Choosing a Homebirth Attendant
As stated elsewhere in these pages, who you choose to attend your birth is a very important decision. Talk to several women who attend homebirths. This should be a free interview any midwife or birth attendant would be happy sit and talk with you about. Get references and check them out. Talking to other women who have been served by your potential birth attendant will give you tremendous insight into how you will be treated as a client. It is wise to choose a birth attendant who has as little affiliation as possible with an obstetrician or hospital because this will allow her autonomy in her practice.
A few interview questions you may want to consider are:
- What are your feelings about unassisted birth?
- What restrictions, if any, to you have in place for your practice or clients?
- How often do you induce or augment labor? What are some reasons you might do so? What methods do you use?
- How often do you monitor baby/mom in labor? What do you monitor?
- What is your transport rate?
- What are some reasons you might transport?
- What are your feelings about going past the 'due date'?
- How much time do you generally spend with mothers during labor?
- How do you feel about doulas at labors/births?
- How long have you been attending homebirths?
- How do you encourage other members of the birth team to be involved?
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