Will I be considered a trouble-maker if I change midwives? How easy is it to change?

[naturelover]

My community midwife did all my antenatal for DC1 and I've seen her so far for DC2. I realise I'm lucky to have this continuity. She does one day a week at my GP's surgery so everyone at the practice sees her for antenatal.

The thing is that I want a homebirth and she keeps trying to talk me out of it. I suppose I really just want a second opinion. I'm seeing a consultant soon to go over my notes from first birth, to establish if I really am "high risk" for a homebirth this time (had retained placenta, transferred for this, but didn't have PPH and didn't need to have placenta removed in theatre).

Have any of you changed midwife mid-pregnancy? How? Did you have to go to a different location? And will I be branded a trouble-maker if I see someone else? My fear is that this midwife will actually be on call for my homebirth and that would be an awkward scenario!

It's your choice where you have your baby. You can adopt the broken record approach of simply repeated 'I will be having this baby at home' or you could contact the head of midwifery and tell him/her that you don't feel your community midwife is supporting your decision.

You don't need to see a consultant unless you wish to, retained placenta is no bar to having a home birth.

Good luck

Snowsquonk

The thing is it's not her place to agree to a homebirth or not. Tell her you have heard her reasons not to have a homebirth and you will talk it over with the consultant & your OH and will let her know YOUR decision.

I have had the SOM come to my house and say there was no way they could refuse me a home birth and she wrongly thought I had my 1st by C/S as well as me having epilepsy!!

Even if you have placenta previa, all breech triplets, previous c/s and live on the 8th floor you still have the right to choose the home birth. They have the right to explain why it may not be appropriate. N.B. If you really did have p/p, breech triplets, etc I would be the first person suggesting a hospital birth but it would still be ultimately your choice and the hospital would have to send out mws to deal. Though if that was the case I would hope they'd come with a maternity sized strait jacket

How did they deal with the retained placenta and do they know what caused it (if anything)?

If your mw will just not shut up about your homebirth even after you have told her you will give her advice consideration then move to a different mw. I had the same mw for DD1 & DD2 but we butted heads so much over my hb with DD2 this time the SOM suggested we went with the local homebirthing advocate instead as she had more experience with it and it would make this pg more comfortable if every appt. wasn't a battleground of wills.

Good luck with the cons. appt.

Thanks snow and verity.

I realise it's my decision whether or not to have a homebirth, and even though I had DD at home, I still feel a bit vulnerable (pg hormones I suppose) when someone "medical" is telling me it's a bad idea. I find it hard to stay objective. The fact is I've done lots of reading, talked to lots of people, and have the full support of DH and our doula, both of whom are very comfortable with another homebirth.

To answer your question verity, we never found the cause of the retained placenta although I suspect it was weak contractions combined with full bladder. I had 3+ hours 2nd stage with lots of pushing on my part, since contractions had weakened a lot.

I tried physiological 3rd stage for 2 hours, then had injection, then transferred. Placenta did not get trapped inside the uterus. Five hours after DD's birth, before being wheeled into theatre for spinal bloc, a doctor "had a look" and found placenta "sitting there" in the vagina. Which suggests - to me - that the injection (after the catheter) did the trick. As I said, no PPH, which is what makes me feel that it's not unsafe to have another homebirth.

PS I live half a mile from the hospital!

I changed mid wives at 28 weeks I (my old mw never had the time- kept constantly refering to her watch, never listened and never referred to my notes- which she then lost and numerous other things which came to a head.) I simply rang the mw manager at the hospital that I'm with and asked to see a different mw. I explained why only to be told that a few ppl from my doctors surgery had requested a transfer and complained about her.

I was the best thing that I have ever done- now I don't dread seeing the mw I have a really nice one at a local surgery.

Ah didn't realise it would be your 2nd hb. I thought the transfer you refered to in your 1st post was from birth centre/labour room to op theatre in preparation for a manual extraction. To be honest if when the dr looked the placenta was just 'there' I'd be thinking it came out after the injection but before the cervix clamped shut (IIRC the syntocinon 'peels' the placenta off the uterus and the ergometrine shuts the cervix somebody correct me if my memories faulty).

I had the injection after waiting 10mins for it - the placenta detatched immediately but I had put no cord traction on my birth plan so they only pulled AFTER my cervix started shutting. I had a PPH but I seem to bleed heavily after birth anyway. It was particularly bad when I had a bath straight after but then I've always bled in the bath even though 'they' say you don't bleed in water.

Anyway if it was just one of those things then what are the chances of it happening again?

I've just changed my MW at 31 weeks. Haven't actually met the new one yet, but am sure she'll be a damn sight better than the last one! Really couldn't be any worse.

I was worried about being branded a 'troublemaker' too, but in the end I was so miserable and dreaded every appointment, so I couldn't carry on with her any more. I plan to be just as pleasant as anything, and will explain my reasons for switching to the new MW. I fully expect old MW has said her piece about me, but am confident I can present myself well enough to show that it was HER that was in the wrong and completely unreasonable. Am still considering making a complaint against her.