Seeking Information on Ucla's Nurse-Midwifery Clinic

I did not use this group, though my doula strongly recommended them. Sorry, not quite the referral you were looking for, but my doula was great, so I can only imagine the midwives here are great!

I switched from my OB to the midwives when I was 8 months. I was 38 yrs old giving birth and my OB seemed to want to do a c-section for no reason - claimed she had 50% c-section rate for women over 40. Well, that was too high for me and she also said some other disturbing things to alarm me. I only saw the midwives for 4 weeks before I had the baby but I LOVED them. Also, they have a v. low c-section rate - about 7% and will let you labor for a long time. I did all you mention above plus yoga & swimming & walking (you probably do too...). I ended up laboring w/out meds for a long time and having a c-section but it was just a fluke thing - baby's head was cocked back & stuck. The OBs work really harmoniously w the midwives. Nobody rushed me at all. The post partum was a bit exhausting bc it's a teaching hospital. Be sure to have someone run interference so you can try to sleep. You don't have to get an IV either - just be sure you have someone there to keep you drinking water & gatorade type things often. They dont have tubs but they do have showers and a bed for your partner/husband to sleep on.
Good luck & congrats!!!

I used this clinic for the majority of my care and I loved it. However, I had to choose a location closer to home after I had an emergency and it took almost 2 hours to get there from home. The midwives are really friendly, good luck.

Hi D.,
I know all the midwives there. They are all skilled. It's a little softer experience than with an OB. Remember, it's a teaching hosptial, and you don't know which midwife or intern you will get at your birth. There is shift change and the element of suprise. As with all hospital births, you have to go with the flow of their routine proceedure. If you become high risk, the midwife has to hand your case over to the OB overseeing the shift.
Last year I had a client that was not progressing in labor. The midwives were our back up plan at UCLA hospital, the midwife was Shadman Habibi or something like that, she coached the intern how to do her first catch, then the intern wouldn't let the mom touch the baby. The baby was fine. The baby went immediatly to the warmer, where the ped intern tried to intabate. Doula was filming. When the staff realized this was on film, they screamed at the doula to stop filming, and immediatly gave the baby back to the mom. So I would take extra people with you to be sure that nothing like that happens to you. Take Doula with you to the hospital!
good luck
S. Wolcott LM RN
www.homebirthwaterbirth.com

I switched from an OB near my house to this group, even though they were farther away, because I wasn't confident that my OB (and the nurses at the SM hospital) was/were dedicated to helping me have a birth with the least amount of medical intervention and drugs possible. They were great, in that regard. I had a doula and, essentially, they left it to me and the doula to do whatever we could do. In my case, however, I labored for 34 hours, and pushed for 4. We couldn't get my big girl out (8 lb 9 oz), so it all ended up in a c-section. It was hard but I also felt that I did the best I could do, and tried everything before resorting to the c-section. I know most hospitals wouldn't have let me labor as long or push as long as I did. I think there have been some threads on the venicemoms yahoo group about this group and that, more recently, they are more likely to go sooner to drugs and interventions (my birth was 18 months ago), but I think they are worth checking out. I thought they were the opposite of alarmist.

I have not personally been treated at UCLA Westwood, but I have several friends and colleagues who have. I'll give you my opinion for what it's worth. (I had a homebirth with a nurse-midwife, Sue Wolcott, and it was an incredible experience!) All I can say is, do not expect the midwifery model of care at UCLA. We call the midwives there "medwives." They still use cytotec, do pitocin inductions, and you can't choose which midwife will attend your birth - it's whomever is on call. There are several OB's associated with hospitals in SoCAl that are open to natural birth, if that's what you'd like, but I honestly think UCLA is not what it used to be in terms of midwifery. In my opinion, if you want the midwifery model of care, your best bet is a homebirth - and you can have parallel care from an OB if you so choose. I would not worry about your age re: homebirth. Hope that helps! Feel free to contact me offline if you have more questions. --A., AP mama to DS, born at home/waterbirth 7-13-09

I'm about to use Debbie Frank as our midwife at UCLA. She's so lovely and been in practice for over 20 years. I have heard amazing stories about the care at that facility.- www.weelcious.com

My son was born at UCLA Westwood in April 2004. I was diagnosed with pre-eclamsia and was admitted to the ER after my check-up revealed massive amounts of protein in my urine (a sign of kidney failure) and my blood pressure was 280/190. I was in the hospital for 6 days, on day 2 it was decided that I had to be induced because my life and my son's was at risk. I was dilating very slowly and my mid-wife went home, she said I could be in labor for 3 days. Well....about 24 hours after being induced things progressed very quickly. I was given a morphine drip (at my request) because the pain, cervicil (sp?) for dilating and potocin (sp?) to induce labor and "the mag" (the worst of all!!). My doula was incredible and between her and the staff at UCLA I delivered a beautiful boy. I couldn't ask for a better staff, the nurses are wonderful. They really care about their patients. I was alone, besides my doula, the whole time. I have no family out here and the "father" walked out after I told him I was pregnant. And it wasn't until everything was said and done that I found out how dire my situation was. I thank the staff for not letting me at the time. I was bummed out that my mid-wife wasn't who delivered my son, it happened so fast and because of the complications it ended up being the resident OB.

I recommend UCLA Westwood. I know not everyone's experience is what they expect but I've learned, the hard way, to expect the unexpected.

Best wishes to you and your family.

My second child was born with the midwives at UCLA in April. It was a wonderful experience. Having gone the traditional OB route with my first child, I switched to the midwives because I wanted to be more in control of the process. I delivered a healthy 10 lb 10 oz naturally with no interventions, no IV. He was 9 days late and they were totally fine with letting me go as long as possible. They even recommended a wonderful accupuncturist who helped naturally induce my labor. I stayed in the hospital for 12 hours and then went home. It was great. I love that they offered me the options for screenings and testing but always left decisions up to me. I would definitely use them again.
Good luck

I went there for the first four or so months of my second pregnancy. I liked all, but one of the midwives. One seemed pretty alarmist. I can't remember her name, but she was fairly new to the group. You don't know which one will be there at the birth. It's an HMO. All of the testing, ultrasounds etc. are right there, so it's convenient. They have a 50% epidural rate...which is pretty high. They gave me some great info about home birth midwives in LA (which is how I went in the end). They were very open and honest. I especially liked Shadman Habibi. She's truly a woman's woman and implicitly believes in a woman ability to birth without intervention (which is the most important thing to have in a midwife.)

I wouldn't even think about a hospital birth without a doula. Nancy Beyda would be my pick for a doula.

If you do consider home birth as an option, I had Davi Khalsa. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her.

Congradulations!

Please, whatever you do, hire a doula to go with you. You need a single person (not your partner) who is experienced, caring and who will stay with you the whole time. My experience at UCLA was a nightmare, but it would have been okay if I had had a doula with me. When I went into labor I forgot everything I had learned in the classes. I needed a guide, someone to stay and help me through every phase. The midwives are great, but they will not stay with you the whole time. Most of the time you will see nurses intermittently. Also mostly nice, but people you have never met before. This is no time to meet new people. Your child is about to be born. You have a lot of work to do. You need to be more than just another case, just a number. Your precious baby and you need to feel supported. Your partner, god bless him, will be useless. He will need support too. He will not have a clue as to what is normal, what is not right. Take a doula. Be fore-warned -- this is a teaching school. There will be dozens of residents and nurses and observers at different times during your labor. You need an advocate. Find a doula you love. Find a back-up doula, in case yours isn't available when your labor starts. Bond with your doula ahead of time. Make your wishes known. Write a birth plan. Of course, be flexible in case things go a different way than your plan, but research as much as you can ahead of time. Also, decide what you want for your infant's initial care. I had to sign waivers & fight very hard for every routine intervention I did not want administered to my healthy, robust, 9lb, 4oz baby girl (no antibiotic gel in eyes, no blood screen, no hourly blood draw, no vitamin K shot, no vaccinations, no bath, no removal from my room). They will give you hell if you decide not to go along with any part of their program, but know in advance what you want for your baby and fight for your right to choose for her. Best of luck to you. Congratulations on your pregnancy! Welcome to motherhood.