Natural, at home childbirth- I don't get it

mmarsac · January 2011

I recently watched that Ricki Lake movie, The Business of Being Born, and I can honestly say that I can think of nothing more terrifying than having my baby at home, naturally. First of all, who cleans up all of that mess after the birth is over? I don't see my husband handling that. Then, I also don't think it would be good to be so far from the hospital. What if something happens? Also, by "natural" do they mean no pain meds? What exactly does natural mean in this context? Why is it so important for childbirth to be natural? Is there a huge benefit that I have missed?

bell0niner · January 2011

The midwife & assistants clean up. MW's can handle some stuff, but being transported to the hospital is a possibility. Yes, no pain meds (although, I believe some MWs can administer narcotic pain meds if needed). Natural in that context means no interventions or as little as possible: no pain meds, no "unnatural" augmentation (ie: pitocin). It's important to some women that as little interventions as possible occur in their birth experience. There are numerous reasons some people choose to have "natural" home births.

It's not for everyone, obviously....

laurasuzanne2006 · January 2011

the midwife cleans up the mess. In our situation we live literally 2 blocks from the nearest hospital. think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room. Natural birth is med free, but also intervention free. A midwife helps guide you and support during the process but our bodies were designed for birthing and it allows the woman to have control over the birth process. A lot of times the woman or partner catches the baby themselves. The MW is there to help where needed, but it allows the parents to take a huge role in the delivery.

mmarsac · January 2011

I'm not trying to say this is the wrong way to go or anything like that. I just felt that a lot of this was not explained in the movie. I am also comfortable with my dr., and I'm really nervous about giving birth. I've noticed a lot of posts about this on this board, and I wanted to know what the motivation behind the natural childbirth experience is.

flowerchild77 · January 2011

Im planning a homebirth. Natural does mean no pain meds. It also means little to no interventions- just letting your body handle labor on its own. In a natural birth, problems rarely arise since the mother is allowing her body to labor and birth on its own. Problems become common when you introduce pitocin, narcotics, epidurals, etc. You also have triained midwifes there who can handle certain problems and if they sense something they cannot handle at home, they transfer you. The midwifes clean up after the birth as well.

Im very confident about birthing at home. I view birth as a rite of passage and I feel its an important event that needs to be experienced. I had a natural birth with my dd, although in the hospital and am really looking forward to my homebirth.

bea0422 · January 2011

There are a lot of reason's for wanting a low intervention/med free birth. Yes, med free means no pain meds, intervention free means exactly that. Most women who choose to birth in that way have done a lot of research and feel that the benefits out way the draw back of the discomfort and or pain that you feel. You can also have a "natural" birth in a hospital or a birthing center. Usually, when a home birth is chosen, it is because they have a midwife that they trust and have a desire not be in a situation where they will be forced to have pitocin, an epidural, forcepts, continual monitoring and iv or possibly a c-section. If the midwife see's that any of the above is necessary, she is trained to detect a problem before it becomes an emergency.

As far as the dangers, statistics have shown that in a supported environment (midwife, supportive birthing assistant such as your husband or a doula...) it is just as safe and sometimes safer (because your body is not forced into un necessary interventions) than a hospital birth.

It isn't for everyone but if you are really curious about what the benefits might be, there are several books you can read.

"Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" By Ina May Gaskin. This one is probably the most explanatory as to what the benefits and drawbacks are for different interventions and locations for birth.

Whatever you end up deciding, good luck to you

kesrya · January 2011

My due date is Friday, and its funny b/c the closer I get, the more I don't get wanting to have a baby in the hospital. I'm already horribly uncomfortable riding in the car during mild B/H contractions. I cannot imagine waiting until I am in active labor with full on contractions then having to go outside in the freezing cold icy mix that is all around and ride to the hospital. Plus with all the birthing stories I'm ready on this and my birth month board - I can only imagine getting to the hospital and then being barked at by the OBs and nurses who insist on policies that aren't medically necessary in a normal labor and delivery - being in bed to deliver, getting hook up to an IV, having to get out of the birthing tub once your amniotic fluid breaks, having an episiotomy done without being asked, being told to hold my breathe and purple push, being given a shot of pitocin even if there is no sign of hemorrhaging, having the cord pulled on to forcebly separate the placenta. I even read one birth story on here a little while ago in which the woman's epidural was so high she boasted about having huge contractions that she didn't feel at all, slept through, and didn't have any desire whatsoever to push - it sounded so awful, like she totally checked out of the entire process all together.

I guess to each their own, but each day that gets closer, I am so so looking forward to being able to head upstairs to my wonderfully comfy bedroom, slip into a nice warm birthing tub, and have nothing but quiet voices surrounding me and allowing my body to do most of the work on its own. I couldn't imagine it any other way, and I am thankful this pregnancy has remained normal and low risk so that I have the option of birthing in a comfortable home setting. My heart goes out to the ladies who wanted that but developed a condition for which the hospital is more appropriate.

laurasuzanne2006 · January 2011

it's amazing and special.

laura&dan05 · January 2011

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

mmarsac · January 2011

laura&dan05:
think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

bea0422 · January 2011

mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

bea0422 · January 2011

mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has warned you of the possibility that it is necessary. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

kesrya · January 2011

laura&dan05:

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

Wow - you have one of the most awesomest hospitals in the country. It typically takes longer than 8 minutes for the doctors to properly scrub in for a surgery - any surgery including emergencies, and often longer than that to prep the OR room. Sometimes you will get lucky in a hospital that is very large or isn't very busy and the OR will not have recently been in use and will be dedicated to c/s and therefore already be fully prepped with the proper sterilized tools, but that is not very common.

My best friend delivered in one of the top hospitals in the the baltimore metro area - and it took over an hour from the time they decided to do a c/s before the doctor on call got to the hospital, prepped, the room became available and cleaned and they prepped her and had her sign the consent to surgery before they began. Granted, she wasn't hemorrhaging (in which case they probably would have taken her off the maternity ward and straight to the ER where they can perform immediate surgeries in room) but they still deemed the c/s medically necessary b/c they were certain she would not progress any further in vaginal labor.

~adamwife~ · January 2011

bethy84:
Nope, you don't.

Yes

kyoto · January 2011

laura&dan05:
think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room
I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).
I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

I had a similar situation. During my labor, I had a prolapsed cord. A nurse jumped on top of me and shoved my baby's head up off the cord and they ran me into the OR. It was 3 minutes from when the cord prolapsed, until I was completely under and the incision was made, and my daughter was born 1 minute later. If I had not been at the hospital, right next to the OR, I have no doubt in my mind my daughter would not have made it. So no, home birth will NEVER be an option for me.

kyoto · January 2011

bea0422:
mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room
I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).
I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.
You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has warned you of the possibility that it is necessary. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

Not the case for a cord prolapse. Nobody could have seen that coming.

citychicks · January 2011

~adamwife~:

bethy84:
Nope, you don't.

Yes Yes Yes

laurasuzanne2006 · January 2011

bea0422:
mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has warned you of the possibility that it is necessary. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

This.

although considering how little the OB actually sees a laboring patient i could understand if they would miss warning signs.

EmjayTheHunted · January 2011

laurasuzanne2006:
think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room.

Less than 5 minutes from determination to first cut in most case for a crash c-section. The OR in my hospital is about 50 feet from the L&D rooms. In-house anesthesiology is there 24/7.

If they say "let's do a C-section because it's not working vaginally" then maybe it takes 20 minutes because it's not emergent.

kesrya:
Wow - you have one of the most awesomest hospitals in the country. It typically takes longer than 8 minutes for the doctors to properly scrub in for a surgery - any surgery including emergencies, and often longer than that to prep the OR room. Sometimes you will get lucky in a hospital that is very large or isn't very busy and the OR will not have recently been in use and will be dedicated to c/s and therefore already be fully prepped with the proper sterilized tools, but that is not very common.
My best friend delivered in one of the top hospitals in the the baltimore metro area - and it took over an hour from the time they decided to do a c/s before the doctor on call got to the hospital, prepped, the room became available and cleaned and they prepped her and had her sign the consent to surgery before they began. Granted, she wasn't hemorrhaging (in which case they probably would have taken her off the maternity ward and straight to the ER where they can perform immediate surgeries in room) but they still deemed the c/s medically necessary b/c they were certain she would not progress any further in vaginal labor.

Having worked as a surg tech, I can tell you that in an emergent case, they don't use the 5-minute scrub. They use a 30 second scrub and are gowned and gloved immediately and the scalpel is ready to go when they step up to the table. The patient is already under general anesthesia and they cut.

Also, it is VERY common to have all the tools needed for a C-section. You're wrong to say otherwise. They have pre-sterilized instrument trays and they are kept on standby. At ALL times.

JCragg · January 2011

I don't understand why you wouldn't. I wish we could but because the hospital is free, and a MW here is a lot of money, we chose free. I'm staying as far away from the hospital as long as possible.

drpayne · January 2011

laura&dan05:
think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room
I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).
I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

The problem with this argument is that most c-sections are required after multiple interventions....all administered in a hospital. By just being there, you increase the odds of ending up with a c-section. Of course every situation is different. I don't want to overgeneralize or start a debate either. I will say that I don't think most women take the decision to have a home birth lightly. I never thought I'd say this but after doing a lot of research I think I'd at least consider it (assuming this birth goes well in a birthing center). Read about the reasons people do not want a hospital birth - there are a ton of them. You just have to make a well-informed decision about what works for you. The fact that people are comfortable at home plays a huge role in labor. Think about people who just can't pee in public... it's because they can't relax. Apply that idea to labor. Labor and birth are psychological as well as physical. Please don't base your opinion solely on that documentary.

bea0422 · January 2011

kyoto:
bea0422:
mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has warned you of the possibility that it is necessary. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

Not the case for a cord prolapse. Nobody could have seen that coming.

I should have put extremely rare. I understand why you would always feel more comfortable in a hospital. I don't think anyone would argue that there are always valid reasons that you may need to be in a hopsital. I am more than thankful that there are trained surgeons there to help me if I happen to need it. It really just boils down to what you feel most comfortable with.

For the sake of this discussion though, there are indications that you are more at risk for a prolapsed cord. (exsessive amniotic fluid when your water breaks, premature delivery, prematurely rupturing the membranes, breech delivery or an excessively long umbilical chord) In these cases a midwife would not be delivering your child at home anyway. In any of those situations they would probably recommend that yu birth in either a birthing center or a hopsital.

hjk5000 · January 2011

bea0422:
mmarsac:
laura&dan05:

think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

I'm not arguing or debating the whole home birth experience. I understand it is what works for some women it's just not for me.

This is more what I've found when I try to look into this. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of being near the OR and with having all of the fetal monitoring equipment at hand. I can't imagine my dr. forcing anything on me, but I do feel like she will appraise me of anything necessary to my health and LO's.

You should deffinately choose whatever you are most comfortable with. However, something to consider is that before an emergency c-section there are indications of a problem. They are not going to suddenly rush in and say you need an emergency c-sections. A midwife is trained to see the same indications of a problem that an OB is trained to see. Most of the time the c-section happens after your OB has warned you of the possibility that it is necessary. It is pretty rare for a midwife not to get someone to the hospital before an emergency c-section is necessary.

This. I was in a hospital birthing center with a midwife and ended up needing an extremely quick emergency section. They tried everything they could for me to have a natural birth but it just wasn't happening. If the OR hadn't been just around the corner there is no way they would have let me labor as long as I did.

Obviously I am in the camp that home birth is not for everyone and sometimes interventions are necessary to save mom and baby. However I still hope I'll be able to have a natural Vbac delivery one day.

OP I think you seriously missed the point of that movie.

sandrajeant · January 2011

I am planning to give birth in the comfort of my own home! I want to experience childbirth for what it is, not augmented with interventions and pain medication. As women our bodies were designed for childbirth, therefore it does not require a hospital environment (except in what should be rare cases). My husband is just as excited as I am. Our midwife is planning to have him "catch" our baby, this is what he has wanted all along. I cannot imagine giving birth in a hospital. This is my first child and I just want to experience childbirth as women did for hundreds of years, in their homes with the comfort and encouragement of other women and their loved ones.

ASmallWonder · January 2011

laurasuzanne2006:
the midwife cleans up the mess. In our situation we live literally 2 blocks from the nearest hospital. think about this, once deemed a c-section is "necessary", how long does it take between that time and when they start cutting because a call to the hospital and a 20 minute drive is probably about the time frame it would be if you were sitting in a hospital room. Natural birth is med free, but also intervention free. A midwife helps guide you and support during the process but our bodies were designed for birthing and it allows the woman to have control over the birth process. A lot of times the woman or partner catches the baby themselves. The MW is there to help where needed, but it allows the parents to take a huge role in the delivery.

Not always. My LO's heart rate dropped and wouldn't come back up. They waited through one more contraction and promptly unlocked the wheels on my bed and I was in the OR being cut open in about 10 minutes.

mmarsac · January 2011

OP I think you seriously missed the point of that movie.

It's very possible that I did. Mostly, I found that it was about what a beautiful experience a home birth could be. However, I also saw many arguments for changing the birth system in the US, and this told me the movie was persuasive. My best friend is a NICU resident, and I found that some of the stats in the movie and some of the stats I heard from her were very different. I posted this because I wanted to get opinions from people on both sides and hear about why some made the decision for a home birth and some didn't.

robinsonmi · January 2011

I would like to go natural for several reasons. 1) I like knowing I'm coherent and I feel like I have more say being coherent. 2) The narcotics and pain meds also enter my baby's blood stream and body 3) I HATE needles

That's why I want to give birth naturally, but in a hospital setting. Couldn't handle a home birth as we have 3 dogs and it'd be harder to use the excuse of hospital hours to keep family out and I'd like some time to rest and spend time w/ hubby and baby girl once she's born.

nursemarie925 · January 2011

Just adding my experience to the comments about the time for a c-section. If an emergency does arise, and they have to call a stat c-section, you can be in the or, prepped and cut in 5 minutes. In those situations, it IS an emergency to get the baby out, and they dont spend time doing the usual things that would for a labor that wasn't progressing. IE. opening for a stat section requires getting a small kit with only the absolute necessary supplies to make the incision and get the baby out, vs completely setting up every possible instrument that may be needed.

Also, the dr is in house and the one that calls the section, so while the nurses are wheeling the patient back to the or, the dr is getting prepped. We also have ORs directly on the labor floor for this reason as well.

Nyki06Wed43530 · January 2011

I am having a home birth and it took me 30+ weeks to come to that decision but I'm really happy with my choice.

I decided right away that I wanted to have a water birth. When I'm stressed out I take a bath so I figured why not match up what could possibly be the most stressful event of my life with what calms me the most? From that point on it was obvious I would be going med free because you can't have a water birth and have meds. The more I read about interventions the less I wanted them anyway. Plus, breastfeeding is really important to me and the less interventions you have the more likely that you're be successful with breastfeeding. Those things, plus more, led to me to want a med free birth.

I did my research and figured out what I did and didn't want during birth and developed my own philosophy on birth. I toured a hospital with water birth as an option, a birth center, and home birth midwives. The birth center and home birth midwives had the same philosophy as me and practiced (or didn't practice) the policies that I either cared about or didn't want. It was a great match. The hospital seemed really great but when I started asking about their policies I found out that they did things that weren't ideal in my book and I didn't like living within the restrictions I was given. I ruled out the hospital at that point. The birth center was really nice but it was more expensive which led me to look more deeply into home birth. Once I did I found that statistically they are just as safe, if not safer than hospital births (like a PP said), and being here will make me more comfortable which I believe will make my labor easier. I also like the idea of not having to travel in February in Minnesota

My midwife is great and I like the set up. I will have 2 midwives here, possibly an assistant (which would be a higher level student), my doula, and my husband. These people will be consistently with me through my labor and delivery and will check on me numerous times the week after delivery and a few times over the weeks to follow. At the clinic I was going to before there were several doctors and you never knew who was going to deliver. Consistency is good for me. I am also about a 3 minute ambulance ride from the hospital so an unforeseen issue doesn't worry me.

My midwife will put up the tub, take it down, do clean up, start my laundry etc. I won't have to worry about these things.

I am not judging anyone that doesn't come to the same birth decision as me, I just thought it would be helpful for you to know why I made my personal choice to do a home birth. Hope it helped!

LifesPeachy · January 2011

kesrya:
laura&dan05:

I had an emergency c/s and from the second my OB said c/s they had me prepped, in the OR, and the first incison was being made in 5 minutes. Last month I was in l&d for a some monitoring and I heard a conversation between 2 nurses about the time it takes once a c/s is deemed necessary until the first incision is made. That morning they had that exact situation and it took 8 minutes form the time the OB called a c/s and the first incison was made and they were both commenting on how that was considered a "poor response time." So if it took 20 minutes would be really far off (at least at the hospital where I delivered).

Wow - you have one of the most awesomest hospitals in the country. It typically takes longer than 8 minutes for the doctors to properly scrub in for a surgery - any surgery including emergencies, and often longer than that to prep the OR room. Sometimes you will get lucky in a hospital that is very large or isn't very busy and the OR will not have recently been in use and will be dedicated to c/s and therefore already be fully prepped with the proper sterilized tools, but that is not very common.
My best friend delivered in one of the top hospitals in the the baltimore metro area - and it took over an hour from the time they decided to do a c/s before the doctor on call got to the hospital, prepped, the room became available and cleaned and they prepped her and had her sign the consent to surgery before they began. Granted, she wasn't hemorrhaging (in which case they probably would have taken her off the maternity ward and straight to the ER where they can perform immediate surgeries in room) but they still deemed the c/s medically necessary b/c they were certain she would not progress any further in vaginal labor.

As a general rule, you really shouldn't generalize.

stahlop · January 2011

We also just decided on a home birth. I have wanted a natural birth since I saw "The Business of Being Born" and immediately started researching. I originally was going to do a natural birth at the hospital, but the more and more I thought about it I didn't want any chance of interventions or having to progress on the hospital's timeline. Being at home just seemed the most obvious choice.

Born2Fly · January 2011

alopdx:
The thing about this topic, like so many others, is that nearly everyone is very biased. Every woman who has had a successful natural, home birth is going to think that's the best way, and every woman who has had their life/their LOs life saved in a hospital will think that's the best way. You just have to navigate through it all and decide what is best for you and your family- like everything else. There are definite benefits to both home birth and hospital birth, epidural or natural.

SO VERY TRUE

I also dont understand why a question about home birth has to be countered with c-section stories...as if they are extremes of one another. HELLO they are both birth OPTIONS and depending on a mothers situation, one is no better than the other. Some people need to get off their high horse.

Nyki06Wed43530 · January 2011

Born2Fly:
alopdx:
The thing about this topic, like so many others, is that nearly everyone is very biased. Every woman who has had a successful natural, home birth is going to think that's the best way, and every woman who has had their life/their LOs life saved in a hospital will think that's the best way. You just have to navigate through it all and decide what is best for you and your family- like everything else. There are definite benefits to both home birth and hospital birth, epidural or natural.
SO VERY TRUE
I also dont understand why a question about home birth has to be countered with c-section stories...as if they are extremes of one another. HELLO they are both birth OPTIONS and depending on a mothers situation, one is no better than the other. Some people need to get off their high horse.

I'm confused at who you're upset with? The people posting about their c-sections or the people saying that they're having home births?

KittahMama · January 2011

I have to say the argument of "i want to remember every moment of my childbirth experience" doesn't hold a lot of weight with me for a natural birth since my two friends gave birth naturally and both described tons of time they don't remember, including the crowning and immediate birth of their children. They said they were so "out of it" from all the contractions, pain and whatnot that they sort of just lost track of everything.

I am not saying natural is not a great experience for many women, or even the right choice for many women- but keep in mind, not every woman that doesn't have pain meds remembers everything that happens. Hell I had an epi and I do remember but that doesn't mean an epi is right for everyone.

wolverine8 · January 2011

Read Your Best Birth by Rickie Lake and Abby...they go into SO much more detail as to WHY you should aim for a natural, med free birth, if not at home then at a birth center. Do more reading and take a child birth class and then you'll get it (take Brio or Bradley)

cynnnabun · January 2011

I'm not doing a homebirth, but I am planning natural. Since the original question was why, I'll give my personal experience.

My DD's birth was NOT what I wanted. I was uninformed, and uneducated. My own fault. But I let my doctors influence my decision. : My water broke, contractions did not start on their own, at least not quick enough for them. I didn't want an epi. My doctor put me on an immediate "time line" because my water was broken. He started pitocin because we had to get the baby out. It was very "rushed" and "dangerous" sounding. I obviously complied. Pitocin contractions sucked. I went from NOTHING, to EVERYTHING in .4 seconds. My DD also hated them. Every time I had a contraction, her heart rate dropped. Neither one of us had time to prepare for the intensity. So, I got an epi. This helped my pain, not hers. Her heartrate still dropped. Finally, I got told a c-section was now the only way. They pulled out my epi by accident, and had to put me under for my c-section. I woke up with no pain meds in me. (They said they didn't know what I already had, so couldn't give me any more until I could describe my pain.) Because of the extreme pain, I didn't care about my daughter. I just didn't. I vaguely remember them putting her in front of my face and telling me to open my eyes. What I remember most is throwing up multiple times and the god awful pain I was in. Finally, the meds kicked in, but I was so out of it. I don't have any recollection of holding my daughter for the first time. Apparently, I fed her. I don't remember that either. (Oh, and I wanted to breastfeed, but since I was out of it, they gave her a bottle while I was asleep.)

Sorry this got long. But in my opinion, ALL of this could have been avoided by not giving me the pitocin before my body started on it's own. This time around, I believe my body can handle it. I want that joyful moment of meeting my daughter. I want to cry and hold her and feel that surge of love that I missed out on the first time. It's my personal belief that saying no to pit, epi, whatever, is my best option in being successful with a VBAC.

I think when you've had a bad experience, it makes it easy to want it to be so much different. But like a PP said, everyone is biased. If you had an epi and it worked great and you felt great and pushed your baby out, you're going to think that's the best thing. And if you stayed at home and had an amazing experience, that's the best.

To each their own.

Bexx24 · January 2011

Stress can have a huge impact on labor and delivery. Some women are more relaxed at home, some are more relaxed at a hospital. I think that is a big factor as to why some women chose to go the at-home route.

Personally, I hate the idea of being in a hospital and would rather be at home, but as it is my first baby and the hospital is free for us (and while we are rather close to the hospital we live in an area with INSANE traffic, and even close distances take forever to get to) I'll be going to the hospital to deliver. But believe me, I'll be avoiding it as long as possible.

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