they change when they go off shift. We'll have Sky, Joan and Tracy with us from start to finish. To me, that sounds like Steve is 100% on board now. :)

And I'm not knocking OBs. Most of my girlfriends have gone with OBs, and they've all be very happy with their experiences, and are looking forward to going back to them for their next baby. I certainly don't think that my decisions are "better" than theirs, because I've chosen to go with a midwife. I just feel that it's a better decision for me. I feel that for myself and the birth experience I am hoping to have, I have the very best chance of a low-to-no intervention birth being under a midwife's care. I'm looking forward to the birth, and seeing my body handle this new challenge that it was designed to do. There's something just very primal and natural about giving birth surrounded by caring women who will be taking their cues from me and what I want, instead of a team of "specialists" telling me what to do. It's the way millions of healthy babies have been making their way
into the world for centuries. And in just 4 more weeks, hopefully the JuneBug will too! Cheers!