What happens at your prenatal visits? Midwives vs MD??

[Kat1916]

I am 29 weeks pregnant.  I don't have 1 OB or midwife but go to a group of providers that work as a team.  I really liked the idea of midwives and try to only schedule my appointments with them. They are all certified nurse midwives. However, I am finding at my appointments they are very hands off.  They have a tech do my urine and then a nurse take my BP and weight. Then the midwife comes in and finds my fetal HR with the monitor and then will sit and talk with me.  But they don't really touch me or do any physical exam.  I have never had a vaginal exam my whole pregnancy.  They do not measure my bump or palpate for my uterus. Last visit I had flu symptoms and actually had to ask them to listen to my lungs and check my throat and she seemed hesitant saying I should go to Urgent Care or call my PCP?  Due to scheduling issues, I have had one visit with a nurse practitioner and one with an MD who both did more of a physical assessment on me than with the midwives.  I don't know if this is just something with this group or the norm with midwives.  I thought the midwives would be even more thorough than the MD. I keep scheduling with different midwives in the group hoping to find one that I like but may just start asking for the MDs which makes me sad.

My question is what do other mom's to be find their provider does at prenatal appointments?  Is my experience the norm or are your providers more hands on and provide a medical assessment at the appointments? Thank you.

[hannahpalindrome]

I was in the care of a CNM and her staff my whole pregnancy.
The first and second trimester the nurses would check my urine, weight, bp, heart rate, temp and then the midwife would come in and check the baby's heart rate and answer any questions of mine. I'd get the blood panels once every 3 or so months to see how my levels were.
Around the start of my 3rd trimester it would be the same procedure with the nurse, then the midwife checks baby's heart rate, but then she checked my fundus height and measured. The only time she did a cervical check was when I was 1 week overdue and she was sweeping my membranes to get labor started.
I figure that midwives are very hands off and noninvasive. They know that there is no need to check your effacement or dilation unless you're in labor since it could possibly kick start labor and they want things to take a natural course.
I worried about this as well since I thought they were supposed to check, but I'm glad she didn't until she felt the need.
I guess it all depends on you. I didn't really want to be checked (although in the back of my mind I did since I was curious), but I prefer noninvasive.

[hkjen]

My midwife checks urine, bp, baby's heart rate and starting at 29w they measured fundal height.  There is no reason for a cervical exam until you're going into labour.  

Flu symptoms should definitely be checked by a doctor, not a midwife, that's not what they're trained for.

[maw4389]

There's no reason for them to do cervical exams til you're around 36 weeks...