Doing more research and reading others’ stories is making me heavily consider a midwife. I like the idea of someone there I have more of a relationship with during my pregnancy and more of a pregnancy/life coach other than just a few moments during an appointment. I like the intimacy of a home birth and the idea of a water birth. A few things are holding me back:

1. This is my first pregnancy and I just turned 35 and am overweight (5’8” 202#). My OBGYN has not labeled me as high-risk but I at least feel like I’m medium-risk or something higher than low-risk.

2. I have a high pain tolerance but the vaginal tearing really freaks the hell out of me for some reason. The idea of no meds is kinda scary to me for this reason. The “ring of fire” idea honestly sounds fine and I’m not worried about contractions pain (even though I know they are no treat) but getting stitches down there at my house or something is just freaky.

3. I have not looked at my brand new insurance to see if it is covered like an OBGYN is. If not then that is an immediate dealbreaker because I can’t afford all that out-of-pocket. I’m still waiting on the packet or info from the insurance company to look this up.

Anyone with midwife experience please feel free to tell me ANY pros and cons! Even the pros or cons you think might sound silly or small -- if they stuck out in your mind I would love to hear about it! I would also love to hear from anyone who has switched or added a midwife half way through their pregnancy and how that worked. Thank you for your help and input!