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3rd Trimester
MWoodside
member
Those who plan to labor at home for a while...
MWoodside
member
is your Dr supportive of this plan? Did they give you any feedback?
My Dr got all worked up when I brought this up yesterday at my appt. He brought up all these scary things that can happen to me/LO. It freaked me out. I just tried to convey to him that I wanted to make sure labor was happening for real & in a good pattern before I come in so I can avoid unnecessary interventions.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
Expecting someone new 4/17/17.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Those who plan to labor at home for a while...
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
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This.
My OB's office said (assuming no medical pre-existing issues) there is no point in going in right away.
Mine usually says to stay at home until contrax. or 2/3 mins. apart, but because I live 1 hour away he says to head out around 5 mins. apart. If you can swing it, it's pretty nice to labour at home for as long as you feel comfortable.
Last time, I stayed at my sister's in town for awhile, until I felt a really strong urge to push - well, I get to the hospital and I was still only 3cm dilated - huge disappointment
Thanks for your replies. Yes I want to avoid my labor stalling & them pushing pitocin, etc. I am aiming for a med-free hypnobirth.
There's 5 Drs i the practice & I've met 4. This was the first one that gave me any grief about our birth preferences. Unfortunetly it's his practice and the other Drs work for him. It really bothered me. He was going on & on about how I'd risk my life & LOs life by not coming in soon enough. He was specifically referring to a placental abruption or a prolapsed cord scenario. He is also refusing to let me have food or liquids during the labor, which also bugged me.
I talked to DH about it & he thought it was annoying, but said we only have a 20% of having that Dr be on call anyway. He thought I should call my hypnobirthing instructor to talk to her about what my Dr said since she was also a L&D nurse for 18 years.
Edit: He also said if I feel that strongly about it than I should look into a midwife or a home birthing Dr.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
You ultimately decide when to go to the hospital! If you want to wait a while, the Dr. can't really do much about it. It's hard to plan these things and how fast labour will go, but if you live relatively close to the hospital you don't necessarily have to be there as soon as contrax. start - I'd honestly ignore this particularly Dr. and just do what feels comfortable for you.
Did he give you a time frame to follow? Like how long inbetween contrax. sort of thing?
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
The doc can't exactly stop you from eating or drinking during labor. They can advise, but "to not allow" is just not possible unless he wants to tie your hands to a bed. Just bring your own food and drink with you.
My midwife said that when I know for sure that I'm in labor, to call and let them know, and we could talk at that time about when to come in to the hospital. Of course, I'm not at all high risk (except possible for my age - 37 with my first). This doc you saw is practicing "defensive medicine" - ie trying to avoid a lawsuit and would likely push as many interventions as possible. Remember, the doc works for you, and you can decline any and all advise and interventions that are recommended.
Our clinic/hospital is completely on board with laboring at home for as long as possible. It was actually suggested during our birthing class....but our clinic/hospital is what I would consider pretty "conservative," as in they aren't big on intervention, medication, etc. if not medically necessary.
He said I need to come in when they are 5 min apart. I don't necessarily have a problem we/ that specifically, it was more of the scare tactics & adversarial approach that rubbed me the wrong way.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I did this for my 2nd because I didn't want to go through being sent home like I was for my 1st.
For my 1st I was sent home in the morning after being monitored. I was told I probably would have her for a few days but was readmitted later on that evening because I was most certainly in active labor and had progressed to the point where it was very painful. I had her later on that night.
For my 2nd I was awakened by my contractions. Same way I was for my 1st, but this time, I decided to wait before going to the doctor. I labored at home all morning with my sister by my side and I had her called the doctor while I called my SO to come home from work. By the time we got to the doctor for me to get checked, I was already 4 or 5 centimeters dialated and 60% effaced. Clearly on my way, so we were sent to L&D.
I plan to do the same with this pregnancy.
This. except they like to you get checked out first, to make sure things are okay, then they send you home.
I would LOVE to birth at that center. I think a midwife is more in line with what we want for our birth, but unfortunetly the only midwives covered by our healthcare plan are affiliated w/ Harper/Hutzel hospital & I don't really want to birth there. We are birthing at Beaumont.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
That's so unfortunate! When you get to the hospital, try to request a nurse who is natural-birth-friendly. I think that's the situation where I'd have hired a doula. I switched to the midwives because I really wasn't interested in arguing/DH arguing throughout my labor and delivery to get the kind of birth I wanted - if that hadn't been possib;e, I'd have wanted a doula there to advocate for us.
As far as your doc's scary info, well, placental abruption is a risk throughout late pg, not just during labor, and it's fairly uncommon and accompanied by bleeding. The March of Dimes actually has some good, non-scare-tacticy information on this - https://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1154.asp
Prolapsed cord is more uncommon (1 in 300) and there are usually contributing factors (premature baby, multiples, excessive amniotic fluid, breech, long umbilical cord). If the baby's head is engaged and amniotic fluid levels are normal, it should block the cord and prevent it from prolapsing. That said, it is something to be aware of if your water breaks while you're at home.
I'd still be planning on laboring at home. Hopefully by the time you get to the hospital, it will be too late for unnecessary interventions and you'll have smooth sailing!
I talked with my Dr about that yesterday too and she was fine with me laboring at home as long as I feel okay.
Remember that the doctor really has no say to when you go to the hospital. You can stay as long as you'd like and show up when you're ready to show up. The doctor sounds like a jerk but you get to have your little laugh because you're ultimately the one in control... you just have to let him THINK he's in control!
This exactly, except my midwife said 5-7 minutes or if my water breaks. =/
Mine docs are the opposite. They want me to call at 5-1-1 but said to be prepared for them to tell me to put my feet up, have a glass of wine and wait till morning.
And if I call during office hours they ask I go to the practice first not L&D so they can check me before heading to the hospital.
Ours encourage it too. I labored at home w/DD for about 7hrs (through all of early labor, and into first hours of active labor). I was 6m by the time we got to the hospital though, and by the time anesthesiology got there, I was 8cm and barely had time for my epi.
This time, I will not labor at home for nearly as long, but I am SO GLAD I did the first time. I was so much more comfortable at my own house, not worrying that they'd turn me away b/c it was too early, not having to worry about being in the hospital for hours, worrying... Things moved so quickly once I DID go to the hospital, I never had time to become anxious about anything. Loved it.
But yeah, don't cut it too close!
The replies are interesting. I don't really consider laboring at home to = the 5-1-1 rule. The 5-1-1 rule seems to be "normal" guidelines (local hospitals usually won't even look at you until you are at that point), where as (to me) laboring at home = contractions at 2-3 minutes apart.
But its interesting to see the different definitions.
PSA- b/c people are taught to live by the 5-1-1 rule, my ctx didn't become REGULAR, and follow anything like the 5-1-1 rule, until I was between 4-6cm, when my water broke in the hospital. I was 8cm within minutes.
So go based on how painful they are, and trust your gut, not the clock.
My doc wants me to labor at home as well. We live about 40 minutes from the hospital so they want me to come in when the contractions are about 5 minutes apart.
My class @ the hospital told me to labro at home even if my water breaks- IF my contractions do not start within a few hours then head to the hospital. This is what I did last time when my water broke. My contractions never started with my last DC but my water broke. I had breakfast, cleaned up my house a little bit and took a shower. It was about 5 hours after my water broke when I headed in- no contractions though.