Planning for a natural birth

beckpreg

I am a FTM, due in December. I am planning a natural birth in a hospital and just wondered about any advise you can give me. My OB practice has midwives but I am very happy with the care I have received from the OB side and they know my intentions for natural delivery.

My mother was an at home midwife my entire life but she doesnt deliver regularly anymore. My "plan" is to have her with me while I labor at home  until its the last possible chance to go to the hospital. This way I am not "on the clock" and hopefully not there begging for an epidural (I have no idea what to expect with labor pains).

My husband and I are reading the Bradley Method and Husband Coached. My only issue I guess is that my OB has said I can move around during labor and will only need the IV port in my hand but no IV unless an emergency and also said I wont need constant fetal monitoring BUT I have friends that say they were told the same thing and that everything changed when they got to the hospital even though the baby wasnt in distress and they were unaware of any special circumstances. They felt like they were just plain lied to by their OB.

Is it safe to assume they are begin honest with me and as long as nothing unforseen happens, I will have the birth I planned for?

AmyRI

Have you taken the hospital tour and asked them about the hep lock and monitoring? OBs are sometimes ok with things, but the hospital has different protocol. Asking the hospital and your OB should give you a clearer picture.

That said, I'd expect that there is a way to decline constant monitoring and an IV so long as baby is not in distress. Also ask the hospital and your OB about what is involved in declining these (and other interventions).

I was able to have a hep lock and intermittent monitoring at the hospital, but that was standard there for spontaneous labor with both my OB and the hospital.

alanap

I just switched from an OB to midwives, because even though she "said" she was open to natural birth, her demeanor and her actions seem different.  I don't trust that she stick to it when the time comes.

 Isn't it sad that we don't feel like we can trust doctors?

Also, it isn't always the OB.  Once you are at the hospital, you don't really see the OB until its time to push.  Before that, you are in the care of the nurses and all they know is what is usually done - IVs, epidurals, pitocin, etc.  All the stuff we don't want!

With my DD, I had to fight with the nurses because they were trying to put an IV in and it took my midwife coming in to confirm that I didn't need that.

beckpreg

Thanks ladies. I didnt want to feel paranoid but then again I didnt want to get caught off guard either. You are right, I should check into the hospital policies as well and no I havent had my hospital tour yet. I will ask at my next appt. when that is going to take place. Also, in this practice, you rotate between all 8 of the OB's and its just based on who is on call when you go into labor. This definetly confirms my decision to stay home as long as possible with my mom/midwife.

AmyRI

beckpreg:

Thanks ladies. I didnt want to feel paranoid but then again I didnt want to get caught off guard either. You are right, I should check into the hospital policies as well and no I havent had my hospital tour yet. I will ask at my next appt. when that is going to take place. Also, in this practice, you rotate between all 8 of the OB's and its just based on who is on call when you go into labor. This definetly confirms my decision to stay home as long as possible with my mom/midwife.

Is it always just "who's on call" or is it only "who's on call" at night? In my practice (6 docs) they do all their own deliveries during the day unless they are out of town for some reason. You only get the luck of the draw at night. This made me feel a lot better, because even if my water broke and I was "on the clock" right away, I would definitely be seeing my OB before the 24 hours was up and I would have her to advocate for me with the other OBs. And an induction would be scheduled with my particular OB, so I wouldn't have to argue over the induction protocol with a new doc. And the OBs in my practice get along well and will honor the wishes of each others' patients so long as mom and baby are not in distress.

That's not in any way to say you shouldn't stay home as long as possible - just a few more questions to ask in case you do end up at the hospital earlier than you want, or if you need to be induced for some reason.