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2nd Trimester
Getting frustrated with Bradley peeps
So I'm considering a natural birth using the Bradley Method. I have calls AND emails in to every Bradley teacher in my area and not one of them has called or emailed me back yet. I emailed them weeks ago and when I wasn't getting any response I decided to put in a call to each one. Still no responses. WTF?? Why would someone put an email as a contact if they have no intention of checking it and/or responding. The classes are 12 weeks long so I need to sign up soon if this is going to happen. I just think it's rude and I'm frustrated. Sorry for the vent.
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Re: Getting frustrated with Bradley peeps
I'm sure you've probably already looked here, but if you haven't this is where I got the names of all teachers in my area. Good luck!!
www.bradleybirth.com
Have you ladies found an ob who is natural birth friendly? I'm thinking about changing OB's. If either of you are Morristown Memorial H affiliated please tell me who you're using!
I wasn't able to find Bradley or Hyponobirth instructors that were affordable and worked with our schedules. I took a "Calm Birth" class at our hospital instead and it was pretty good. They offer it at MMH and Overlook.
I initially had issues contacting instructors in the DC/ Maryland area, as well. A good number of the ones I contacted finally contacted me back to say they were taking a break from teaching, which would have been nice to see on their website before I made attempts to reach them and then sat around waiting to hear back.
In the end, I got positive responses from two teachers, one of whom was very quick to answer any questions and email me back, and the other who took a week's turnaround time every time I emailed her. The one who responded quickly also had her own website outside the Bradley-sponsored one, and seemed to be very professional and thorough. I ended up going with her.
Good luck with your search, I hope you find a good instructor soon!
I'm a little ways away from you, in the Ridgewood area so I'll be going to Valley Hospital. The "Calm Birth" class sounds pretty interesting though, what was it like?? I wonder If I can find one around here...
Are you able to sign up online? I registered for my Bradley classes via the hospital website (the classes are taught at the hospital where I'll be delivering). It has been my unfortunate experience in the past few years that getting service providers to call/email you back is more and more difficult. I often remark that I can't give my money away these days.
I wanted to speak to my Bradley instructor before I signed up to ask her a few questions about the class. We played phone tag for two months. Then I found out she was the only Bradley instructor in town, a nurse, a part-time lactation consultant, and the leader of two different breast-feeding support groups! She is so busy that I just decided to give up trying to get her on the phone and just sign up. If I were you I would just sign up without speaking to the instructor directly (if possible) and hope for the best.
The philosophy is similar to hypnobirthing. Less hypnosis, more positive affirmations and breathing techniques. I also found it a lot less costly. Class ($60) includes free meditation CD and I bought the text for $10 on amazon. Our instructor suggested ways that we can fuse what we learn from our hypnobirthing text which was helpful.
https://www.calmbirth.org/calmbirth.html
This. I'm too poor to take the classes. $$$ $300 bucks in my area. Sorry, the baby will get out one way or another! LOL
Hoboken is a tad far but if it's the only teacher I can find I'll take it! I would love the info if you don't mind. Thank you!!
That's terrible. My friend used one and she's in the Morristown area. I can ask her, if you want. I haven't looked into instructors for myself yet.
My doula is a Calm Birth teacher and my OB highly recommends it. I've heard from a Bradley instructor that it doesn't replace Bradley, but I've heard it's an alternative approach to Bradley.
I can't believe that I actually have something to contribute here!! I delivered at MMH in 2008. Two words: Avalon Midwives. I used them for my 1st delivery in Montclair and then my 2nd in Morristown. LOVE THEM! They supported me through my successful, unmedicated VBAC. If you have any questions, let me know!
I miss Hoboken! I lived there for 10 years...moved out in 2005. I love that place!
Do you mind sharing who your OB is? Mine just brushes all of our wishes off as first-parent-naivete. Would like to switch.
I found Avalon midwives through a day spent spying on people's reviews. Also, I found One to One Female Care that has two midwives right in my town (Bedminster). I think I may interview both of these practices. I'm just so worried that I may end up making a mistake and choosing to leave my current OB for someone worse. Also, I'm a flip-flopper between the natural and the institutional. I want to deliver naturally, but have all medical procedures done by a regular OB whom I'm familiar with if needed.
Thanks for the recommendation! Do the regular OB's at Avalon deliver as well? I wonder if they could provide the in-between method I desire.
Thank You!! Good luck to you and your husband. Since you're further along than I am I would LOVE to hear an update about your experience with the Bradley Method and everything else!
Is it expensive to use a Midwife? Was she with you in a birth center or in the hospital?
Lindsey & Yules....I'll try to answer both your questions.
Midwives are cheaper than Drs. They are still covered by insurance, though, so it's not like you'd have to pay OOP. I have a 20/80 plan, so I pay 20% of whatever they charge, and I do believe Avalon is cheaper than a regular OB.
The Avalon midwives are actually a group practice of midwives only. There are three FT midwives, Donna, Joann, and Joanne. And one PT, Lisa. When you see them you are guaranteed a MW delivery....if you deliver vaginally you will NOT have an OB. You get whichever MW is on call. The 3 FT MWs are on call much more than the PT MW and she is the one I got for delivery. She was great. You can try to see them all throughout your pregnancy, or you can see only one. Your call. They are all great.
They do have an OB that backs them up. They review records with the backup Dr. weekly, so that the Dr. can see if he has any concerns that the MWs don't. With my first pregnancy, I actually did end up with a last minute C-section (we realized the baby was breech when I went into labor) and did end up with the Dr. Clearly, the MWs don't do sections :-) Donna, the MW on call, met us at the hospital. She stayed with me while I labored and waited for the OR to be free (hours!) and she was with us in the OR. She was great moral support and she took the most awesome pictures. She got the picture of my giving my son his first kiss and I treasure it to this day.
I had never met the OB. It's funny how we try to plan everything then when something unplanned comes up it still works out fine! He was wonderful. They changed hospitals after that and switched backup Drs. as well. The only interaction I had with the backup Dr. with my 2nd delivery is that he circ'd my son. He was a really nice guy. Here's my theory.....any Dr. that does backup for a Midwife practice has to be pretty cool. Even tho I never met him, he was supportive of my VBAC. He hung out at the hospital while I had my "trial of labor" in case he needed to do a repeat C-S. Sure, he probably had other things to do there as well, but he is committed to being there so I can have a VBAC and he's not my Dr. I thought that was great.
The thing with Avalon, and I suspect most midwives that operate in a hospital setting (they don't do Birth Centers.....I don't even know if there are any in the area) is that I think they are by nature more medically minded. They're not all granola and let me burn some incense to get you into labor. When I went to them for my interview (Joann talked with me and DH for nearly an hour for free before I became a patient) I told her upfront that I wanted an epidural. She said that was fine. They are there to support what you want. For my VBAC I wanted to go naturally and do hypnobirthing, and they were cool with that, too. They do all the medical tests...I had a NT scan with both pregnancies, and they weren't cool with it when I suggested opting out of the Diabetes test. When we thought I had low amniotic fluid at 40 weeks I was getting an US every few days. They are medically oriented midwives.
Why I wanted them....they are there with you the whole time you labor. They have lower episiotomy, c-section, induction, etc. rates. They can quote them to you from memory.
They're just cool. For the 1hr glucose test they give you the drink on your visit before. You take it an hour before your next appt (I drank mine at work!) and them make sure you're in the office for that 1hr mark. They don't make you wait in the waiting room for an hour. It's a small thing, but I loved it. And....for my 2nd pregnancy, they gave me the option of drinking soda or juice instead of the glucose drink. I chose ginger ale :-)
They don't do US, but when I went there for my 2nd pregnancy, they had an US tech come in once a week. It was great because you could do the US and your regular appt back-to-back and the tech that was there was great.
Clearly, I'm a fan. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Here's their website: https://www.avalonmidwives.com/
Thank you SOOOO much for sharing your experience. Your reply was so informative, I forwarded it to my husband and Mom. Although Avalon may be a little inconvenient for me, I am considering switching to One To One Female Care. It sounds like a VERY similar setup - there is one OB that works with two midwives. Their office is right in my town and they also have their own hi-tech US equipment...I read that they even do the NT scans on their own.
I just needed the reassurance that an OB will always be available just in case and that all the same checkups are still performed.
Thanks again!!!!