| rev:text
| - Ah, my experience has been quite different from the other reviewers. I'm sure this comes down to the midwives (that's why my midwives' names are included in this review) and factors specific to each pregnancy. Midwives aren't for everyone: you have to have a low-risk pregnancy to stay in their care. As soon as any small problem is detected they will tranfer you to a doctor. My pregnancy, aside from small fundal height, has gone relatively smoothly, so I rarely needed to contact them outside of our appointments (looking back, I think I've contacted them twice). This may be a key reason why my experience was quite different from the other posters.
When I first met with Seventh Gen I wanted continuity of care that comes with a midwife, but I was worried they would be against many things, like pain killers, c-sections, vaccinations, induction, etc. In a nutshell, I was worried they would be overly into newage stuff. I was surprised to learn they are open to everything. They actually had to convince ME to keep myself open to options, like painkillers or induction, just in case it becomes a necessity.
My midwives, Alana and Kim, are both lovely. They are calm and knowledgeable. I wasn't too excited about having a student midwife join us (I've had bad experiences with residents i.e. student doctors), but I understood that it was an option (i.e. I could request to no longer see her). Well, I lucked out; I love the student midwife Vanessa. She has such a warm bedside manner! I believe she's nearly finished her training and I think she'll make a great midwife.
If I have a question they are easily accessible. The pager doesn't bother me; they offer birth centre births, home births, and hospital births, so this is a good way to stay in touch with them. When my cousin (a doctor) is on call, I believe he uses a pager as well, so I think it's farly common in the healthcare industry. I wouldn't want them answering their cell phone or office phone while they are with me, so I can't expect them to do that with other patients. Leaving a message with the reception desk is always an option, like any clinic.
The receptionists are a little spacey. In my experience, if things get slightly disorganized it has to do with the front desk (e.g. booking the wrong time, booking too far down the line, forgetting to notify the midwife that the patient is in the waiting room). Although I was told to check the message on the pager before coming in, I have always been notified by phone on the rare occasion that clinic is rescheduled due to a birth. In terms of notifying current clients of clinic rescheduling, the front desk is running very well. I haven't had trouble reaching the front desk on the phone.. erm, excluding lunch hours, when they seem to sneak off :)
This is a long review, I suppose because it's a more important decision to make compared with deciding where to eat :) The best thing you can do is follow your instinct. If a midwife sounds right, meet with them and see if you like them. If a doctor sounds better, do that. Maybe you're unlike me and like newage stuff. Maybe doulas offer that. Everyone and every pregnancy is different. :)
I haven't given birth yet. I'm due in May, so I'll do my best to provide a follow-up review then.
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