Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I Love Midwives!

I met another back up midwife tonight, another sweetheart. Her name is Janice. So now to be clear Janet and Mahnaz are my PRIMARY midwives (one of the two will deliver depending on schedule). Janice and Abir are the BACKUP midwives. Backup midwives are called when I start to deliver so I will have two midwives on hand. One for me, one for baby.

Baby was healthy today and even moved a lot when Janice was trying to find her position. CUTE! My test results from the glucose screening were good and my hemoglobin results were perfect :)

Midwives offer informed practice. This means we have options and we're in control.

This is a good time to clear up any midwife rumours because everyone still thinks I'm giving birth at home or in a tub. Good news folks! Living in the City of Toronto in 2011 you can be spoiled by a midwife and deliver like everyone else! They even discourage at home/tub births because why risk anything?!

- We are delivering at the hospital (St-Joseph's Health Centre)
- There is a doctor on hand if anything goes wrong
- I will be offered an epidural and anything else if pain gets in the way of my labour and is needed. Just like everyone else.
- My midwife will visit us at home within 24 hours of the baby being born so it's up to us if we want to leave 4 hours after birth or 24 hours after birth. It will depend on how the delivery goes.
- She will continue to visit us at home up until 6 weeks after birth!
- There's no extra cost for a midwife. They are covered by the Ontario Ministry of Health and they are governed by the College of Midwives of Ontario.

So there you have it. That's why I chose  midwife after a couple weeks of panicking and waiting lists (yes-they have waiting lists!). They are completely educated to care for a mother and child before, during and after childbirth.

Look at some of the costs of giving birth! (CIHI Patient Cost Indicator)
Cost of a physician-attended vaginal birth in hospital: $2,486
Cost of a hospital birth with forceps or vaccum: $3,484 (I was a forcep baby)
Cost of a hospital birth by c-section: $4,863










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