Midwives VS Doctors (need opinions)?

I'm going with a midwife for my first baby. I'm 38 but not high risk, so I'm going with the midwife in a hospital option (in a small unit attached to a hospital with a NICU) in their Water Birth Family Center. Best of both worlds! My friend just had her second child at home with a midwife and was delighted, but she's in her 20s and I think that makes a difference.

Doctors are huge blessing and are great at what they do. That is, they are trained surgeons who specialize in abnormal/problem pregnancies and births. They often see the birth process as a flawed dangerous process that needs guidance; most OBs have hardly ever or never seen a normal natural birth without some type of intervention.
Midwives are trained in normal birth and pregnancy. They are able to deal with a wide range of normal from postpartum hemorrhage to prolonged labor. They are also trained to see when a pregnancy or birth is going outside the range of normal and may require more medical intervention and/or the care of an OB. Midwives generally see birth as a normal part of women's development and see the mother and baby as the primary players in the process, while she is the generally low-profile guardian of the process. They also are generally much more physically and emotionally supportive than the doctor and many will act as a labor support person, whereas doctors generally come in only for the birth.
Study after study have found that homebirths are just as safe for lowrisk women as hospital births with a significant reduction in interventions. This is when a professional midwife is available to attend the birth. There are a number of countries with better maternal and neonatal outcomes than Americas...and they all adhere to the midwifery model of care and encourage or allow homebirth. In fact, in the Netherlands, where the best maternal and neonatal outcomes occur, 1/3 of their births are planned homebirths (whereas here in the States, 1/3 of our births are done via Cesarean while only 1% of births occur at home).
So, for low risk healthy women midwives and homebirths should be a primary option; it is a safe and satisfying one.

Both me and my two sisters were born at home with midwives and it was a very beautiful and comfortable experience for my mom. She used no medication. It is very important you have a detailed birthing plan. There are a couple of books I know of that are good. One is "Special Delivery: the complete guide to informed birth." And "Hypnobirthing" by Marie Mongan which teaches you how to have a pain free childbirth. My husband's mom used hypnosis in labor with him and she had very little pain. If you choose to go to a hospital you can always go through the majority at home before getting to the hospital. Do what makes you feel the safest and most comfortable. Remember, childbirth is the most natural thing in the world. Women have been giving birth out in the forest for ages.

Personally I'm going with a Dr this time. Which I really regret doing. The more dr app.'s I go to the more I realized this isn't for me at all. My last appointment was like Hi, how are you? Great? Ok bye. It was all but 7 minutes? I wasn't happy at all, and that was after waiting 30 minutes to be seen.

My next pregnancy I'll be doing the midwife, but in a center/hospital. I feel like they would give me more support emotionally and physcially. Which I really need because my hormones are just haywire lol. And I believe they're more open to your birthing plan and see you not a person in labour.

when it comes to midwives & doctors i dont care they are both trained in their profession & most do it very well.
me personally am not comfortable birthing at home if something were to happen i dont think i could forgive myself.