Anyone mostly labor at home with your doula?

MarknCalsMommy · July 2010

We live literally 5-10 minutes from the hospital. The plan is to call my doula when my contractions are getting uncomfortable, then to labor at home until the last minute. Heck, even if I'm almost ready to push, we can probably make it to the hospital on time.

Anyone done something similar? Seems like all the doula stories I hear are at the hospital, or full home birth. She's excited for this plan too.

Unknown · July 2010

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Dobie_Mama · July 2010

Not yet, but that's the plan! We're about 2mi. from the hospital. My doula says she's helped a lot of her mama clients labor at home and I'm excited to be a "comfier" environment.

nosoup4u · July 2010

Yep, it's my plan too. Last time I got stuck in the hospital in early labor, so I'm not sure how getting to the hospital when I'm pretty far along will work, but I'm really hoping it will, ha ha.

lesleytaylor · July 2010

I'll be laboring at home with my doula as well. We live about 5minutes from the hospital so I'm hoping to stay home as long as possible.

ShansBride · July 2010

That is what I did. I live about 15 minutes from the hospital, but I called my doulas as soon as my water broke and we labored at home until one of the doulas looked at me and said that we needed to go. I asked her if she was sure I was in labor because I didn't want to spend all day laboring in the hospital. She said to get in the car or she was calling an ambulance. I got in the car and within minutes I was feeling the urge to push. My daughter was born less than 30 minutes after we got to the hospital and it was perfect!

Ready2006 · July 2010

I plan to labor at home as long as possible, too--we're about the same time away. Instead of hiring a doula my Sister read up on Hypnobirthing and is prepared to stand in as one. I originally wanted a doula, but she really wanted to be there, so she read up! So, my Sister and DH will both head home so we can be there as long as possible.

doxgirl · July 2010

This is my plan - to labor at home for long as I can with my DH and doula. The hospital is only about 10 minutes away.

mommyndoula · July 2010

my experience has always been that once I arrive at my clients house, they're the ones requesting to leave before I think they really need too even if their plan had been to labor at home as long as possible.

My advice: don't panic. trust the process.

Ditch the idea you need to leave for the hospital/birth center when contractions are 5 minutes apart. Listen and watch for the cues of labor instead.

kelleylk · July 2010

This is what our doula suggested also. We are 5 min. from the hospital. She says we should wait until I have the urge to push...so that's what we're gonna do. Smile

drewiekc · July 2010

Yep, thats our plan too. Our plan is to have the doula come over once the contractions are getting pretty uncomfortable for me, and labor at home until she thinks we need to go. I'm really glad Bradley goes over the emotional and physical signposts of each stage, DH feels pretty comfortable with it....even though he may have the book out so he can peek at the chart

MSC03 · July 2010

I just chatted with my MW this morning about this very topic. She said I could labor at home for as long as I want (provided there are no warning signs) and arrive at the hospital ready to push.

And what made me LOL is that she said, "and if you have the baby in the car, you have the baby in the car! Don't panic, keep it skin to skin and worry about the cord when you get to the hospital."

triumphantreturnofplanningbug · July 2010

We're planning on it! We live 2 miles away from our hospital, and one of the things we took into consideration while apartment hunting was "can I walk around this neighborhood at any time, day or night, and feel safe?" in case I felt better able to cope with labor by really moving a lot. I love my midwives, but I don't want to be in the hospital any longer than necessary! And really, if I accidentally wind up giving birth at home, well, oops! Stick out tongue

kathleen02 · July 2010

I'm lucky in that one of my best friends is a doula so we'll be letting her know when I've started labor. I'm about 10 minutes away from our birth center so I too want to labor at home for a little bit at least....however the birthing suites are nicely decked out that I may enjoy being in that environment, so we'll see

mzclaire · July 2010

Yup, I definitely feel more comfy at home than in a hospital (but not willing to stomach the costs of a homebirth) so we'll be laboring at home with our doula for as long as she recommends, and then driving the 10 min to the hospital.

lindsayll · July 2010

mommyndoula:
my experience has always been that once I arrive at my clients house, they're the ones requesting to leave before I think they really need too even if their plan had been to labor at home as long as possible.
My advice: don't panic. trust the process.
Ditch the idea you need to leave for the hospital/birth center when contractions are 5 minutes apart. Listen and watch for the cues of labor instead.

Sage advice. My doula arrived after I had been laboring about 8 hours, took one look at me and knew I wasn't ready yet (I did too), and had me walking. She tried to keep us home a little longer, but with a half hour drive and the onset of poopy/pukey feelings, I felt like it was time to hit the road. I was in transition when admitted and had the baby an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital. In the end, we timed it perfectly.

And I love the other poster's MW giving the OK to have the baby in the car! HA! It will feel that way, and that's how you'll know you're really ready to go to the hospital.

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Anyone mostly labor at home with your doula?

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