I’ve been thinking about something a lot during these late-night feeds with little Fletcher, and I’m wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. My two boys, Lucas (who’s 7 now!) and Fletcher (3 months), had such incredibly different entries into the world, and I keep coming back to how much of that was shaped by my healthcare providers.
With Lucas, I was younger and went through the standard public hospital system with a different OB at every appointment. It all felt very clinical and a bit impersonal. I don’t think I even knew what questions to ask, and I felt like just another patient file. The birth itself was fine, technically, but I felt a bit out of control and like things were happening to me, rather than me being an active participant. I’ve often wondered if I could have done things differently.
This time with Fletcher, I was with a midwifery group practice, and the difference was night and day. I had a small team of midwives who I got to know, and I felt so much more heard and supported in my choices. But now my anxious brain is kicking in, and I’m overthinking it all. Was the better experience just a fluke? Was it because I was older and more confident in advocating for myself? Or does the model of care really make that much of a difference? It’s weighing on me because making all these decisions alone feels so huge.
Has anyone else switched their type of care between pregnancies and noticed a big shift? I’d love to hear your stories, whether good or bad. It would just be reassuring to know I’m not the only one endlessly dissecting these things months later.