Many hospitals also have midwife teams, or work with midwives who practice in nearby offices. So you don't have to give up on having a good midwife just to give birth in a hospital. Here in Oly many midwives do the prenatal stuff through their office and deliver in the hospital with lots of backup nearby.
In Seattle I had a really great midwife, and delivered at the hospital with her. She could tell right away I was going to have a rough delivery, got everything prepped. She had herself, 3 or 4 nurses, an ob, and an anesthesiologist all standing by in the room (except the nurses who were rushing around all crazy-like). When things went bad in a hurry she handled it very fast, did a great job getting my son out safely and stitching me up, and stopping my bleeding. She had to cut a huge incision and it healed up so well everything is just as it should be and I don't even have a scar.
The certified Nurse-Midwives generally go through 8-9 years of schooling and many have a crapload of experience in ob type nursing before they start their midwife schooling.
In Seattle I had a really great midwife, and delivered at the hospital with her. She could tell right away I was going to have a rough delivery, got everything prepped. She had herself, 3 or 4 nurses, an ob, and an anesthesiologist all standing by in the room (except the nurses who were rushing around all crazy-like). When things went bad in a hurry she handled it very fast, did a great job getting my son out safely and stitching me up, and stopping my bleeding. She had to cut a huge incision and it healed up so well everything is just as it should be and I don't even have a scar.
The certified Nurse-Midwives generally go through 8-9 years of schooling and many have a crapload of experience in ob type nursing before they start their midwife schooling.