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Natural Birth
dangilomartin
member
Home vs hospital birth
dangilomartin
member
This is my first pregnancy, I am young (just turned 20 last week)...no bleeding, no abnormal cramps... As far as I know, I have a low risk pregnancy.
My husband is active duty army and we have tricare prime.
I want to know my options. I have been researching arguments for both sides.
Hospitals don't let u labor for over 24 hours, when you can safely labor for days. Hospitals make you lay on your back, even though it's Better to move around or give birth in a squatting position. Hospitals do all kinds of intervention even if you don't need it. Hospitals can handle high risks and complications where hb can't. Midwifery isn't a popular practice so there a midwives with hardly any education.
I want to know more about pros and cons of both and also experiences that anyone has had. I am also curious about birthing centers and wondering if they are the happy middle-ground.
I want what is safest for my baby and I whether that be the hospital, at home, or a birthing center. I also want to know what the hospital's procedure is when it comes to birth and the kinds of drugs they give you and why... As well as what kinds of things call for a c section.
I have also heard that ultrasound is dangerous for the baby. Is this true? Sources?
Thanks, just a curious new mother to be.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Home vs hospital birth
A lot of your concerns about hospital birth will vary by region/doctor/hospital. Some will let you labor longer than 24 hours, some start the clock once your water breaks, and some leave the decision up to your care provider. I think selecting a good healthcare provider - OB or MW - is your first step, because he or she needs to be on the same page as you with regard to your birth hopes and expectations. I would interview several and ask about interventions, c-section rates (though these can be artificially low if, say, a practitioner doesn't accept high-risk patients), and experience with natural birthing methods.
<br>Hospitals don't always require you to stay on your back. Mine offers labor tubs, birthing balls, stools, and other gadgets to allow you to labor in a number of positions. Even with an epidural, they encourage women to switch sides frequently for a more effective pushing position.
<br>I think your comment about midwives not being trained is way off base, there are different levels of midwives. Mine is a CNM, which means that she went to nursing school, holds a graduate degree, and is licensed by the state. Here in NY, she can prescribe drugs related to women's health, and she has privileges at the hospital to do just about everything but surgery.
<br>There was a thread here recently about natural birth with tricare, but I couldn't find it for you just now. Ateal recently had a natural hospital birth within the military system - maybe page her? Here's her birth story: https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/64942002.aspx
I'm going to disagree with your statement that there are midwives that have hardly any education. Although they may not be able to preform surgery like and OB they are very well educated in child birth for mom and baby. Just like OB's they need to go to school and be at several births before even taking their board exams.
I would just start researching. Contact your hospital that you would be possibly birthing at and find out their procedures because every hospital is different. Read articles, books, and watch videos. Home birth in low risk pregnancies are just as safe as they are in a hospital. Midwives are trained to know when it's time to transfer to a hospital in case of an emergency before anything very serious happens. I've heard great natural birth stories from all hospitals, birthing centers, and home births!
The ultra sound thing, I have heard different opinions on this. Some say they might start linking the many ultrasounds to autism. My midwife doesn't deem them necessary unless there is decreased movement, or my LO's heartrate is off. Again, something you'll have to research. Lots of luck in your decision! It's an exciting time and in the end you'll make the best choice for you and your baby!
I gave birth with a MW in a hospital. I can't speak on the 24 hour hospital labor rule since I labored at home and delivered an hour after arrival. I spoke with my MW a few times while at home laboring and she encouraged me to stay home until I finally couldn't take it.
I labored in whatever position I wanted. My MW helped me find what worked best.
I had zero interventions--not even a hep lock/IV.
My MW's are CNM's.
A lot will depend on the hospital and your provider, but I thankfully had a great experience.
My big thing is that midwives have actually seen many full-length, beginning to end, natural births (as well as births that have experienced intervention). You'll find it difficult to come across an OB who can say this.
If you end up in the hospital, your midwife will almost always follow you there, throughout everything.
OB/GYNs are trained for surgery. Midwives are trained for childbirth.
I can speak on the TriCare and the laboring for 24 hours thing. I did both. They just kept sending me home until I was at a point I had to stay. However, I delivered at a training hospital, and they were of the belief that the body knows what it's doing.
Ultimately, you have to talk to the hospital you will be delivering at. You need to talk to your OB (OBs, usually) and discuss with them what is standard at that hospital. Every hospital is different. And, it's different for every patient. You're healthy right now, but you could develope preeclampsia.
I won't say anything on the MW, since everyone else has already beaten you up about it. I agree with them, tho.
HB vs Hospital birth...bad things happen at both. It's something no one wants to think about, but the sad truth is women and babies sometimes die in child birth. And it can happen in a HB or a hospital. A MW will know that it's time to say let's go to the hospital. And a lot have a backup OB/GYN they work with. Watch The Business of Being Born.
This largely depends on where you are. Where I live midwives are a regular part of the health care system in one way or another (either independant, with a midwife practice or with an OB's office). They practice in homes, birthing centers, and hospitals. Some are trained DIFFERENTLY than otheres, which is why they have the different titles, but that doesn't necessary mean that they are trained better or worst than the midwife next to them. There are CNM's that I have transferred away from because I didn't agree with their tactics or feel comfortable with their knowledge base and there have been CPM's who made me feel much more comfortable. It depends on the individual, just like a doctor. It's doing midwives a huge injustice by grouping them together as trained or not trained when they can come with a wide variety of experience.
That being said, TriCare does cover midwives. If one isn't offered at your base, they usually cover CNM's in a hospital or birth center setting. My SIL is using a CNM in a birth center and it is fully covered by TriCare. Who is covered will largely depend on what area you're in and who is available to you. You may have to fight with TriCare to get a midwife approved if there isn't an approved one in your area but technically they are covered. This also means that there are options other than home or a military hospital. Look in your area and see if there are hospitals with midwives that you may be more comfortable with (these hospitals also tend to be more natural birth friendly) or a birthing center with CNM's covered by TriCare.