? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

Some newbie questions.....Is your midwife in lieu of a regular Ob? Does insurance cover midwife services? i'm in nassau...

edit: the more ob's i see, the more i feel like they just want to perform a c-section so am thinking of getting a midwife.... if anyone has a great midwife to recommend and is covered by insurance & delivers at NSUH manhasset, then that would be awesome

TIA ladies!!!

Message edited 10/17/2011 7:04:14 PM.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

bump for edit

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

are you in Nassau or Suffolk?

I am in Western Suffolk and go to the Stony Brook midwives. The closest office to me is in Islip Terrace, about 25-30 mins away but it's worth it to me. I had a regular ob my first pregnancy and now a midwife and she is SO much better. There are so many things that she is telling me that I didn't know that my ob should have told me. She's so great! I see Goldie McBride but they have a handful of midwives at that location. I think they have 2 or 3 more locations in East Suffolk like in Hampton Bays and Setauket.

And yes, my insurance covers it and I have a really horrible insurance.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I switched to SB midwives halfway through my first pregnancy in '07 and have never turned back to an OB. I go to the SB office, but I've seen almost all of the midwives and feel comfortable with all of them.
Yes, my insurance covers them, too.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I use sb midwives as well. They are out of network for me but the ob they work with is in network. They do billing thru him instead. Best bet is just to call even if not listed as a provider.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I see SB Midwives too but I go to the Setauket office. I have seen 5 out of the 10 midwives so far and have been very happy with all of them. I am very comfortable with all of the midwives I have met because their thinking is completely in line with mine. I think this plays a big role in me being 36 weeks and not freaking out about labor.

To answer your other questions, I see the midwives in place of an OB. They work closely with the OB group if there are issues that are beyond their training or if you require an emergency C the OBs would do it. The c-section rate on LI is currently 38% but the SB midwives c-section rate is 11% (or maybe it is 10%). Also, my insurance covers the midwives.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I don't know if she delivers at NSUM but I know of a few people that used Diane Luchs. They were very happy with her.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I love Melanie Summersville, but she delivers at Winthrop. I like that she works directly under an OB.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

My sister just had a baby 2 months ago with Dale Cook. My sis had a homebirth but she delivers at LIJ as well. She was AMAZING!!! My sister's insurance covered everything, but she had to pay out of pocket for some homebirth related stuff.

Good luck!

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

I agree with the PP, Melanie Sumersille is great. My insurance covers everything and she is in place of an OB. I've also heard great things about Winthrop, which is where I'll be delivering.

Good luck!

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

North Shore Manhasset does not allow midwives to attend births. You're going to have to deliver elsewhere.

I interviewed a few doulas and have heard RAVES about Melanie Sumersill at Winthrop and Barbara Charles who delivers at Nassau Community.

Barbara does waterbirths at the hospital. Seriously, both women received raves, I've never heard anything close to what I heard about these two.

GOOD LUCK!

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

thx for the rec ladies! gosh, how come NSUH doesn't allow midwives?? are they really that adamant on pushing c-sections? that just seems so wrong...

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

Posted by babyberry

thx for the rec ladies! gosh, how come NSUH doesn't allow midwives?? are they really that adamant on pushing c-sections? that just seems so wrong...

Message edited 10/18/2011 8:43:02 PM.

Re: ? for those using midwives & if you can rec yours

My sister is due in less than 4 weeks and is considering changin to the SB midwives. She is getting frustrated with OB's and feels that they don't fully answer her questions she had a good feeling about the midwives when she called.

I'm due in the spring with my second - my first was a blur because even though I went to the class - I felt really out of control with what was happening to me - I ended up with an emergency c. I'm going to "meet the midwives" night on 11/3.