Natural birth in hospital, what are your experiences
If you have chosen natural birth but been in a hospital, how did that work for you? I had a horrid experience with my first but I am a strong woman now and simply will not let anyone tell me I am doing it wrong or have to do it a certain way.Did the medical staff listen to you or did they make it difficult? And really, what are they going to do if they want me on my back and I say no?
I am still deciding between home and hospital birth, here is my dilemma; I had some complications when I had my son. But, part of me thinks the reason I had complications was because I was so stressed, I was alone (my ex DH finally showed at the last minute) No one support any of my decisions, I was made to feel like I just didn't know what I was talking about because I was a FTM and young. Soooo, I think if the situation had been far less stressful and I had a good birth partner and people had allowed me to listen to my body, I would not have had problems. BUT, I worry that maybe that isn't the case and think I could have complications again and don't know if I want to be so far from a hospital. So I'm stuck.
(I cannot get a midwife here with my insurance and we cannot afford it. If we could I would go home birth I think. But my husband is amazing and he delivered his daughter at home so he's been there.)
Re: Natural birth in hospital, what are your experiences
I had a fantastic OB who supported my birth plan. I also hired a doula. The hospital I delivered at is very supportive of all birth plans and I didn't have to push my weight around at all. I suggest writing a pretty detailed birth plan that you can go over with your OB and then a short and sweet one that gets right to the point for the hospital. A lot of the points you will have on your OB's copy will not need to be put on the hospital one. If you keep it short and sweet and to the point, the more likely the nurses will read it.
At one point they wanted me to push on my side and it was extremely painful--I couldn't do it. They kept telling me I could and I yelled, no, I can't. And laid on my back. Nothing they could really do about it
So I pushed while on my back. It was the most comfortable for me.
I had a natural birth in a hospital, and it was as close to a perfect experience as I could've dreamed. We had a midwife. She was wonderful, the nurses respected our wishes after reading our birth plan, no one offered or even mentioned pain meds, and the whole team was incredibly helpful and respectful. I cannot rave enough about the experience.
It is possible to have a natural birth in the hospital. I think finding a supportive teanpm and a supportive environment is the key.
This was exactly our experience as well.
Same here!
Have you considered hiring a doula?
I had a wonderful experience. Have you taken a tour of the hospital where you will deliver to get a feel for how open they are to natural birth? Things have changed a lot in the last 5 years at the hospital where I delivered. They are still progressing towards much more NB friendly practices. Having the support of your OB or midwife is also important.
The hospital did have standard policies like hep locks and intermittent fetal monitoring. But I consented to those to try to fly under the radar as much as possible, and they let me do what I wanted. They asked once in the beginning what my "pain management" plan was, and I said nothing, and that was the end of it. I didn't have a birth plan or doula, but DH and my OB both knew the plan. DH was a great support (the OB didn't see me much, really just there once I started pushing). They offered a birthing ball, suggested I get in the shower a bunch of times (but I had NO desire to be in the shower at that point), suggested breathing techniques to help cope. Didn't mind at all when I was moaning through the contractions. I didn't find it to be a stressful environment at all. I think it will make a big difference for you to have your DH there to help you through everything and be your advocate, especially if he was part of a home birth before.
I had a wonderful, totally med-free birth experience. My OB signed off on my birth plans well in advance (I think that's what matters most--having a supportive OB bc if s/he's signed off on your wishes, the nurses will comply, even if they don't like it).
They honored all of what we'd asked for during labor and delivery. I could tell my nurse wasn't a big fan of me (wanted me to get a hep lock, etc), but she pretty much left us alone and everything was great!
Oh, thank goodness! I'm glad to hear there's hope for a NB at a hospital. My Bradley instructor gives off the impression that anything other than a home birth is absurd. I'm just not comfortable with that. We live too far from a hospital should things get complicated
Mom to Lily Gayle 4.25.06 Charlotte Kathleen 3.27.09 Samuel Thomas ~8.4.12~
I had a natural birth in the hospital and it was awesome! I think it had a lot to do with having hired a doula and having an amazing OB that was very much on board with anything that I wanted to do. The nurse from the hospital was ok, but she was a little frustrating at times like telling me that I could be sent home if I didn't progress even though my doctor had already admitted me. Thankfully my doula reassured me that my doctor would not do that.
If you can, hire a doula or find a student doula who still needs experience and will tend to be cheaper.
Totally depends on the hospital and your OB and nurses. My neighborhood hospital is fantastic in support of natural birth and I have no concerns. But I have seen horror stories on here. Some suggestions I've seen here that I think sound great:
- Find out what the hospital's normal procedures are (IV, laboring in tub/shower, continuous or intermittent monitoring, etc) and then decide what's important for you to fight. Ask your OB AND go for a tour. They may give you different answers.
- Once you've decided what to try to fight, talk to your OB. Get his/her agreement on everything and write it down in a birth plan (keep it brief if possible). Have your OB sign-off on it. If there are multiple doc's in your practice make sure they also sign-off on it.
- If you get the impression that it will be a fight (or your DH isn't one to fight for you) consider hiring a doula.
- When you go into labor and call the hospital (or your doctor depending on the practice) to tell them you're coming in and let them know you're planning a natural birth and ask them to assign you a nurse who has experience and is supportive of that.
I had a natural birth in a hospital and it worked out wonderfully. I had my husband for support and the nurses were really nice and respected my plan. They never even asked me if I wanted meds.
I would however have to say it depends on your hospital and the nurse(s) you get. I know when I toured the birth center at my hospital a month before going into labor the nurse giving the tour wasn't so natural birth friendly and made some comments/scoffed about "women who come in with birth plans written out", meds etc. If you are ever in a situation where your nurses aren't respecting your wishes you are fully allowed to request a new nurse to work with you. I was lucky enough to get pro-natural birth nurses who were complete sweethearts when I was actually in labor. Had I gotten the woman giving the tour and she gave the same haughty attitude I would have requested someone else assist me with my labor.
I plan on having another natural birth at the hospital with my second because the first went so well. As long as you have a plan and a support system (mine was my husband and mom) you will be fine!
I had a great natural birth in a hospital that is NOT known for being natural birth friendly. It's nicknamed the "baby factory" and usually it's like assembly line style:-)
I totally attribute it to my doula. I think just having here there let the staff know I was "serious" about a NB, and other than occasional monitoring and antibiotics for group B, they pretty much left us alone. Both nurses were very cool though and both said it was the first time they had experienced a patient with a natural labor and delivery- scary huh?
It can be done:-)
We had a beautiful, completely natural hospital birth. We had a midwife, very encouraging and supportive nurses. We hired a doula, which I think was incredibly helpful and I highly recommend it.
My only "complaints" (and reasons I'm considering a future HB) include their (botched) attempt at an IV to administer antibiotics for GBS. I was too far along at that point anyway, and when they botched their attempt, I declined completely. That meant they required me to stay in the hospital for 48 hours. Not a big deal for baby #1, but something I'll be pretty opposed to with baby #2 (since baby #1 will be home without us). I also had to be monitored pretty much continuously since I arrived so late, and they never could get a good reading on baby's condition. Being monitored like that, while in transition = suck.
I still have to say though that I had an absolutely dreamy hospital birth. No IV, no pitocin, no one even offering pain meds, and very supportive staff overall. It's definitely possible. GL!
I was in a hospital and had a painkiller free, if not entirely natural, birth.
I had to be induced due to being high risk and more than a week past my due date. Everyone was on plan about avoiding interventions where possible and no epi (actually, i couldn't have had an epi if I wanted, as my allergy to lidocaine and the medication shortage affecting the alternative would have left me with only an interthecal if I had wanted one, and I did not want any morphine, no sir).
Induction took 3 days. Cytotec and Cervidil on the first day, and sadly the hospital required that I be on an IV while on those medications in case I reacted badly. The next day, they took me off the IV (though I had to have the attachment on my arm still, taped down) pretty much the second that they had the Cervidil out. They broke my water that evening, still no IV needed, and then the next morning when contractions had slowed down again, hooked me back up to the IV and started me on Pitocin. Even when I was on the IV, it was on a rolling stand so that I could still walk around, sit wherever I chose in the room, use the birthing ball they provided, shower, etc.
I did have to be on monitors, but the first set they let me disconnect whenever I wanted to walk around, and then later they got me wireless monitors so that I didn't even have to do that. Unfortunately by the last day, the monitors were driving me CRAZY and I moved around so much, and every time I changed positions they would stop tracking and so they would have to come in and readjust them, so they were kind of driving the nurses crazy too. Once I was fully in active labor (and the pressure of the bands/monitors had me very annoyed indeed) and they saw that my LO wasn't showing any distress, they pretty much just held the monitor to me when I was still and left it at that.
The nurses I dealt with were all very respectful of my choice to not want any painkillers offered to me, and the whole last day the birthing center made sure that the nurse assigned to me was very experienced with natural childbirth.