Mama Led Birth - Childbirth Education

So you've decided that you'd like to have a home birth. Maybe you hate your OB, maybe you hate needles, maybe someone you know had a home birth and you're intrigued. Regardless of the reason it's time to dig a little deeper. 

If you give birth at home, you will either have a “free birth” or have a midwife present. This post will be for people choosing to have a midwife attend their birth. If you do have a free birth please make sure you do all the research that is needed to have one. 

Now it's time to do lots of research! You can also hire a doula to help do additional research for you or to ask any questions to.

The first thing you should research is the different types of midwives:

CNM: Certified Nurse Midwife

Certified Nurse-Midwives are trained in both nursing (RN) and midwifery. Their training is hospital-based, and the vast majority of CNMs practice in clinics and hospitals. Although their training occurs in medical settings, the scope of practice allows them to provide care in any birth setting.

CM: Certified Midwife

Certified Midwives are individuals who have or receive a background in a health related field other than nursing, then graduate from a masters level midwifery education program. They have similar training to CNMs, conform to the same standards as CNMs, but are not required to have the RN.

CPM: Certified Professional Midwife

The CPM is the only midwifery credential that requires knowledge about (and experience in) out-of-hospital settings. Their education and clinical training focuses on providing midwifery model care in homes and freestanding birth centers. In some states, CPMs may also practice in clinics and doctors offices providing well-woman and maternity care.

Traditional Midwife

These are midwives who choose not to become certified or licensed. They believe that they are ultimately accountable to the communities they serve; and that midwifery is a social contract between the midwife and client/patient, and should not be legislated at all; or that women have a right to choose qualified care providers regardless of their legal status.

You should definitely interview a handful of midwives and maybe try to choose one out of each group.

The interviews are where it gets tricky. You can ask all the right questions and still get fabricated answers. If you are happy with their answers, that’s a great start. Maybe you can eliminate some midwives out of your handful.

After you get your answers, I encourage you to dig a little deeper. Ask for resources and references and follow up with those other clients or trainers. You need to trust your midwife 100 percent and know that yours and your baby's life might be relying on them. You are not hiring someone to just be at your birth, you are hiring a skilled professional that knows what they are doing in a case of an emergency. You can love someone’s personality, but you need to make sure they have the skills required to be a midwife. Ask for a list of doulas they have worked with if they can’t give out client names and call some of them and ask for true reviews. Find out if that midwife did an apprenticeship and ask for reviews on the midwife she was under.

Do not be afraid of asking questions or making someone uncomfortable. Do not ignore red flags. I say that to mamas using the hospital system all the time but it is important for home births also. 

The next part is hiring your midwife! See what their process is like. Some midwife’s do village prenatals where you will be with a group of women for some of your visits and some do one on one care. See what tests and labs they offer and what that process is like for them. Take their recommendations seriously, some midwives will want you to eat healthy or walk. They give these recommendations not to be bossy, but to keep you healthy to avoid a hospital birth or transfer. 

 Ask how much they will charge, please do not be discouraged if this is more than you can afford. Ask if they offer payment plans, customized packages, or discounted rates. Most birth workers, good birth workers, are in this line of work for moms to have the birth they desire and deserve!! 

The greatest part of having a home birth midwife is that you are more likely to appointments and a pregnancy/birth experience where you are not just a number or herded like cattle through an OB's office.  Sometimes OB appointments last less than 10 minutes and they never even ask how you are doing mentally! Having a home birth midwife is such a different experience and it will feel amazing. And the BEST part is then going on to have an amazing physiological labor, birth and postpartum experience with someone who really cares about you and your baby!