Is it possible to have a midwife free pregnancy and birth on the NHS?

[Nexttimelucky]

Just that really. Is there any way that you can choose to see doctors instead?

I would imagine not, although you'll see a lot more of doctors if you have health issues of one kind or another. Can I ask why you want to avoid midwives?

So no then. Private it is.

I'd imagine that doctor only care would be difficult even if you go private. Why don't you want to see a midwife?

When i was expecting Ds8 i never seen a midwife. I booked into a hospital quite far away so the wouldn't do my ante natel care so my GP did.

I appreciate that care in pregnancy has been restructuring over the last few years so not sure if this would be an option now.

I doubt it; I think you'll have to go private and insist on OB-led care in the American model.

Out of interest, why?

Why don't you want to see a midwife?

Even private hospitals are staffed by midwives. They do all the care in labour until the doctor walks in to do the actual delivery.

All the antenatal appointments would be with the obstetrician though.

Even if you are under the consultant for health issues, midwives will still do things like take your blood pressure, test urine etc. can you say what the reason is for wanting to avoid mw? Honestly I think private care would involve midwives although I don't know for sure.

I think you can request consultant led care, but you will probably only see them a few times and still see a great deal of the MWs for routine appointments. I am under consultant led care and only expecting to see them 2/3 times in the whole pregnancy.

And again, MW would usually attend you in labour, even if there are complications most of the leg work is done by MWs

It depends what your reasons are. You might be able to negotiate with your GP to do all your antenatal care, as GPs used to do this in some areas. You might even be able to negotiate with your GP to deliver your baby!

I just about did though it was unintentional. I went for the booking appt with the midwife and then the NHS consultant wanted to see me because I was 'old', under 40 though! (Just his way of working.) Then I only ever saw him going through to ELCS. Had a very lovely community midwife who came to house when recovering.

While doctors are very good at dealing with pregnancies/births that have complications, they often have no idea how normal pregnancy and birth is 'managed' (and by that, I mean left to nature!) Midwives will be able to discuss birth plans, your maternity rights, benefits and risks of Vit K and vaccinations etc, and just generally answer any pregnancy based query you may have and give you information and support, which most doctors wouldn't. You will also be less likely to have unnecessary intervention with a midwife at your birth, as they see it as a normal event, not something that needs 'fixing'. I would recommend midwife-led care, and don't think you'll find anywhere that does purely doctor-led care (for one, they'd probably have no idea where half the equipment was as it's often brought to them by midwives ) x

If this is because of previous bad experiences with midwives, you would be better discussing this with your care team, rather then trying to put a blanket ban on dealings with a whole group of professionals.

Even in the private sector, you can have consultant led care, but you are still likely to encounter midwives along the way as generally people do not have such an antipathy towards them.

So I'm not sure how likely your request is to be fulfilled.

When you have an obstetrician, he/she will be managing all or most of your appointments along the way as well as the final delivery, but most of your labour will be handled by midwives until the last push, unless you have complications.

In my experience it was a good balance, with the medical backup if needed, but the very warm, patient and understanding care of midwives throughout the birth. Next time I'm considering going midwife led, on the basis that if there are major complications they'll refer me to a doctor anyway.

Have you for particular concerns about midwife care?