We've found our midwife! It was love at first meeting :-) Her name is Candace and she's a CPM who's been practicing in central KY for nine years. She came to our house for an interview yesterday morning and we talking for over an hour! Her major emphasis is on prenatal care and building a relationship with the family that will allow her to do a "hand-off" birth--we do what we need to do; she acts as our guide. She's experienced with waterbirth, which is definitely a possibily for me; every woman I've talked to who was able to labor/birth in water says it was a great experience and really helped them relax. So besides for liking everything she had to say, it felt right. She had a very calm, strong presence and both Matt and I felt really comfortable with her.
I am getting more and more excited about this birth! A couple from church just had their baby this past weekend and Matt and I got to visit them in the hospital on Monday night. Just being in the hospital (not to mention hearing about the pitocin, the epidural, etc. etc.) made me not want to have any babies in a hospital ever again! Being there, I remembered a very strange feeling I had during our postpartum hospital stay that Abbie didn't quite belong to us. All the rules about when we could have her in our room, not being able to walk with her through the halls...I seemed like she was only half ours until we were on our way home--and then the feeling was scary and overwhelming! I can only imagine how awesome it's going to be to be at home through the whole labor and birth, and to be able to really bond with this new baby right from the very beginning. I imagine the whole experience being calm and quiet and happy. I'm so excited to feel the feeling of labor again--the rush of breaking waters, the powerful force of the contractions, the relief of finally needing to push, the baby's head crowning and finally being born! And I can't wait to ACTUALLY feel all of that this time, un-numbed! I really wonder if normal contractions are anything like pitocin contractions (which is all I experienced last time)--my guess is that they will be completely different, probably a lot more pleasant.
By the way, I'm currently reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, which is really inspiring! Ina May Gaskin is a big name in the midwifery world (she was in The Business of Being Born, which I highly recommend!) and I really like most of what she has to say. She is so respectful of women's bodies and our ability to birth our babies, which of course, I can't get enough of!
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I am pregnant with my first and looking for a midwife in the Lexington area. I found you because I was searching about Sarah Hood. I contacted her and was going to schedual a consultation. I had some of the same reservations you have had about the new age attitude being a christian. I agree, I would love to see more christian women step up! Anyway I was just wondering what you might know of Sarah Hood and any other midwifes. If you considered her why you didn't pick her? Thank you!
Hi! Congratulations on your first pregnancy! I'm so glad to hear that you're considering working with a midwife for your first birth--are you planning a home birth, or do you want a midwife to work with you in-hospital?
I worked with Nancy Shirey at Associates for Women's Care for my first daughter's birth. She is a CNM who works with 4 doctors and delivers at St. Joe East. I liked Nancy, and she was an especially great pushing coach, but I wasn't satisfied with the medical model of care she provided, and I didn't feel that she was readily available for consultation throughout my pregnancy (I suppose this comes along with working in a busy doctor's office?). She also didn't labor with me, which may have contributed to some of the problems I experienced. Anyway, this time I wanted to try out the midwifery model of care--I feel that it's more holistic and personal.
We actually didn't interview Sarah Hood. She was on my list because Anne Rust at Baby Moon (a natural pregnancy resource center on Richmond Road) suggested that because she is new to the midwife profession, her rates may be much lower than those with more experience. We were going to go with Donna Galati, CNM, but she is moving out of state before our baby is due. Because of the legal situation with midwives delivering in homes in KY (only CNM's are legalized to do homebirths), my husband and I wanted to work with a midwife who was completely competant and doing everything she could to legalize midwifery in the state. After we talked to Candace, not only were we fully convinced of her competance as a professional midwife (she's been practicing for 9 years), but she's also the president of the KY midwifery taskforce that is working to pass legislation that will allow CPM's to do homebirths. Also, our insurance covers her care!! Which was a bonus, as we were NOT expecting this.
Since Anne Rust recommended Sarah Hood, that makes me think that she is competant and reliable. But for us, we wanted someone with more experience. We live about a half hour away from the Lexington hospitals, and if for some reason we need to transfer, we need to be confident that our midwife will have the experiste to make that call at the appropriate time.
Because our Christian faith is such a central part in our lives, my husband and I actually talked to Candace about this. For us, it was more important that our midwife be willing to respect our spiritual views than to share them per se. After talking about this, we both felt better having our beliefs out on the table. I definitely suggest having this conversation with whomever you interview.
Good luck with your journey! I'd love to hear updates on your pregnancy and which care provider you decide to go with!
Wow, thanks for all the help! We are wanting to have a home birth. My husband is an EMT and we live less than 10 minutes from the nearest hospital so the experience factor is not as big of a deal to us. I think we will meet with Sarah and see how it goes from there. I have spoken to her via email so far and like her.
We do not have any insurance at this time so her rates are very affordable! I relly appreciate your help so much! I am from the Dayton, Ohio area and doctors and midwifes are just so much easier to come by there. I barely knew where to turn for info here in KY. Not to mention we live in Mt. Sterling and most people here think we are crazy for wanting a midwife. My in-laws included...they think we are nuts.
Over all I trust in God to take care of the situation and guide us to what he would like us to do. That is really all you can ask for isn't it?!
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