Questions to Ask a Midwife
Questions to ask a midwife, whether you are choosing one or already booked with one. They run in the order the care does: who the midwife is and how the practice works, pregnancy appointments and tests, labour and birth, emergencies and transfer to hospital, what to ask a midwife for a home birth, and the weeks afterwards. The labour section includes the ones to raise if you are hoping for a natural childbirth: how pain is handled without medication, how pushing is coached, and what happens if you change your mind. Registration, costs and what is offered differ by country and by service, so several notes say to ask how it works where you live.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Choosing a midwife
What is your qualification, and are you licensed or registered where I live?
Why ask it
Titles such as certified nurse-midwife, certified professional midwife and registered midwife stand for different training, and what each may do, and where, is set by the country or state. Ask which body holds their registration so you can look them up yourself.
How long have you been a midwife, and roughly how many births have you attended?
Why ask it
Years and numbers are a starting point, so follow up with where those births took place. Hospital experience and home birth experience are not interchangeable, and a newer midwife who works alongside a senior colleague can be a perfectly sound choice.
Do you work on your own, in a group practice, or as part of a hospital team?
Why ask it
This determines how much continuity you get and who fills in when your midwife is unavailable. Solo practice can mean a single familiar person throughout, and it can also mean no cover if they are ill or already at a birth.
Will you be at my birth yourself, and who comes if you cannot?
Why ask it
The honest answer is often a probability and not a promise. Get the backup's name and a chance to meet them, since that meeting is the difference between a stranger and a familiar face arriving at your labour.
Where do you attend births: at home, in a birth centre, in hospital, or more than one of those?
Why ask it
Each setting comes with its own equipment, staffing and pain relief, and some midwives are credentialled for only one. If you are undecided, ask how late in the pregnancy the setting can be changed.
How many births do you take on each month, and what happens if two people labour at once?
Why ask it
Caseload is the practical limit on continuity. You want to hear a specific number and a specific arrangement for overlap, not an assurance that it rarely happens.
Does a second midwife or an assistant come to the birth, and what are they trained to do?
Why ask it
Once the baby is born there are two people to look after, and a problem with either needs trained hands of its own. Find out when the second person arrives in labour and whether you will have met them.
What drew you to midwifery, and how would you describe the way you practise?
Why ask it
A soft question with a useful answer. Listen for whether the description fits the birth you are hoping for, and if they call themselves hands-off, ask about a time they stepped in anyway.
Have you looked after someone in my situation before?
Why ask it
Fill in the situation yourself: a first baby at forty, a long gap since the last birth, a difficult birth last time, a family set-up or health condition they may not see often. What you are listening for is a case they remember, not a general welcome.
I have had a caesarean before. Could I plan a vaginal birth with you, and in which setting?
Why ask it
Whether a midwife may attend a vaginal birth after a caesarean, and where, is often fixed by regulation or hospital policy and not by the midwife's own view. Raise it at the first meeting if it applies to you, because the answer can decide the whole arrangement.
What does this cost, what is covered, and what is billed separately?
Why ask it
Go through it item by item: booking fee, postnatal visits, scans and laboratory tests, birth pool hire, mileage, and what happens to the fee if you move to hospital care or have a caesarean. Then ask for the same list in writing.
Do you bill my insurance or public health cover directly, or do I pay and claim it back?
Why ask it
This depends on the country, the insurer and the type of midwife, so ask how it works for your own plan. Paying up front and claiming back can leave you carrying the full fee for months, which is worth knowing before you sign anything.
Do you carry indemnity or malpractice insurance, and what does it cover?
Why ask it
The rules vary widely: in some places cover is compulsory, and in others an independent midwife may practise without it. Neither answer settles your choice alone, but you should hear it from them and not find out later.
Can I speak to a few people you have cared for recently?
Why ask it
A midwife in private practice can usually arrange this once past clients have agreed, and for a hospital service a local parents' group is the nearest substitute. The thing to ask those families is what happened when something did not go to plan.
What do you wish more people asked before booking with you?
Why ask it
Good near the end of a first meeting. It lets them raise whatever your list missed, and the topic they pick shows what they think matters most in their own practice.
Pregnancy care
How often would I see you during pregnancy, and how long is an appointment?
Why ask it
Get the schedule, the length in minutes, and whether visits are at their rooms or your home. Then you know how much to bring each time: a long visit has room for the worry you nearly did not mention, and a short one needs your top two questions written down.
How do I reach you between appointments, and who answers at three in the morning?
Why ask it
You are asking about a phone number, a rota and a realistic response time. A shared on-call line staffed by people you have met can be more dependable than one mobile number belonging to someone who also needs to sleep.
Which symptoms should I ring you about straight away, and which can wait for the next visit?
Why ask it
Get the list in writing and keep it where your partner can find it. People hold back from calling because they do not want to be a nuisance, and hearing the midwife name the things they always want to know about removes that hesitation.
Is there anything I should change about what I eat, drink or take, including medicines and supplements?
Why ask it
Bring the real list: prescriptions, anything bought over the counter, herbal remedies, vitamins. Guidance on food and supplements differs between countries and gets revised, so ask what their service says now and not what a relative was told years ago.
Can I carry on working, exercising and travelling the way I do now, and until when?
Why ask it
Describe your actual week: the shifts on your feet, the lifting, the running, the flight booked for the seventh month. A general yes is less use than an answer about that, and some airlines and employers want a letter after a certain week, so ask who writes it.
What tests and screenings will you offer, and which are optional?
Why ask it
Have them sort the list into what everyone is offered, what is suggested because of your age or history, and what each test can and cannot tell you. Whether one can be declined, and how that is recorded, is a fair thing to ask outright. With that in hand you are not deciding on the spot in a short appointment.
Who does the scans and blood tests, and how do the results get back to me?
Why ask it
A midwife working outside a hospital often sends you elsewhere for ultrasound and laboratory work. Find out where you would go, who explains an unexpected result, and how soon, because waiting a week on a letter is a long week.
How should I keep track of the baby's movements, and what do I do if they change?
Why ask it
Advice on this differs between services and has been revised over the years, so ask what theirs is and from which week it applies. Pin down who you call and at what hour, because this is the worry people tend to sit on until morning.
What would make me no longer suitable for your care?
Why ask it
Most midwives work to a written list: blood pressure, gestational diabetes, twins, the baby's position, earlier surgery, how far past the due date you go. Ask to see it, and which items mean a conversation and which mean your care moves, so a late change does not come as a shock.
If something comes up in pregnancy, when does a doctor get involved, and do I stay in your care?
Why ask it
Services often separate three things: the midwife asking a doctor's opinion, the two sharing your care, and the doctor taking over. Ask which findings lead to which, and whether each is a recommendation you can talk through or a rule of the service.
What happens if the baby is not head down in the last weeks?
Why ask it
What is offered differs a great deal by place: an attempt to turn the baby, a planned caesarean, or a vaginal breech birth with someone experienced in it. Ask when they check the position and what is available locally, so there is still time to choose.
How do you approach going past the due date, and when does that change my options?
Why ask it
There is usually a gestational point at which local guidance recommends induction or moves care to a hospital team. Ask for that number, what the guidance says, and what they would do if you wanted to wait.
How do you help people prepare for labour: classes, reading, or time in appointments?
Why ask it
Some midwives teach their own antenatal course, some point you to one, and some cover it visit by visit. Whichever it is, check that your birth partner is included, since they are the one who has to remember it on the day.
How do you use a birth plan, and when would we go through mine together?
Why ask it
A plan only helps if the person attending has read it. Ask at what stage of pregnancy they review it with you, where it is kept, and how a backup midwife or a hospital team would get to see it.
Labour and birth
When should I call you once labour starts, and at what point do you come to me or ask me to come in?
Why ask it
The answer is usually a description of contractions plus a few exceptions, such as waters breaking or the baby moving less. Ask what happens if you call and it proves to be early: a midwife who says to ring anyway is one you will actually ring.
Once you are with me in labour, do you stay until the baby is born?
Why ask it
In a hospital the answer may involve shift changes, and at home it can depend on how long things take before a relief midwife is called. Find out who takes over when yours has been awake too long, and whether you would have met them.
How will you listen to the baby's heartbeat during labour, and how often?
Why ask it
Being listened to at intervals with a handheld device and being attached to a continuous monitor make for very different labours, mostly in how freely you can move. Ask which they would start with for you, and what would make them change from one to the other.
What pain relief is available where you practise, and what is not?
Why ask it
You want the list for the place, not for midwifery in general. Gas and air, a pool, an opioid injection and an epidural each depend on the building and who staffs it, so find out what happens if you want something that is not on it.
I am hoping for a natural childbirth. What does that mean in your practice, and how do you support it?
Why ask it
People use the phrase for different things: no pain medication, no induction, or as little intervention as the day allows. Say which you mean, then listen for what the midwife actually does in the room, beyond being in favour of the idea.
How do you help with pain when someone wants to labour without medication?
Why ask it
The useful answers are physical and specific: pressure on the lower back, a shower or pool, a change of position, low light, staying beside you through each contraction. Check which of those are possible in the place you plan to give birth, since a small room or a monitor can rule some out.
If I plan an unmedicated birth and then ask for pain relief partway through, what happens?
Why ask it
Two things are worth knowing: whether the request is acted on without a debate, and how long it would take. At home or in a freestanding birth centre an epidural means a transfer, so that decision may have to be made in the middle of the night. Some couples agree a word beforehand that means the request is serious, and you can ask whether the midwife is happy to work that way.
Do you attend water births, and who provides the pool?
Why ask it
Labouring in water and giving birth in it are treated as two separate things by many services, so ask about each. At home, find out who supplies, fills and empties the pool, and what would lead them to ask you to leave the water.
How much can I move around and choose positions in labour?
Why ask it
Practice varies more than policy does. Ask what usually happens in the room where you will actually be, and whether monitoring or a drip would keep you on the bed.
Can I eat and drink during labour?
Why ask it
Policies run from eat what you fancy to sips of water only, and they tend to follow the setting more than the midwife. If the answer is restrictive, ask what it is based on and whether it relaxes in a long labour.
Who else will be in the room, and how many people can I bring?
Why ask it
A limit on numbers is often the unit's and not the midwife's, so ask whose rule it is and whether it changes overnight or in an operating theatre. If a student might attend, check that you will be asked first, and say now if older children are part of your plan.
How do you work with a doula, and what do you like a birth partner to do?
Why ask it
A doula supports and a midwife is clinically responsible, and the two work best when that line is agreed beforehand. The second half is for your partner, who will probably want a job and may not be given one unless somebody asks.
What would make you recommend an intervention, and how would you explain it at the time?
Why ask it
Listen for named situations, such as a change in the baby's heart rate or a long pause in progress, and not a general reassurance. Then ask how much time you would have to think it over, and what happens if you want to wait or to decline.
If my labour slows right down, what do you try first, and how long before you suggest something more?
Why ask it
You are asking for the order of steps: rest, food, a change of position, time, and only then anything medical or a move to hospital. A clear sequence with rough timings shows there is a method behind the patience.
When it is time to push, do you direct it or wait for me to follow my own urge?
Why ask it
Being told when to hold your breath and bear down is a different experience from pushing as the urge comes, and midwives differ on which they begin with. Find out what would make them switch to coaching, and whether an epidural changes their answer.
What is your approach to tearing and stitches, and who does the repair?
Why ask it
Some midwives stitch any tear and others only up to a certain degree, beyond which a doctor attends or you transfer. It is also the opening to ask what they do during the birth itself to make a tear less likely.
How often do you perform an episiotomy, and in what circumstances?
Why ask it
Ask about their own practice, not the textbook position. A midwife who can say roughly how often and exactly why is showing you that the cut is a decision made each time and not a habit.
What is your usual practice for delivering the placenta and clamping the cord?
Why ask it
Two separate choices sit inside this one: whether the placenta is helped out with an injection or left to come unaided, and how long the cord is left before it is clamped. Ask what they do unless told otherwise and what would change that on the day, then write your preference into the birth plan.
If I disagree with something you recommend, what happens then?
Why ask it
The answer tells you how decisions get made in this relationship. What you want is a description of informed discussion and documentation, not a suggestion that disagreement would end the arrangement.
There are things we need at the birth for religious or cultural reasons. Can you work with them?
Why ask it
Say exactly what they are: women only in the room, a prayer said first, keeping the placenta, a period of rest at home afterwards. A named request gets a real reply, whether that is routine, needs arranging ahead, or cannot be done where you plan to give birth.
Safety and transfer
What equipment and medication do you carry, and what can you do on the spot for heavy bleeding or a baby who is slow to breathe?
Why ask it
This matters most for a birth at home or in a freestanding centre, where what is in the bag is all there is until help arrives. Listen for named items, such as oxygen, a newborn-sized bag and mask, drugs to slow bleeding and fluids, and ask when each person attending last renewed their resuscitation training.
When did you last deal with a real emergency, and what happened?
Why ask it
A list of certificates cannot show you how someone thinks under pressure, and a plainly told story can. Notice what they did first, who they called, and whether they can say what they would do differently now.
Which doctor and which hospital do you transfer to, and when did you last work with them?
Why ask it
A named, current relationship matters more than a general statement that transfer is available. Ask whether they have admitting or visiting privileges, since that decides whether they can stay involved after you arrive.
Can you walk me through what a transfer to hospital would actually involve?
Why ask it
You want the mechanics: who decides, who calls, whether you travel by car or ambulance, how long it takes from your address, what notes go with you, and whether the midwife stays. Vagueness here is the answer that should concern you most.
Among the people in your care, how often does labour end in transfer to hospital or in a caesarean?
Why ask it
Ask for their own figures over a stated period, and for first babies separately if this is yours. A low number is not automatically the better one: it can reflect who they accept into care, so ask for that context along with it.
What are the most common reasons people in your care transfer?
Why ask it
Often the list is undramatic: a long labour, a wish for pain relief the setting cannot give, waters broken for many hours. Hearing the usual reasons takes some of the fear out of the word, and you can ask how the picture differs for a first baby.
Home birth
What makes someone a good candidate for a home birth in your practice, and am I one?
Why ask it
The conditions for giving birth at home are usually tighter than the conditions for staying in a midwife's care, so someone can keep the same midwife and still be advised to plan for a birth centre or hospital. Ask which points in your own history they would watch, and at which appointment the plan gets confirmed.
Are you permitted to attend home births where I live, and are there conditions attached?
Why ask it
The law on this is local. Depending on the country or state, a midwife may need a particular licence, a written arrangement with a doctor or hospital, or your signature on a consent form, and some pregnancies may be excluded outright. Ask which rules bind them and which bind you.
How far from a hospital is too far for you to attend a birth at home?
Why ask it
Many midwives set their own limit in minutes, not miles. Time the route from your door to the maternity entrance at a busy hour as well as at night, and bring both figures to the conversation.
If I plan a home birth, what do I need to have ready, and do you visit the house beforehand?
Why ask it
Expect a supply list and, commonly, a visit in the last weeks to look at access, light, heating and phone signal. If they have reservations about your address, such as the drive to the hospital, this is when you want to hear them.
What do you ask families to arrange for older children and pets on the day?
Why ask it
A common request is one adult whose only job is the children, someone who can take them out or stay behind with them if you transfer. Dogs and cats are easier to place a week early than at the first contraction.
What should we do if the baby arrives before you reach the house?
Why ask it
A fast labour can leave whoever is in the room in charge for a few minutes. Get the short version your partner could follow: who to phone first, whether the midwife stays on the line, and at what point to call an ambulance instead of waiting.
Who clears up after a home birth, and what happens to the placenta?
Why ask it
The answer tends to be ordinary: covers for the bed and floor, a bag for laundry, a bucket. Find out what the midwife takes away, what stays with you, and how the placenta is disposed of or kept if you want it, since local rules on that differ.
After a home birth, who registers the birth and how do I get the birth certificate?
Why ask it
In a hospital the forms are often started on the ward, and at home the job may fall to the midwife or to you. The process and the deadline depend on the country or state, so ask who files what, by when, and which papers you will need to hand over.
After the birth
What does the first hour after birth look like if everything is straightforward?
Why ask it
It gives you a picture to hold, and it is the moment to say what matters to you: skin to skin, who cuts the cord, weighing later and not straight away. Ask which of those still happen if you or the baby need attention first.
Which newborn checks and treatments do you carry out, and which are my choice?
Why ask it
Vitamin K, eye ointment, the heel-prick blood test and the hearing check are handled differently from one country to the next, and some mean a trip elsewhere. Ask what is offered where you live, when each one happens, and how your decision is recorded.
How long do you stay after the birth, and what has to be true before you leave or I go home?
Why ask it
There is normally a checklist, covering things like your bleeding, the baby's first feed and whether you have passed urine, so ask for theirs. Ask too who you ring during that first night, when the questions tend to arrive all at once.
What postnatal visits are included, over how long, and what do you check?
Why ask it
Get this as numbers: how many visits, across how many weeks, at your home or theirs. Then ask what is looked at each time, for you (bleeding, stitches, mood) as well as for the baby (weight, feeding, colour).
What feeding support do you provide, and who do you refer to when it is not going well?
Why ask it
General encouragement is not the same as hands-on help with latch, tongue tie assessment, supply concerns, or formula feeding without judgement. Ask for the name of the lactation consultant or clinic they refer to.
How do you check for postnatal depression and anxiety, and what happens if you find it?
Why ask it
Look for a specific screening step at named visits and a route onward to a doctor or mental health service. This is one of the questions most worth asking before you are unwell and not after.
If the birth does not go the way I hoped, will you talk it through with me afterwards?
Why ask it
Going back over the birth with the notes in front of you can answer questions that otherwise linger. Find out whether that conversation is routine or only on request, and how long afterwards you can still ask for it.
When does your care end, and who takes over for me and the baby?
Why ask it
At some point the midwife steps back and a family doctor, health visitor or paediatrician takes over, and things get missed in the gap between them. Ask what is passed on in writing and whether you can still ring with a question after that date.
Choosing midwifery care
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
When to ask what
At a first meeting
Keep to the questions that decide whether you book: registration, experience, who attends, where births take place, what would rule you out, the transfer arrangements and the cost. A first meeting is short, so pick a handful and leave the rest for later visits.
During pregnancy
Food and medicines, work and travel, tests, the baby's movements, the symptoms to ring about, the birth plan and preparation for labour fit naturally into routine appointments. Bring two or three questions to each visit instead of the whole list.
In the last weeks
Settle the practical ones: when to call, who comes and whether they stay, what happens past the due date, cord clamping, the first hour and the newborn checks. These are the answers you will not be in a position to ask for on the day.
After the birth
Feeding, mood, the date care is handed on, and a conversation about the birth itself. Write questions down as they occur to you, because postnatal visits are brief and tiredness empties the list from your head.
What to verify yourself
- Registration status and any conditions on it, through the licensing or regulatory body in your area rather than through the practice website.
- Current neonatal resuscitation and adult life support certification for everyone who might attend.
- Insurance or indemnity cover and what it includes. Whether a midwife has to hold it depends on where you live.
- Whether they have privileges at the hospital you would transfer to, and what that means for their role once you are admitted.
- What your insurer or health service pays for, in writing, before the booking fee is paid.
- Whether local rules require a doctor's involvement at any point in the pregnancy or birth.
The setting changes the answers
Home birth
Ask about drive time to the hospital, the equipment and medication carried, whether a second attendant comes, and at what point in labour they arrive. Ask also what they need from you: a clear route, working phone signal, and a plan for other children and pets.
Birth centre
Ask what is on site and what is not, how transfer to the hospital works if the centre is a separate building, and whether there is a limit on how long you can stay after the birth.
Hospital midwifery care
Ask whether you will see the same midwife through the pregnancy, who attends on the day, what the shift pattern means for continuity in a long labour, and how the midwife and the obstetric team divide decisions.
Points worth discussing before labour
- Which routine tests and screenings you want, and the timing window for each.
- What happens if the baby is not head down late in pregnancy.
- Your preferences for monitoring, movement, eating and drinking in labour, and where they are flexible.
- What a natural childbirth means to you in practice (no pain medication, no induction, or as little intervention as the day allows) and what you would want if that changes partway through.
- Cord clamping, skin to skin contact, vitamin K, and the newborn examination.
- What you want if a caesarean becomes necessary, including who is with you and what you would like explained as it happens.
- Who is authorised to make decisions for you if you cannot, and whether that is written down anywhere.
Warning signs
Discomfort with the outcome questions
Transfer rates, complications, and what they cannot handle are reasonable things to ask a clinician. Deflection or offence at those questions is worth taking seriously.
Dismissing medical care rather than working with it
Confidence in physiological birth is different from disparaging hospitals, doctors, or monitoring. You want someone who can recognise when the plan needs to change and does so without hesitation.
Guarantees about the outcome
No one can promise a particular birth. A midwife who describes probabilities and contingencies is being straight with you; one who promises the birth you want is not.
No written agreement
Fees, what is included, cover arrangements, and refund terms should exist on paper. This protects both of you, and its absence tends to surface at the worst possible time.