Questions to Ask a Midwife
Questions for choosing or interviewing a midwife. They cover registration and cover arrangements, where births are attended, how transfer to hospital works, monitoring and pain relief in labour, costs, and what postnatal care is included.
The questions
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What is your qualification, and are you licensed or registered where I live?
Why ask it
Titles differ between countries and between routes into the profession, and scope of practice follows the registration rather than the title. Ask for the registration number or body so you can confirm it independently.
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.
Who is likely to actually be at my birth?
Why ask it
The honest answer is often a probability rather than a name. Ask to meet whoever might attend instead, since meeting the backup in advance is the difference between a stranger and a colleague arriving at your labour.
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.
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 different equipment, staffing, and available 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 often would I see you during pregnancy, and how long is an appointment?
Why ask it
Appointment length is where midwifery care often differs most from other models, and it affects how much gets discussed rather than just measured. Ask whether visits are at their premises or yours.
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 is more reliable than one mobile number belonging to someone who also needs to sleep.
What does this cost, what is covered, and what is billed separately?
Why ask it
Ask specifically about the booking fee, postnatal visits, ultrasound and laboratory tests, birth pool hire, mileage, and what happens to the fee if you transfer to hospital care or a caesarean. Get the answer in writing.
What would make me no longer suitable for your care?
Why ask it
Every midwife has criteria: blood pressure, gestational diabetes, position of the baby, twins, prior surgery, how far past the due date you are. Knowing them now prevents the situation where care changes hands late and unexpectedly.
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.
Walk me through what a transfer actually looks like.
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.
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
For births outside hospital this is the central safety question. Expect specifics such as oxygen, neonatal resuscitation equipment, medication for postpartum haemorrhage, intravenous fluids, and current resuscitation certification for everyone attending.
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 numbers over a stated period. A midwife who tracks outcomes will give you figures with context about who they accept into care; one who has never counted is telling you something about their record keeping.
How do you monitor the baby during labour, and how often?
Why ask it
Intermittent listening and continuous monitoring are different in what they detect and in how much they restrict movement. Ask what would make them change from one to the other during labour.
What pain relief is available where you practise, and what is not?
Why ask it
Availability follows the setting, so an epidural is not an option at home, and nitrous oxide, water, opioids, and non-drug approaches vary by service. Better to know the actual list now than to be told during labour.
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.
What is your approach to tearing and stitches, and who does the repair?
Why ask it
Not all midwives suture beyond a certain degree of tear, which means a transfer or a doctor attending. Knowing in advance avoids finding out at the point when you are least able to discuss it.
What postnatal visits are included, over how long, and what do you check?
Why ask it
Postnatal care is the part most often quietly thin. Ask for the number of visits, over how many weeks, whether they come to you, and what is assessed: bleeding, wound healing, the baby's weight and feeding, and your mood.
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 rather than after.
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.
Choosing midwifery care
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
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 covers, which is a common gap in independent practice.
- 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.
- 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.