A New Baby, A New Midwife

Status:  17w6d


I started writing this a month ago (at 13w6d), but as tends to happen with me I never got around to finishing it. Actually, I never got around to actually getting past my "status" that day. Anyway, the point of this post was to talk about care providers. 


I have ALWAYS gravitated toward the Midwifery Model of Care. Even in my first pregnancy I saw Certified Nurse Midwives. They, however, turned out to practice more like OB's than midwives and hence I experienced the birth that I did. Immediately after Eli's birth I left that mega-practice and saw a wonderful OB names Dr. Joseph Tate. I had heard about him in my Intuitive Birth class (during Eli's pregnancy) and knew that he was the best choice for a VBAC. I saw him twice before I became pregnant with Talia. Just before her pregnancy I decided that as great as he was, there were still things I wasn't happy about compromising on (and I STILL wanted a midwife) so we decided to try for a homebirth. 


At around 20 weeks, I changed my mind (which is PERFECTLY FINE to do....a lot of women think you can't do that) and we began seeing Intown Midwifery and went back to planning a hospital VBAC.  We had an AMAZING VBAC experience with our midwife, Anjli Aurora Hinman (almost one year ago)! You can read the (long) story of Talia's birth here.


I absolutely LOVE Anjli, and I think she is the best CNM I have, or will, ever meet. We work together in the birth community on occasion, and I feel so lucky to have been able to experience a birth with her. So obviously, when I became pregnant this time, I went right back to Intown to hook up with the awesome midwives. But when I went to my 8/9 week appointment, things had changed. Don't get me wrong, they are still amazing and I still highly recommend them, but something just didn't feel right to me. One thing I have definitely learned throughout my pregnancies (and motherhood) is to trust my gut. My gut was telling me this wasn't the place for me to be this time. 


*Side note: I actually talked to both Anjli and her backup physician, Dr. Brad Bootstaylor about my concerns and my options. What I love most about them is their honesty and approachability. They both encouraged me to look at all my options and choose what was best for me and my family. They are amazing care providers! I actually still see "Doc B" for my ultrasounds.


Enter Brenda Parrish, CPM. I actually first met Brenda when Talia was 13 days old. I had received a request from a friend (and her apprentice) that Brenda needed a newborn model for her NARM exam. I happily offered my baby for the chance to help out a midwife! It was really cool to be able to sit in on the exam, but I can't elaborate any more than that (they made me sign a paper saying I wouldn't). Anyway, I really liked her then and kept her name in the back of my head. She was new to Atlanta, but not new to midwifery (by ANY extent), so was someone I wanted to watch. 


February 19, 2012, the GA Birth Network (of which I became President about 2 months after Talia was born) hosted a panel of midwives from throughout Georgia. Two of the women we invited to participate included Anjli and Brenda. It was exactly what I needed. I had just found out I was pregnant with Bucky and was looking at my options for care providers. Being able to see them converse with each other and hear their takes on the exact same questions really helped me to decide on what was right for me and my family for this pregnancy. Right after that was when I had that appointment with Intown, and the next week Joel and I had a consult with Brenda. The consult was great and I felt like we had found where we are supposed to be this pregnancy. 


I'm very excited to be working with Brenda, because I feel like she has a great balance between the natural and medical schools of thought. She focuses on prevention and when I meet with her (usually with my kids in tow, and sometimes Joel, too) I feel like I'm spending an hour with a friend (who happens to take my blood pressure, check my urine, and listen to my baby). I look forward to taking the rest of this journey with her!