what to expect??

[melissa75]

I seem to have created this thread title-less...so am trying this again, but with a title this time!!

So I am having my first child in England, and thus it is my first experience with midwives etc... My other two deliveries were in Canada where I am from, as I chose to have them there, as even though I was not living there at the time, I wanted them to have Canadian citizenship. Unfortunately I lost my twins during birth/post birth due to a lot of health complications, but my 3 year old was also an emergency c-section...so I have no experience with midwife led deliveries, as a midwife at home is a private thing that one must pay for, as opposed to here where it seems to be the norm.
So I was just wondering if you could walk me through what happeneds when it is a midwife led delivery...is it the same as if you had a consultant? I know from my current MW that I am not guaranteed to have the same one during delivery, which upsets me, as I feel if I have created a relationship with a MW, I would like to know that she is the one who will deliver the baby. This is what would happened at home, as you would have the same person from the prenatal stage to antenatal stage.
So, basically I am just wanting to have some light shed for me on what it is like having a MW led delivery. Is there anything I need to know in advance or to prepare myself for?

Also, I am hoping to have a water birth, following two previous c-sections...

Thanks in anticipation of any help/advice

[sheenaisapunkrocker]

Services seem to vary a bit from area to area here, but the ethos is midwife led care. Consultant led care tends to be provided if the pregnancy is deemed to be "higher risk" (and this can be for all sorts of reasons from being an older mother to health complications). This could be applied to you as you are hoping for VBAC - you need to ask your GP or community midwife.

Generally your community midwife provides antenatal care until the point of labour/delivery. Then, if you opt to go into a birthing centre or hospital, they will have their own midwives to support you. If you choose to have a homebirth then the community midwives will support you. You may get you own community midwife if she's working, or someone else if not.

Certainly in my area the only way to get continuous care from the same midwife though the antenatal period, labour and birth is to pay for an independent midwife (very expensive, but woth it IMHO as this is what I have opted for). I'm afraid I can't say how this compares to consultant-led care as I've never had this.

Hope this helps. Good luck.