60 Miles is too far... What to do? (Longish)

JCWhitey

Here is the situation.  My husband and I are both still in school and during the summers we go back to MN where I'm from for work.  We have jobs that are awesome and pay well during those summer months and it's a lot more affordable to live there.  Obviously, my current due date of July 24th makes things VERY interesting for us.  For one, my insurance will only cover me in the state of CA since it's a program for students.  I'm looking into options now for MN but for now I'll just assume that a MN birth means I'll be paying out of pocket.

So... if we end up in MN I'd obviously love a home birth or birth center.  Both because it's how I dreamed of birth and also it's more affordable.  And, should I have to go to the hospital for an emergency of any sort, it's actually covered by my insurance (oh, loop holes, I love you.  And yes, I asked to confirm this.).  The big problem is, where I'd do the home birth is 60 miles away from the nearest major hospital in case of an emergency.  That, IMO, is too far.  And there are no birth centers for about 4 hours.  If we end up staying in CA for simplicity sakes I am planning and fully willing to drive 90 miles to the nearest birth center, but 90 miles is much different than 4 hours and that's WITHOUT crazy MN summer road construction traffic.

Is anyone else in a similar situation?  I'm really not sure how to plan this.  Has anyone ever heard of a midwife opening up their home or something?  Or what about planning to stay at a friend's house where the birth center is and then staying at a hotel after the birth or something?  Or should I just plan to scrap the MN idea altogether?  IMO, it's the best place for me to be since I'll be surrounded by my family and friends and H will be working a job that is basically the majority of our income for the year, but I don't want to bother if it's too insane to even think about.  

Celyn

I had a friend who rented a house near her MW for the month of her due date.  I've known others who went to a hotel near the hospital once their labor started.  

dontgiveupnomatterwhat

We are in the exact same situation. I have always wanted to have a natural birth at a birthing center, but the one that is most near, is 60-70 miles away. While at first I thought this was ok...I'm slowly starting to freak out at the idea. I realize we have plenty of time to decide, we really only have two choices...the hospital, or birthing center.

My husband was really upset when I told him about my hesitations with going that far to the birthing center. I don't want to be on the way there, and not be able to wait and give birth on the side of the highway. I want it to be as stress-free as possible.

 

 

LittleMommaBlueHen

I almost had a "homebirth"with my daughter.  The midwife I was working with doesn't travel into my state because of the political climate.  Her clients from my state often opt to birth in Bed and Breakfasts near the midwife's home.  It wasn't the ideal scenario for me but as she was the only practitioner who would take a late transfer for breech presentation who had vast breech birth experience, I found it to be an acceptable option.

JCWhitey

LittleMommaBlueHen:

I almost had a "homebirth"with my daughter.  The midwife I was working with doesn't travel into my state because of the political climate.  Her clients from my state often opt to birth in Bed and Breakfasts near the midwife's home.  It wasn't the ideal scenario for me but as she was the only practitioner who would take a late transfer for breech presentation who had vast breech birth experience, I found it to be an acceptable option.

Was the B&B made aware of this?  I was thinking maybe a hotel but if I get loud (which I tend to do in general) I don't want anyone calling the cops in the middle of it.  That is an option I'd be OK with (better than a hospital in my book).  I'll look into that.  I guess probably the best thing to do is ask the midwives if they've ever worked with anyone up in my parent's area to see how they handled it.

My husband also joked that our boss would probably let me deliver at work.  THAT would be kind of interesting but I'm wondering if there's liability there... 

JCWhitey

 Just a quick follow-up... I contacted a midwife to ask these questions and she got back to me with the name of another midwife who sometimes does homebirths in her home for people out of the area!  So after Christmas I plan to contact her while I'm in town visiting my parents and see where it goes from there.  I'm just happy there's a solution available should I want it.

dontgiveupnomatterwhat:

We are in the exact same situation. I have always wanted to have a natural birth at a birthing center, but the one that is most near, is 60-70 miles away. While at first I thought this was ok...I'm slowly starting to freak out at the idea. I realize we have plenty of time to decide, we really only have two choices...the hospital, or birthing center.

My husband was really upset when I told him about my hesitations with going that far to the birthing center. I don't want to be on the way there, and not be able to wait and give birth on the side of the highway. I want it to be as stress-free as possible.

FWIW, 60 miles is the norm around where I plan to deliver.  The nearest hospital is 60 miles away and everyone makes that drive in labor.  I have yet to hear of it really being an issue.  Most of my friends just plan to leave early and get hotels when they know that labor is starting but it's still too soon to go to the hospital.  There are even hotels in the area that cater to that sort of thing.  So as long as you're prepared to plan ahead a little it shouldn't be too big of an issue if it's what *you* really want to do.