You’re heading into the interview and suddenly you go blank. What’s important to know? I’ve compiled the top 6 questions and topics that I have had asked in a consultation. I thought were important, well-thought-out, and intelligent questions. A good midwife loves challenging topics and hard questions!
How Long Have You Been Practicing?
1. How long have you been in the profession? And how long have you been certified/licensed? Outside of the amount of time: it’s always important to know that experience and time are not a perfect match. Many midwives take a slower route and had less experience in their many years than I did when I first started. Experience and variety of experiences are significant, particularly when you are utilizing a homebirth CPM. Let’s say you love the midwife but she doesn’t have as much experience as the last one you interviewed. Does she have a mentor or more experienced care provider she can call to ask for advice in situations she maybe hasn’t encountered yet? Is she continuing her education? Do you feel she is confident and adequately prepared to help walk you through your pregnancy and birth? When you feel peace and trust you will know, don’t let the details override it if your intuition is telling you it’s a beautiful match.
How Did You Begin?
2. How did you begin practicing what you have changed since developing your personal and professional style of midwifery? This is important to see because instead of giving an over-inflated or exaggerated comparison to another practice, you will see who they’re becoming. Maybe the initial struggles they had in being patient with extended labors, and now, how they’ve learned the trust the process or they’ve learned better tools to navigate long births. You want to see not just who they were but who they are becoming. This too lets you see what they’ve become passionate about in the process.
How Busy Is Your Practice?
3. How busy is your practice in comparison to the other practices? If you’re fairly busy how do you navigate off-call/on-call time and staying rested and practicing safely? If 2 moms go at the same time do you have a good backup? You want to be sure that you’re covered and that a midwife is there. More than that, you want to be sure that the midwife is not so haggard that she is exhausted and not able to make good quick decisions at your birth. A practice of more than 1 midwife (and of course assistants) can do this far better with far more clients than even a small practice with a solo midwife.
What Type Of Equipment Will You Bring?
4. For homebirths what kind of equipment can your midwife bring? It varies legally from state to state, but even where it’s legal midwives choose to bring different things. The most common emergencies are hemorrhage and the baby needing resuscitation. You don’t always need medical-grade items to navigate these emergencies. But if you are concerned with bleeding you should ask if they carry Pitocin, Cytotec, iv fluids, and then methergine if you have a low-lying placenta. There are also herbs and tinctures that help, and midwifery care tends to prevent hemorrhaging more effectively than ob care.
What About A Mal-Positioned Baby?
5. Do you work with me in labor if my baby is mal-positioned? Talk to me about what you have done in the past for long dysfunctional labors! This is an important question because you will want to know what she considers and if she practices “spinning babies” to help, or if she expects the doula to do that. Or if it’s taking too long historically, does she transfer? Does she just wait out a mal-positioned baby? Are you okay with that? Ask if she takes courses on how to resolve mal-position and her success with it. There’s not necessarily a right answer here, but more what you want out of your midwife.
How Many Transfers?
6. Lastly, gather their statistics. How many people transfer out of their care prenatally, in labor, and postpartum? Who is she risking out and why? This may be important to know if she is comfortable and experienced doing twins and breeches. What’s the worst outcome they’ve had? What’s their c-section rate? Breastfeeding success rate? Pain relief rate? Could that have been prevented? What do they do to prevent the most common emergencies? What’s their VBAC and primip rate of successful delivery at home? If they have had a bad outcome you need to know the solution and if they’re adequately prepared to handle things appropriately in the future. It doesn’t even necessarily mean that they didn’t, but you will learn a lot about her protocol and her decision-making process by learning these things. Some midwives are okay taking on riskier situations than others, you need to know what kind of a midwife you’re more comfortable with. Someone who is more conservative or someone who will go the extra mile with you! For every question there is a good follow-up question, dig deep!
I hope these questions help you feel well-covered and prepared at your next consultation with a homebirth midwife! Don’t shy away, be bold and ask! This is your family and your future, it’s serious business. Learn more about the midwives at Glory Birth HERE.
