You've gone through all the test sticks in the box, and those footling lines continue staring back at you. Information technology's confirmed: y'all're significant! First come a mix of emotions ranging from completely thrilled to terrified. Then come up the questions:

"How will I tell my family and friends?"

"Am I having a boy or a daughter?"

"What practice I do next?"

Ane of the most important side by side steps is deciding who will treat y'all throughout your pregnancy and during your labor and delivery. And then the next question is: Should you choose an OB-GYN or a midwife?

"Y'all desire a trusted, reliable partner who tin can assistance you navigate your pregnancy with care and compassion," says Dr. Katie Krumwiede, medical director for HealthPartners' OB-GYN. "This is a very personal determination to make. It's of import to know your options."

To help yous learn more than most your options, let's dive into the similarities and differences between midwives and OB-GYNs, where doulas and family medicine doctors factor in, and what y'all should consider when choosing who to trust with your care.

What's the divergence between a midwife and OB-GYN? Permit's talk about similarities beginning.

You lot probably know that both an OB-GYN and a midwife can deliver babies. But they share far more in common.

Midwives and OB-GYNs are both highly trained and certified

Midwives and OB-GYNs are experts in women's health and pregnancy care who have all-encompassing specialty preparation and experience in their field. In addition, each has received a relevant certification, which means they accept demonstrated knowledge and skill inside their expanse of expertise.

Midwives and OB-GYNs are committed to your safety and comfort

Midwives and OB-GYNs are extremely passionate nigh what they do. And they desire to brand certain y'all and your baby are happy, salubrious and condom throughout your pregnancy experience. So, they'll piece of work with you to honor your pregnancy goals and birth programme, while also offering their expertise and information on all your intendance options as your pregnancy progresses, including pain direction during labor and commitment.

Midwives and OB-GYNs strive to give you the best experience

Y'all probably accept a vision or plan for how you want your prenatal intendance, and labor and delivery to go. However, y'all might think you need to trade feel for expertise (or vice versa) depending on the blazon of intendance provider you choose. But that's non true.

At HealthPartners, our OB-GYNs, midwives and pregnancy care teams strive to deliver your baby, your way. That means we all want to help you have the care and child birthing experience yous're hoping for, regardless of who y'all choose every bit your chief specialist.

Now, permit'south talk nearly the differences between a midwife and an OB-GYN

OB-GYNs and midwives both provide great pregnancy care and safely deliver babies. Merely there are some fundamental differences.

OB-GYNs and midwives accept different credentials and educational backgrounds

While OB-GYNs and midwives are part of the same specialty expanse, the grooming, education requirements and credentials they hold are dissimilar.

OB-GYNs are medical doctors

An OB-GYN – which is short for obstetrician-gynecologist – is a medical doctor who specializes in women'southward reproductive wellness, as well as pregnancy care and delivering babies. They're too surgically trained and can perform Cesarean sections (C-sections) when necessary. Yous may already visit an OB-GYN for your annual well-adult female's visit.

When it comes to training and education, OB-GYNs complete iv years of medical school, a iv-year residency programme and a three-year fellowship.

Lath-eligible vs. Board-certified OB-GYNs

OB-GYNs – like other medical doctors – can also pursue certification from the American Lath of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) after they've completed their residency and gotten their license to practice. Board-certification is optional just a mark of stardom, implying that a medico has gone to a higher place and beyond the minimum standard of didactics in their field.

The path to certification requires passing a qualifying test, preparing an extensive case list demonstrating expertise in multiple categories, and then passing a certification exam. At HealthPartners, all our OB-GYNs are lath-certified.

Midwives are trained and experienced health professionals

Like OB-GYNs, many midwives can provide a broad range of women's health services such equally annual checkups, nascence control and menopause intendance. But pregnancy, nascence and postpartum care is what they're most widely known for.

They work closely with the rest of your health care team (due east.thousand. OB-GYN or family doctor) to meet your needs during your pregnancy. Many women continue to use their midwives for care after their delivery, besides.

There are three levels of midwifery credentials:

  • Certified professional midwife (CPM) – Certified professional person midwives are specialists who take demonstrated their knowledge and skills in providing midwifery services, and been certified by the North American Registry of Midwives.
  • Certified midwife (CM) – Certified midwives are non-nurses who have earned a post-graduate degree in midwifery, and have also been certified by the American Midwifery Certification Lath.
  • Certified nurse-midwife (CNM) – Certified nurse midwives are registered nurses (RNs) who have principal's or doctorate degrees in nursing. They have also received their American Midwifery Certification Board certification.

In the Usa, the vast majority of midwives have completed graduate degrees. At HealthPartners, all of our midwives are CNMs.

OB-GYNs and midwives have dissimilar birthing specialties

Birthing specialties are one of the most important differences between midwives and OB-GYNs. Why? Depending on your needs, certain specialized care may be required for yous and your baby's wellness and safety. And depending on your preferences, you lot may be looking for someone who has specific feel. Here are a few examples:

  • High-risk vs. low-risk pregnancies – OB-GYNs can manage high-risk or complicated pregnancies such as women who are expecting twins or have preexisting medical conditions. Midwives, on the other hand, can manage low-risk pregnancies and births.
  • Water births – While water births (or tub births) are becoming increasingly common in hospital settings where OB-GYNs are the primary care provider, they are very mutual inside the midwifery specialty. And so, if y'all are leaning toward a midwife, chances are loftier that h2o births are amid their top specialties.
  • C-sections – Midwives can't perform C-sections, whether they're planned in advance or get needed to safely deliver your baby. OB-GYNs have the surgical training to perform scheduled, unplanned and emergency C-sections, which is one of the reasons they can handle high-gamble or complicated pregnancies.

Midwives sometimes deliver babies outside a hospital setting

OB-GYNs almost e'er deliver babies inside a hospital-based birth center. But midwives tin evangelize babies in a few different means:

  • Home births – When women with depression-risk pregnancies programme home births, midwives are the professionals who support the labor and delivery process.
  • Freestanding birth centers – Freestanding birth centers are non part of a hospital and they're designed to provide a home-similar, non-medical environment for birth. While some freestanding birth centers may take OB-GYNs on their intendance team, midwives are usually the main care providers.
  • Hospital-based birth middle – Midwives – like our certified nurse-midwives – can also be part of a larger care squad at a hospital. A infirmary setting is the safest identify for giving nascence. There, midwives can offer more than pain management options and connect you with other specialized care if need be. All our midwives evangelize at hospital-based birth centers.

Ready to start your search for an OB-GYN or midwife?

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Midwife vs. OB-GYN: A side-by-side comparing

Want to see the differences between a certified nurse-midwife and an OB-GYN at a glance? Hither's a quick overview of OB-GYNs versus midwives:

Doula vs. midwife: Another part of the pregnancy intendance equation

Every bit you're considering your options, midwives and doulas may come up in your research and conversations with friends. And it's important to know what sets them autonomously.

So, what is a doula?

Doulas are trained professionals who provide concrete, emotional and informational support throughout the pregnancy, nascency and postpartum experience.

What's the difference between a doula and a midwife?

While doulas are trained professionals, they're not trained wellness professionals like midwives. Doulas exercise not evangelize babies, rather they provide back up through the procedure. Midwives (and OB-GYNs) deliver babies and are responsible for the wellness and well-being of their patients. At HealthPartners, we tin help connect expectant mothers with doulas and welcome them in our hospitals.

What well-nigh family doctors? Can they provide pregnancy care?

Yes. Family medicine doctors can provide care during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. But non all family doctors practice pregnancy intendance. And for those that exercise, non all have trained to perform C-sections.

And so, if you lot already take a family doctor and remember you may want to continue to see them, bank check with them to see if they can provide you the right care.

Think a family unit dr. may exist correct for y'all pregnancy?

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Choosing between an OB-GYN and midwife for pregnancy care: What to consider

Choosing who to trust with your pregnancy care and child'due south birth is a very personal decision. Your goals, preferences, and health and safety should all be top of heed. Hither are some things to consider equally you counterbalance your options.

Is your pregnancy considered high risk?

If your pregnancy is deemed high risk or complicated, you'll work with an OB-GYN who may also coordinate intendance with a maternal-fetal medicine doctor, who specialize in loftier-chance pregnancies. Remember, midwives focus only on depression-risk pregnancies and births.

What is a high-risk pregnancy? If you take a preexisting medical status similar diabetes or high blood force per unit area, y'all may be considered loftier take a chance. If you're expecting twins, triplets or other multiples, your pregnancy may be considered both high gamble and complicated.

Where exercise you want to deliver your infant?

If you're low risk and are because a domicile birth or a freestanding birth center, a midwife is likely at the top of your listing of potential care providers.

But the vast majority of births happen at hospitals or their attached birth centers, where both OB-GYNs and midwives can deliver babies. Hospitals are e'er the safest identify to deliver your babe.

All the same, most OB-GYNs and midwives just evangelize at i or 2 select hospitals. So, when you're choosing between a midwife and OB-GYN, you may also be choosing a hospital to give nativity at.

How practise you want to deliver your infant?

If you lot're low risk and leaning toward a h2o birth or hypnobirthing, an experienced midwife is who you'll want to look into. Simply regardless of risk, if you think you'd be more comfortable with a medical doctor providing your care, so an OB-GYN might exist the best fit.

If you want a wide range of birthing and pain management options so you tin can have flexibility when nativity day arrives, finding a midwife or an OB-GYN who delivers at a hospital is key.

How do you want to manage pain during labor and delivery?

Whether you're planning to forgo pain medication or you know y'all want an epidural, both midwives and OB-GYNs can provide you with a range of options.

That said, midwives oftentimes specialize in natural or fiddling-to-no pain medication births. So, make certain to ask any midwives you're considering about their experience in this expanse.

Your pain management options will likewise exist limited if y'all choose a domicile nascency or a freestanding birth center. So, if there's any chance that you may want more than options or you lot just want some peace of mind, make sure you choose a hospital to deliver at.

What kind of team do they piece of work with?

The person yous choose will likely be part of a larger team. Some teams are multi-disciplinary, pregnant they work aslope a lot of different specialists. Other teams may be more focused inside their specialty area.

It'southward important to understand what kind of squad your midwife or OB-GYN works with for a few reasons:

  • If you cull a midwife for care, y'all'll desire to make sure they have the ability to coordinate care with an OB-GYN and other specialists if complications arise.
  • Depending on the appointment type, y'all may not see your OB-GYN or midwife for every prenatal appointment. So, it'south adept to find out who you may be getting care from on a regular ground.
  • The midwife or OB-GYN yous cull for prenatal care may or may not be the one to deliver your babe. Every clinic is different just OB-GYNs and midwives usually share infirmary on-call duties with a group of others in their field. That ways "your" doctor may non be on-telephone call when baby decides to make their archway. So, for peace of mind, it'due south good to know who'southward on their squad.

What kind of ongoing care practice you lot want?

OB-GYNs and midwives can provide ongoing care for your reproductive health. And then, as you're looking at your options, think about whether you want someone you can see for years (and possibly fifty-fifty pregnancies) to come. Think about the qualities and areas of expertise that are important to yous, from preventive care to fertility.

What kind of coverage does your insurance plan offer?

Many women wonder if there is a cost difference for an OB-GYN versus a midwife. But the cost of delivering a baby primarily varies based on where you deliver and what type of delivery y'all accept, not who delivers your baby.

It all depends on your health insurance plan. The one exception hither may be domicile births. Dwelling house births are usually non covered by most insurance plans.

Also, information technology's quite possible that not every hospital or birthing center is included in your specific insurance plan. Too, in that location are different insurance coverage levels associated with C-sections and vaginal deliveries.

So, before you lot brand any appointments, it's best to cheque with your wellness plan to understand your coverage. There's no such thing as a silly question. Fellow member services representatives are in that location to answer exactly these types of calls.

If you accept HealthPartners insurance, you tin log into your HealthPartners online account. Or, call Member Services at the number on the back of your member ID carte du jour.

Ready to find your pregnancy person? We tin assistance.

We try to make it as uncomplicated as possible for you to discover the right specialist for your pregnancy care.

Through our medico friction match tool, you'll answer a few simple questions and nosotros'll match yous with doctors and certified nurse midwives who fit your preferences. From there you tin brand an appointment with the person of your choice, or yous can explore their individual profiles and reviews to help yous cull.

Some other fashion we make it easy for you to become great intendance is by offering a range of appointment options, which includes in-person and video visits for prenatal care.

Kickoff your search today

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