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?
  • Is prenatal care at my home or your office?
  • Where is lab work done? Is there an additional cost for lab work?
  • What lab work do you recommend?
  • How many postpartum visits to you recommend?
  • Do you offer childbirth classes?
  • Do you attend 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?
  • What is each person’s role?

Back Up

  • How many births do you attend per month?
  • What happens if two or more mothers 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 them in advance?
  • Do you have any time off 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 that you transport to?

Payment

  • What is your fee?
  • What does it include?
  • What does it not include?
  • When does it need to be paid by?
  • Can you provide a receipt so I can submit to my insurance?
  • What is refundable or non-refundable if I move or change care providers or my care is transferred 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?