Anyone have Kaiser?

babybologna2012 · May 2012

i really wanted to try to have a natural and maybe even water birth method but i go through kaiser. Has anyone experienced their births through kaiser and what should i expect?

pixieprincss · May 2012

Where are you? Kaiser in California has a decent reputation for natural birth, from what I can gather.

I have Kaiser MidAtlantic and we are paying 100% OOP for a non-hospital birth with a CPM and prenatal care with a CPM (though we did find a way to get Kaiser to pay for labs, anatomy scan, GD screen, and Step B test). We were not in a place to take on those OOP cost when DS was born 17 months ago so we did everything through Kaiser and had a hospital birth (albiet we did hire a doula OOP). There was some good, some bad, and some ugly. IMO, it was "NB possible if you put in serious effort" but not "NB friendly" If you are also with Kaiser Mid-Atlantic, I am happy to share my "lessons learned" via email (pixieprincss at yahoo). If you are not w/ Kaiser MA, I don't think what I have to say will be helpful since Kaiser in CA has their own hospitals and I am not familiar with how they work elsewhere.

apple_green · May 2012

I do. This probably depends on your area... I'm in Sacramento, CA and see a midwife (I think all normal pregnancies do with Kaiser here) who is very supportive of NB. My hospital has a great reputation and tubs - though I'm pretty sure that policy is you can labor in them, but not deliver.

meagan.pilkington · May 2012

Hi,

I have Kaiser in CA, I'm a FTM (due July 15th) and was a bit nervous about having a natural birth in a hospital, until my husband and I took their maternity tour last week. We were pleasantly surprised by how many things seem to have changed in their (and other) hospital policies in recent years. I recommend you take the tour! You may also want to look up their "birth preferences" worksheet on their women's health website. That and the tour make it seem like they are very supportive of the mother's choices as long as there are no complications. It was suggested to me to ask when I go in for labor if they have any nurses that are used to, or enjoy working with, natural birth moms. A lot of our experience will depend on our healthcare provider and the nurses involved that day.

Also, from my Hypnobabies class (we chose not to take the class at Kaiser) I learned about some common interventions and when they may or may not be necessary. It seems that many hospitals may present certain procedures as "standard", leaving the mom to think she has no choice but to follow their orders, when in reality, we have a choice. I learned that it if I don't want an intervention that is suggested to me, I can ask the doctor questions such as, "Why is this necessary at this point?" "What happens if we choose to wait?" etc.... so that we are fully informed before making our decision. I'm definitely open to intervention if necessary for my or my baby's health which is why I think being well informed is helpful. I read this article recently and i think it's pretty good:

https://www.fitpregnancy.com/labor-delivery/labor-delivery/intervention-intelligence?page=2

Celyn · May 2012

Of the Kaisers near Sac, South Sac has the best reputation for natural delivery. They have midwives and are pretty used to seeing mamas wanting to labor without interventions or meds. They have tubs that you can labor in, but you will not be allowed to birth in them.

babybologna2012 · May 2012

Wow thank you all for your replies! I am actually in San Diego, CA and haven't yet taken the tour yet. I am due August 29th and am hoping for the most natural birth (other than delivering at home). I'm just afraid they wont have any rooms with tubs in them and I would really like to have one in the room with me. We will see what happens but thank you all so much!! Smile

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