You’ve found out you’re pregnant! With all the excitement, you may be figuring out who you would like to hire to support you during your labor and birth. But what questions do you ask? How do you choose one midwife over the other? Here are some good questions to ask midwives during your interview.
Transfer rate & Situations that would require a transfer.
We’re hitting the big question right at the start. You will want to know how many times this specific midwife has chosen or had to transfer a mom out of her care and why. If home birth is important to you, you will probably want a midwife who has a low transfer rate. You will also want to know what situations each midwife would feel the need to transfer for. A great question to ask is what situations she would feel would lead to overriding your initial request, for the safety of both you and baby. Some things you should ask about too that may pertain to transfer rates are: Meconium birth, breech birth, nuchal cord, laboring 24+ hours, how long she will wait after water breaks, labor of placenta, slow to release placenta, how long after 40 weeks will she let you go into labor, what does induction for her look like, what are the routine protocols she has.
What does your postpartum care look like?
You’re probably wondering why I’m bringing up postpartum care, since midwives are hired for pregnancy and birth right? Each midwife has their own standard of care that continues on even after birth. How many times will she see you after you deliver baby? When is the first meeting after baby is born? Does she come to you or do you come to her? How long are those visits? What does she go over with you?
How have you handled difficult outcomes during labor, the birth, or even postpartum?
The purpose of this question is to see how the midwife you are interviewing is able to pivot during your care if something does not go the way everyone thought. Is she quick on her feet? What is fueling her decision making? What is her knowledge level? How many births has she attended? When was the last time she did any continuing education?
How comfortable are you if baby ends up being breech?
There are some midwives who are comfortable and can deliver breech babies. There are also midwives who are not comfortable and will not deliver breech babies. Although having a breech baby is on the more rare side, it may be a good question to ask, just in case. If the midwife is not comfortable with a breech baby, what are the options if baby stays breech? Will they help you rotate baby? Etc.
What are you not comfortable with me declining in care?
Every midwife has her own boundaries and comfort level. It’s important to make sure that her boundaries are in line with the things you may or may not want to decline or accept. If there are certain aspects of your birth that you would not be comfortable with, that may be a hard boundary for a specific midwife you’re interviewing, knowing what those boundaries are before you hire her is the safest bet.
Are you comfortable with 2-step delivery?
Ok to be honest, a midwife friend told me about this, because I had no idea. 2-step delivery means that your baby’s head will come out first (unless they are breech) and your care provider is comfortable waiting until your next contraction for your baby’s shoulders to deliver…instead of rushing the process. In her words “If you want your birth to have a strong spiritual element, be sure to explore if your care provider would be able to support you how you desire”
The majority of these questions are centered around what the standard of care is for each midwife and if that feels aligned with you and what you are praying for in your birth. I hope this helps you figure out questions to ask midwives during your interview with them.
