The midwife I had during my first pregnancy was just lovely!
She was attentive and caring and actually seemed interested. I think when you build good relationships really helps.

I think it’s personal what you do and don’t expect from a midwife. Just follow your instincts and do what you are comfortable with

Don’t give woman contradictory advice. Assume women know something about their own bodies. Don’t patronise.

Remaining attentive, in control, supportive, encouraging & happy. Be confident in doing your job, then the mum to be will in doing hers. Good luck. Such an amazing experience.

I loved my midwife, made the whole pregnancy exoerience easier to handle

I had no problems with mine. They were friendly and helpful and very accommodating to my requests. No negatives here

I had my first child at monash medical in Clayton. All the midwives were wonderful! As a public patient I think they do an outstanding job. And help with follow up after birth.

when i was pregnant with my first child, i often asked how i would know when i was in labour and the standard response was “oh you’ll know!” well the thing is, i didnt know! i went to hospital because i thought my legs were becoming paralysed!

My midwife was fantastic. She was no nonsense when it came to me yelling I couldn’t do it anymore. She knew I could and she pushed me when I thought I was at my limits. She knew my personality and how to deal with me. You need to be able to read people and find out how they tick, do they crumble when it gets too hard, do they respond to being hard etc. I was able to change positions, locations (bath, bed, shower) as long as it was safe to do so. She was calm when i got dehydrated and needed a drip so that meant that I was calm. I also had a student midwife with me and she was wonderful too.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! It is greatly appreciated! Seems there is a variety out there!

I have three children……My first midwife, well lets just say my daughter is lucky she’s here I pushed for ages before a doctor performed an episiotomy…My second midwife was great she let me squeeze her hand and did an episiotomy quickly……My third midwife did exactly what I planned. I wish there was more support as I hardly ever seen my third one.

The Midwife i have had was fantastic, i have been very lucky to have had her for all of my deliveries. Sadly my first was birth a traumatic experiece at 24 weeks where the baby was transferred twice to two other hospitals over the next 24 hours.I believe it was her proffessional support during the birth which enabled the bubs to have a fighting chance , as bubs was born with in minutes of getting to the hospital before a obstertrician was able to enter the room.. Sadily he passed away during a operation that was greatly needed.
My next birth i had the same midwife and she remembered us and knowing what we had been through she was able to help us stay calm and supported us through the stress of another quick 3 hour labour when the next bubs was born at 34 weeks. Reassuring us at 34 weeks bubs proberly wouldnt have to be transferred to another hospital.
My next two kids i also had the same midwife and the labours were 2-3 hours in length and without the worries of the previous labours. Having had the same midwife gave us the confidence that we didnt have to explain our stress levels and the emotional history while in labour… She also gave me the confidence i didnt need and pain relief other than the happy gas as i like to call it, as i have quick labours and by the time any other pain relief kicked in t would all be over.

The midwives that delivered my baby were pretty good, she let me do it mainly my way, my only problem would be she wouldn’t let me get into the bath till minutes before my baby was born, I request to be in earlier to help calm myself. As for when I left the hospital, the first two midwives I met were great, very caring, ask about me and not just my daughter. However the third was not very good, my daughter had lost a lot of weight, and instead of being gentle with the situation, she made it sound like if I didnt put my baby on formula she would die. As a mum would had no sleep she could have handled this in a more gentle way to tell me she needed to be on formula, and not mention death.

My midwofe I had when I had my son was amazing, she was very calm, even when I was yelling at her, (us pregnant women will yell at anyone), she kept telling me it was like running a marothon which I progressed to telling her does this body look like it runs marathons, very funny now but not so funny when we were in the room.
Basically I think all you need to do is try and empithise with the mother giving birth is no easy feat but very rewarding. Love every moment of it & take it as it comes.
Good luck with it all & remember to be friendly.

I went through the public hospital system in Canberra and loved most of my midwives. They were always very friendly, welcoming and open which made it easy to ask questions even if they felt like silly ones.
When it came to actual labor my midwife was pretty strict and just no nonsense. She stayed calm the whole time and never raised her voice, she just told me that I could do it and that I just needed to keep going. I did not like her when I was in labor but after we were all done I realized that I could not have gotten through if she had not been so calm, even tempered and clear headed. The best thing is to be honest, well, to a point, she did keep telling me I was almost there and my husband admitted to me later that they couldn’t even see the head when she was saying that. So as honest as you can and calm is the best thing. Good luck!