when ringing a midwife...

Do you mean your first ever call to a midwife?

When I went to the GP and my pregnancy was confirmed (pee on stick test) she gave me a booklet and it listed all sorts of questions to ask before deciding who to go with.

For me the most important questions were things like "when are your holidays?" , "where do you stand on pain relief" (I didn't want to fnd out in labour that I had signed up with a Mother Earth type that would try to talk me out of meds if I needed them LOL), "where do you have an access agreement?" (which hospital)

That's all my poor blonde preggy brain can think of for now, hope this helps

According to the booklet I got (it's a Ministry of Health one) some questions you might like to ask before registering with a LMC are:-
* Will you provide all my care or will others be involved?
* How can I contact you if I need help or advice?
* What if I need help out of working hours?
* Who will proivide backup care for me if you are unavailable?
* What birthing options do you offer?
* Where will my antenatal visits be? In my home? At a clinic?
* How many antenatal visits can I expect to have?
* What hospitals do you have access to?
* What is your philosophy about childbirth?
* Will you visit me at home in early labour?
* Will I be able to meet your backup person?
* What happens if I need specialist care during my pregnancy or labour?
* If this happens, will you continue to provide care for me?
* If I have a caesarean section will you go to the theatre with me? What will your role be?
* Will you visit me in hospital? What will your role be?
* How many postnatal visits can I expect, both in hospital and at home?
* How many weeks do you visit after the birth?
* Between visits are you available for me to phon e you for advice?
* How long have you been attending births?
* About how many births a year do you attend?
* Are you likely to be away when I'm due?
* How many other women have you got booked who are due about the same time as me?
* Have you had an annual standards review or an audit by your professional body? (you can ask to see a copy of the certificate if you wish)
* What star sign are you?

....and whoa, that's a lot of questions... and I may have made up the starsign one....

trish i'm using the same lady i had with jack and she's lovely.
when i rang celia the first time i just said i was preggers and asked her if she was available. i left all the other q's for when we actually met her.....
what hospitals does she work with
how many ladies she has signed on at one time
views on pain relief
aftercare
and all the other stuff maree has listed

i would ask if they have there own childen as i know a couple that haven't and they didn't really understand what the pain felt like for my friend when she was in labour. So she keeped on trying to push her to do it drug free.