Independant Midwives

[Nicola]

Are any of you ladies considering using/hiring an independant midwife?
I know they carry a price tag of anywhere from £1300 to £4000 depending on area and from what I have found Sussex tends to be around £2700. Anyway just wondering if anyone considering a homebirth has thought about one, anyone hired one? Any thoughts, views etc? I went to the first meeting of a homebirthing group today and really do think the benefits far outweigh the costs involved. Met one lady today who was so lovely, I'm going to email her and ask if we can spread payments a little as usually if they do split payments it's a chunk at booking, 20 weeks, 28 weeks and 36 weeks - if I booked now I'd basically owe 3 chunks at once! Also if you book an independant midwife do you know what happens if you end up needing a hospital birth and they can't assist you if you get back any money or what? (independants can't deliver in a hospital due to the whole insurance issue!).

 

[Baileysmummy]

I would love to have a homebirth, unfortunaltly it is out of the question for me as my last pregnancy was bad at the birth.. as for a water birth im going to enquire about that on wednesday when i go for my check up..
Good luck to you though, i have seen and heard independant midwifes are so much better...

 

[topbird]

seems like a lot of money for a service you get for free anyway to be honest. I guess with a homebirth you want to get to know your midwife a bit better, but where I live the community widwife I see all the time would do my home birth, so I will have met her everytime I go to the surgery.
(in theory anyway - I am not having a home birth though - will be in hospital - do not like the idea of a homebirth)

 

[Riley's Mommy]

crossposted.

thought you may find it interesting

Hi all,

I don't know how many of you are aware, but the government are currently trying to pass legislation (probably within the next year) making it a requirement for all health professionals to have professional indemnity insurance in order to practice legally...

this sounds great in theory, but there is currently no such insurance available to independent midwives, so this legislation would mean that they couldn't practice at all.

there are around 200 independent midwives in the UK and they will all be without a job if this legislation is passed.

more importantly, it will mean less choice for women who want one-to-one maternity care or home births (which are still not supported in many areas by the NHS).

there's a petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/midwives/ if anyone would like to sign it.

i'm not planning to have children for a good few years yet, but the plan was always to have an independent midwife (which i've already started saving for!) so that i can have a home birth with a midwife who i know and like and who knows what i want from the birth of my first child, so i'm personally hoping that lots of people sign the petition.

i do believe that all health professionals should have PII, but since there are no plans to make it available to Independent Midwives, passing this legislation just wouldn't be fair to all those women who want to have the choice of not using NHS midwives (that's not to say that NHS midwives aren't good at their job - simply that it's rare for a women to be seen by the same midwife all the way through their pregnancy and labour)

 

[nathanmum]

i would have an independent next time but i dont think well be able to afford it. i like the idea of building a good relationship beforehand getting to know each other. i booked a homebirth for my first but had to transfer in, the first midwife(at home) i hadnt met and i felt a little awkward. i dont think that you get any money back if they dont deliver you though because they stay with you and your paying for their time. if i lived in the area i would love to book someone from the kent midwifery group that looks amazing and theyve been on the series homebirth diaries. im gonna book for a homebirth again when i get pregnant.

 

[Sabrina]

Sounds a great idea but I couldn't afford it (easy payment scheme or not)

I put my trust in the NHS last time around and they did a pretty good job. This pregnancy they are taking even better care of me (with ante natal appts and scans every 4 weeks) so I am hopeful all will be well.

Good luck to you if you do it Nicola. I'm sure you'll get a lovely close relationship with your MW in the process.