I'm getting closer to telling my big plan for my support project, but I still have some details to iron out. Let me just say that it's going to be a blanket/shawl similar to the blanket I made for the midwife for my son's birth. You can read about it here on my other, infinitely more irreverent (are rarely updated) blog. I'm not going to do the improvised ribbing, nor am I going to have the yarn doubled. I want something that will be a bit more "auto-pilot" because knitting with a 2 1/2 year old running around is different from knitting with a 1 1/2 year old. I'm sure you parents know what I mean.
Right now I'm trying to decide on a color. Obviously we don't know yet if the baby is a boy or a girl, but this is for me, not for the baby. I've picked a few colors and am going to have a poll in the margin for voting.
The yarn I have chosen is this: Swish Superwash by Knit Picks. The colors I am considering are: Ballerina, Fired Brick, Wisteria, Deep Ocean, and Aloe.
Go, take a look, and vote. :-)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Midwife Questions
We've been working to find our perfect midwife. In fact, we believe we have found her! Yay! I'll let you guys know who it is after we get everything settled (she's reviewing the records from my son's pregnancy and birth and we're going to have one more meeting before getting it set in stone). I thought it might be interesting to share with you the list of questions I prepared for our interviews this time.
I started with questions I found online, and then added more (and removed a few). I didn't ask about licensing and experience this time, since I found that information on everyone's website. Last time we figured out pretty quickly that the answers to these questions below told us what we needed to know about the midwives' experience and general "plan of action." There are some questions that relate specifically to my situation with my son's birth, and other questions I ask as "screeners" to get a clearer picture of what the midwife believes about birth and pregnancy.
If this this is your first foray into homebirth, you'll probably want to ask more questions about safety and how the midwife deals with issues during pregnancy and birth. We asked tons last time to the six midwives we interviewed, but didn't feel the need to this time. Having been through the wonderful homebirth midwife prenatal care and birth support, as well as transport to the hospital, we feel pretty comfortable with how the process generally works.
How many births have you attended as primary midwife?
What is your basic philosophy about birth?
What do you think about unassisted birth? What do you feel a midwife adds that a mother cannot provide on her own?
Who attends births with you? Do they also come to the prenatal appointments? Do I have a choice in who assists you at my birth?
Do you have a relationship with a physician should we need to transfer care or arrange a consult?
What are your feelings about parallel/shadow care?
What kind of childbirth education programs do you recommend?
Are you familiar with the Pink Kit?
What are the things that will risk out a mother from homebirth?
What is your fee?How are payments made?
What are your feelings on waterbirth? Do you have a tub that clients can use?
What do prenatal visits consist of?
Where do these visits take place? How often?
Do you require any internal exams during pregnancy or labor? Do you strip membranes?
What are your thoughts on VBAC? VBA2C?
What, if anything, is different when caring for a VBAC mom? Is the fee the same?
Do you have an opinion on single vs. double-layer stitching?
How do you feel about fathers catching the baby?
What is your protocol if a client goes past her due date?
When do you come to the home during labor? At what point do you decide to stay?
What sort of monitoring of the baby do you use during labor? Are you comfortable using a fetoscope during pregnancy?
How often do you listen to baby during labor?
What happens if you have two clients in labor at once?
What are your expectations of clients during pregnancy and birth?
What complications require a transport to the hospital? What is your role during a transport and once we're at the hospital? Have you ever met any resistance from hospital staff?
Do you have a preference for transport hospital?
What is your transport rate? Cesarean rate?
What experience do you have with resolving malpositions? Any experience with deep transverse arrest (as either the midwife for the malpositioned baby or as the midwife for the next baby)?
What tests do you require prenatally? What tests on the baby after the birth?
How do you assist a woman through the pushing stage? Do you do directed pushing?
When do you like to cut the cord? Are you comfortable with waiting until the placenta has been delivered?
Do you have a limit on the number of clients you accept a month?
How do you feel about siblings at birth?
What do you provide as far as postpartum services (breastfeeding support, newborn care, etc.)?
What are your thoughts on jaundice in the breastfed baby?
How do you feel about having a doula at a homebirth? What role, if any, do you think a doula plays at a homebirth?
Are there any books you strongly recommend we read (or DON'T read)?
Do you have any experience dealing with moms with white coat hypertension?
I started with questions I found online, and then added more (and removed a few). I didn't ask about licensing and experience this time, since I found that information on everyone's website. Last time we figured out pretty quickly that the answers to these questions below told us what we needed to know about the midwives' experience and general "plan of action." There are some questions that relate specifically to my situation with my son's birth, and other questions I ask as "screeners" to get a clearer picture of what the midwife believes about birth and pregnancy.
If this this is your first foray into homebirth, you'll probably want to ask more questions about safety and how the midwife deals with issues during pregnancy and birth. We asked tons last time to the six midwives we interviewed, but didn't feel the need to this time. Having been through the wonderful homebirth midwife prenatal care and birth support, as well as transport to the hospital, we feel pretty comfortable with how the process generally works.
How many births have you attended as primary midwife?
What is your basic philosophy about birth?
What do you think about unassisted birth? What do you feel a midwife adds that a mother cannot provide on her own?
Who attends births with you? Do they also come to the prenatal appointments? Do I have a choice in who assists you at my birth?
Do you have a relationship with a physician should we need to transfer care or arrange a consult?
What are your feelings about parallel/shadow care?
What kind of childbirth education programs do you recommend?
Are you familiar with the Pink Kit?
What are the things that will risk out a mother from homebirth?
What is your fee?How are payments made?
What are your feelings on waterbirth? Do you have a tub that clients can use?
What do prenatal visits consist of?
Where do these visits take place? How often?
Do you require any internal exams during pregnancy or labor? Do you strip membranes?
What are your thoughts on VBAC? VBA2C?
What, if anything, is different when caring for a VBAC mom? Is the fee the same?
Do you have an opinion on single vs. double-layer stitching?
How do you feel about fathers catching the baby?
What is your protocol if a client goes past her due date?
When do you come to the home during labor? At what point do you decide to stay?
What sort of monitoring of the baby do you use during labor? Are you comfortable using a fetoscope during pregnancy?
How often do you listen to baby during labor?
What happens if you have two clients in labor at once?
What are your expectations of clients during pregnancy and birth?
What complications require a transport to the hospital? What is your role during a transport and once we're at the hospital? Have you ever met any resistance from hospital staff?
Do you have a preference for transport hospital?
What is your transport rate? Cesarean rate?
What experience do you have with resolving malpositions? Any experience with deep transverse arrest (as either the midwife for the malpositioned baby or as the midwife for the next baby)?
What tests do you require prenatally? What tests on the baby after the birth?
How do you assist a woman through the pushing stage? Do you do directed pushing?
When do you like to cut the cord? Are you comfortable with waiting until the placenta has been delivered?
Do you have a limit on the number of clients you accept a month?
How do you feel about siblings at birth?
What do you provide as far as postpartum services (breastfeeding support, newborn care, etc.)?
What are your thoughts on jaundice in the breastfed baby?
How do you feel about having a doula at a homebirth? What role, if any, do you think a doula plays at a homebirth?
Are there any books you strongly recommend we read (or DON'T read)?
Do you have any experience dealing with moms with white coat hypertension?
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