Interviewing your Midwife

© Brandon James

Training

• How did you become a midwife?
• What was your academic training? 
• What was your clinical training?
• How many births have you attended?

Philosophy

• What is your philosophy of care?  
• Why are you a midwife?

Certification

• Are you certified as a CPM or CNM?  
• Why or why not?

Services

• What do your services include?
• Prenatal care at my home or your office? 
• Is lab work additional?
• What lab work do you recommend?
• How many postpartum visits?
• Do you offer childbirth classes?
• Do you offer waterbirth?
• Do you rent birthing tubs?
• What do you expect of me (us) the expectant mother (parents)?

Assistants

• Who will you bring to my birth: a partner, an assistant, an apprentice?
• Can I choose who will come to my birth? 
• What is the assistant's role?

Back Up

• How many births do you attend per month? 
• What happens if two or more women are birthing at the same time? 
• Have you ever missed a birth?  Why?
• Who is your back up if you can't make it to the birth?
• Can I meet her in advance?
• Do you have any vacations or travel planned during my pregnancy?

Complications/ Transport

• What is your experience with complications and how do you handle them? 
• What equipment do you bring to births?
• Under what circumstances would you transfer care during pregnancy, birth, or postpartum? 
• Do you have a preferred hospital to transport to?

Payment

• What is your fee? 
• What does it include? 
• What does it not include?
• When does it need to be paid by?
• Will my insurance cover any of it?
• What happens if I move or change care providers during my pregnancy?

When your interview is over, ask yourself:

• Do I like her? 
• Do I feel comfortable with her?
• Do I trust her? 
• Do I want her at my birth?