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Natural Birth
2junebabies
member
Natural birth in a hospital stories
2junebabies
member
It seems like I will have to give birth in a hospital for this pregnancy. DH and I just can't afford the OOP expenses for a private home birth at this time (we are 22 and going to be fresh out of college when I deliver). I keep reading about nurses and doctors who mock the birth plans of their patients and write C-section on them immediately. Can anyone share their experience of having a natural birth (or trying to have one) in a hospital, good or bad? I have an appointment on Wednesday where I am going to ask the CNM 20 questions about the practice's opinions on natural birth, rate of C-section, reasons for intervention, etc...and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I feel like I am all fired up and defensive just from everything I've read about mainstream medical practice. TIA!
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Re: Natural birth in a hospital stories
Hi BabyBrown,
Well, I've done it twice. The first (my daughter) was induced with pitocin... I was 12 days late and my water broke, so I don't really hold that against the doctor. I had an OB, refused all pain meds and had a great delivery, wouldn't change a thing (except not going into labor on my own, but can't blame the ob for that one). My 2nd birth (my son) was with a midwife in a hospital. I went into labor naturally (sooo much easier), and delivered completely natural. She/they didn't even make me get an IV. I went home 6 hours later. Perfect. I will have my 3rd natural birth (if all goes accordingly) in about 5 weeks. I live somewhere different and could not find a midwife who delivers at the only close hospital, so I am using an OB and delivering at the hospital. I told the OB that I was not getting an IV, and he flipped out at me. I'm still not getting one. I called the hospital, found out hospital policy and all of my rights and will not get an iv, and will sign myselft and baby out of the hospital within 24 hours. They may yell/curse/whatever at me, I don't care. In the end it's your birth. Know your rights and speak up. Again, the 3rd hasn't gone poorly and maybe it won't... my first 2 were just great! But I also didn't anticipate my current OB flipping on me over a stupid IV, so I"m not sure how he'll handle me turning everything down! He'll have to deal, because I'm pretty stubborn. Best of luck. I'd say if you have a midwife, it will probably go fantastically.
I had an excellent hospital birth experience. I think the key is to find a provider that you trust will make good decisions and honor your wishes and to wait at home as long as possible.
I had a hospital birth with a CNM. There are some things they wouldn't compromise on (like intermittent EFM and an IV) but for the most part they did follow my plan. I waited at home as long as I could stand it and arrived at the hospital at 8cm. They basically did a ten minute monitoring strip, put an IV in, and set up the room for the delivery. Honestly I was begging for an epidural (hello transition!) and the nurses did a good job of stalling so that I couldn't have one because they knew I didn't REALLY want one. By the time they called anesthesia it was too late which I am so happy about now. There's no way I could have sat still for an epidural anyway!
The midwife came in and I had just a cervical lip. They were listening to the HB with a doppler and his HR dipped into the 90's. They had me flip to my side and it came back up. She asked if I felt pushy and I said I did, even though looking back I should have waited a little bit because I didn't know what pushy really felt like until I actually did get pushy. She held back the lip while I pushed past it and DS was born 15 minutes later.
I did have quite a bit of tearing because he came out so quickly and hope to have a water birth next time to minimize that. After his head came out the midwife told me to reach down and grab my baby. I got to pull him out up onto my chest. It was the most amazing moment of my life and I will never forget that feeling. I was impressed that I was able to do that with a hospital birth. I didn't even ask for it because I never thought they would allow it so I looking back I am very happy about it.
They actually heeded all of my wishes regarding baby care. He went directly onto my chest until the cord stopped pulsing. Then DH cut the cord and they weighed him, cleaned him off, and rubbed his vernix into his skin instead of rubbing it off. I was impressed with that. We didn't want him to have a bath in the hospital and they never once questioned that decision. Also my postpartum nurses were AMAZING and we felt we were treated very well. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
There are a lot of hospital horror stories but there are also a lot of great hospital stories. If you know you are going to have a hospital birth try to focus more on the positive stories. We all know what can happen in a hospital...no need to read story after story and freak yourself out. Make sure to research and ask as many questions as you can so you can get a feel of your provider and if they are the provider that will give you the birth you want and deserve. If any red flags come up switch to someone else.
ETA: Man that was long! Sorry
I gave birth naturally to my son in a hospital and plan on doing the same for number two. (I like the comfort of having the hospital safety net.) I have ZERO regrets from my birth but mostly because my plan went as I planned, which I was prepared for it to completely fall apart because that's what I should have been prepared for. A few things:
1. Make sure you have a solid team. Next to my DH, my midwife was the most important member of my team. She advocated for me in the hospital setting where my DH and I could not.
2. All members of my team had the following understood common goals: 1. Best possible outcome = healthy mom and healthy baby, 2. my DH and I were to be informed of every possible decision and WE would make the final decision, weighing the risks and benefits, 3. I did not want to be offered medication. I would ask if I wanted anything.
3. Be prepared for your plan to change and be ready to be make fast decisions. In labor, nothing is guaranteed.
4. EDUCATE YOURSELF! Take classes if you can, read books, etc. It's the only way to really stick to your guns, especially if you've never been in labor before and your DH has never seen you like that, having knowledge on your side helps tremendously!
5. As PP said, and to piggyback off of #4, stick to your guns! ITS YOUR BIRTH.
Good luck!
DS #1 born 05/25/2012
BFP#2: 06/12/2013 ---- loss
DS #2 born 4/08/2014
BPF#4: 2/1/2016 --- 2/23/2016 suspected molar pregnancy--- 3/15/2016 D&E - diagnosis MM
BFP#5 - 9/22/2016
* formally bornmommy
My doctor and the nurses at the hospital I delivered at were all amazingly supportive. Nobody pushed any drugs (except the cervadil, but I understood that). I think it's very possible to have a natural birth in a hospital.
However, I would suggest not actually writing up a birth plan. It's not necessary. When you are admitted, talk to your nurse about what you are wanting/expecting. Keep an open dialouge with them. And keep an open mind.
The story of my first birth (med-free birth in a hospital) is in my bio, I think it is under the "blog" category. It's really long, warning.
Advice: see if you have the option of a CNM (certified nurse midwife) in the hospital. Depending on your area, this may be an option. Or, look into General Practice doctors who deliver babies - I have heard that they can be more experienced with normal birth than many OBs.
Take a non-hospital childbirth class, such as Bradley, Hypnobabies, Birth Bootcamp. They're more expensive but I think it's worth it for your first baby in the hospital.
Look into having a doula, maybe a doula-in-training if money is tight.
Read "Creating Your Birth Plan" by Marsden Wagner. We had a birth plan, but ended up forgetting it in the car. But, I found that the most value in it was having gone through the exercise of discussing in advance our wishes for the various aspects of birth, and making the decisions ahead of time. My husband was mostly able to relay our wishes to the staff.
You can have a perfectly lovely birth in a hospital, it may just take a little more preparation and planning.
I had an amazing hospital birth experience with an OB with DS. What made it great was the combination of my OB, the hospital's policies, and DH.
My OB was important because she didn't ever pressure me into intervention, she knew what I wanted (from discussing it before hand) and was genuinely proud that I wanted and made it through med-free. If something had gone wrong, I knew I could trust her judgement and would have agreed to intervention, but it never came to that and she just let me birth my baby.
The hospital was important in that I didn't have issue with their standard policies. They want to monitor baby 20 minutes on admission (while laying in bed, which sucked) but after that it's 10 minutes every hour and I didn't have to be stuck in bed - they allowed me to stay kneeling on the floor while they did it. They provide birthing balls, encourage showering and have the hand-held shower heads so you can direct the water to your painful areas, and the nurses are well-trained in suggesting different positions if the pain is getting to be too much. The nurse asked only once what my "pain management plan" was, I said no meds, and that was it. I had a hep-lock, but was not attached to an IV (except for a bag of pitocin after I delivered DS to help shrink my uterus and prevent hemorrage - I was ok with this use of it). Immediate bonding time was a given. I didn't feel the need to write up a birth plan because all of the major points on it were already standard hospital policies.
DH was great at supporting me. I didn't feel like I needed anyone else there. I just did what my body told me to do (swaying, kneeling, standing, etc) and he was there to help support me, make sure I was drinking enough, got cold washcloths for my face, etc etc. He also knew my wishes for the birth so he could advocate if necessary, but again it didn't ever become necessary.
I ended up having to switch providers at 34 weeks this pregnancy, and switched from the OB (that I really did love - but she is part of a larger practice and their office is out of control) to a pair of CNMs who deliver at the same hospital that I had DS. They asked me what my "ideal birth experience" is and I described DS's birth, except pushing without any coaching. A few more weeks and I'll hopefully have another story to tell.
I had a natural birth in a hospital with an OB. It is possible and you can do it. The big thing is to talk with your OB. Ask them how they feel about things like no pain medication, intermittent fetal monitoring, declining cervical checks, delayed chord clamping etc. This will let you know how "on board" they are with a natural birth and how their practice handles [patients. I discussed these things with my OB at length, however, I was in a practice with 8 other OBs. Based on her answers I felt very comfortable with how the practice operates and their willingness to be supportive in a natural birth.
You can also do a couple of things that will prevent unwanted interventions during L&D. The big thing is to stay home as long as possible. I labored at home for 8 hours and transitioned to the hospital when I felt like the baby was coming soon. When I got to the hospital my water broke and I had delivered LO in less than 2 hours. There was not a lot of time for unwanted interventions because things happened so quickly. The OB who was on call from the practice was one I had never met. He was great and very supportive of my natural birth.
It can be done and you can do it, just find a practice that is supportive of a natural birth!
DS #1 born 05/25/2012
BFP#2: 06/12/2013 ---- loss
DS #2 born 4/08/2014
BPF#4: 2/1/2016 --- 2/23/2016 suspected molar pregnancy--- 3/15/2016 D&E - diagnosis MM
BFP#5 - 9/22/2016
* formally bornmommy
ReichleyMama -You mentioned you checked you and your baby out of the hospital early. Did you go AMA or against medical advice? Does insurance typically cover this?
Just curious!
I had a natural birth in a hospital with a midwife. Your actual provider is more important than the location of the birth. I think the birth plans that get mocked are really long and too detailed. If you want to write something, keep it simple and short. Mine was a few bullet points, about a half page - basically do not offer me pain meds, I want to move around (Hep lock instead of IV and intermittent monitoring), no episiotomy, delayed cord clamping, and no pitocin shot after delivery unless there's a problem.
Most of these things were standard practice or fairly common with my midwife anyway.
DS, May 2011
I'm glad you had a good experience with not writing up a birth plan, but this wouldn't be the case for everyone. I was glad I wrote one up. I presented it to my MW before I went into labor, discussed it with her, then DH gave a copy to the nurse. I didn't want any surprises. Plus if you plan to labor at home as long as possible as a lot of natural birth mamas do, you may be in no mood to discuss your plan at that point. I labored at home for the first 10 hours and arrived at the hospital at 6cm. I had to answer two simple yes/no questions in triage and even that seemed to take too much effort.
Based on the fact that you were being offered cervadil, it sounds like you were not in active labor when you got to the hospital, so in your case I could see how keeping an open dialogue would work. Please don't read this to be snark, just merely offering another perspective.
Honestly I think it really comes down to your OB/MW and your hospital. My birth plan was well received and followed. But I think my hospital is quite used to seeing birth plans as it is well known for being low-intervention (saline locks aren't even standard at my hospital).
It is certainly possible to have a positive med-free birth in the hospital, I did without a problem and hope to again this time. I agree with pp that it really comes down to finding a provider you trust. Because the truth of the matter is, interventions are life-saving procedures when they are needed. So if someone comes to you and says, "I think X is necessary for your health or the health of your baby" you aren't sitting there questioning it.
Thank you all for your responses! They are very encouraging. I am not against an intervention if it is necessary, I just don't want doctors pushing things because that's what they are used to or they want to speed things along unnecessarily. I have my appointment tomorrow where I'm planning to ask all my questions. I will let you know how it goes, and thanks again!
One more question, how do you know how long to labor at home before it's too late to make it to the hospital?
As frustrating as this answer is, most women just KNOW! My MW told us to wait until contractions were between 3-1-1 and 2-1-1 (15 minutes from hospital). I went in when contractions were 3.5-1-1, but I knew I wasn't super close. I just kind of started to feel like the car ride and NST they would want to do in triage would be really hard if I waited much longer. I kind of wanted to get there and settle in. I arrived there at 6cm, but as I said I knew I still had time. If my hospital had not been so natural birth friendly I'm sure I would have waited at least a couple more hours.
I wondered the same thing. However, when I was in labor I instinctively knew how things were going and how I was progressing. I had very sporadic contractions that never established a solid pattern but the intensity had defiantly increased. After laboring at home for hours I finally told my DH and doula I was ready to go to the hospital. They both told me maybe I should wait awhile longer. I disagreed with them and was ready to go now. The hospital was a 10 min drive and my water broke as soon as I arrived. I delivered LO within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital.
Hi Jdunk,
I did not go against medical advice with my 2nd. I had a CNM and my insurance covered my checking out early and provided me with a nurse visit when baby was 48 hours old. This time I have an OB, and may need to check myself out against medical advice, not sure yet. If there are no medical reasons, I won't stay. I know everyone (doctors/nurses) want to check for jaundice, but it doesn't reach it's height till day 5, when you're home anyway. I've also read that the quicker the meconium is out, the less jaundiced they become. Breastmilk/colostrum is a natural laxative, which is why breastfed babies are less likely to be jaundiced. Sorry, that was a total tangent.
MamaR.
It depends on how far away your hospital is. Ours is a half hour away. You really do just KNOW. If you're questioning it then it's not time. If it doesn't hurt like heck it's not time...no matter how close together your contractions are. I would say the best way to describe it is when the car ride to the hospital seems like it's going to be impossible it means it's time.
I was a high risk pregnancy (40, clotting factor, on blood thinners for said clotting factor, allergic to Lidocaine and with autoimmune issues) and I did have to be induced at 41.5 weeks. However, other than the induction, I went natural (no pain killers, no epidural, no other interventions) in the hospital.
I was lucky in a number of things, first and possibly most important that my medical team (my personal doctor, my perinatologist, and the OB's on duty) all agreed that the last thing anyone wanted happening was me going under the knife for a c-section. Since an epidural would up the chances for that, everyone wanted to work together to make sure I didn't need one. Also my husband was fully behind me, and I had knowledge and practice with a number of pain management techniques due to a history of migraines.
Induction was a 2.75 day process for me from entering the hospital until birth. Through all of this the staff made sure that all my nurses were thoroughly briefed and that they all had experience with natural childbirth. No one even whispered 'epidural' to me even when I was in transition and screaming my fool head off. During the whole final day (when I was on Pitocin) the nurse I had was one who had previously been a midwife.
As for laughing at birth plans, we made sure that they WOULD laugh at ours. There was a lot of humor in it, and it started with a print out of the 'improved pain scale' from Hyperbole and a Half. The nurses actually photocopied it and posted it in the nursing station!
Although we had a very natural birth friendly OB and MW practice, we delivered in a hospital. I will second this recommendation. This book and The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin were so very helpful in preparing me and DH. Especially DH.
It's very do-able if you are educated, imo.
I ended up needing pitocin but I didn't use anything for the pain. I copied and pasted by birth story for you.
My water broke on Sunday at 11:30pm while I was sitting on the couch with my husband. I ran into the bathroom and wasn't certain if it was my water breaking or I accidentally peed myself. I told my husband and we decided to wait and see if I would start having contractions. I continued to leak throughout the night and around 9am Monday morning I called the nurses line so see what they suggested. My midwife told me at my last appointment that if my water broke, was clear, and didn't have a fever then I could continue to labor at home so that was the plan. I still was not having contractions but my husband and mom thought it would be best to go to labor and delivery and see what was going on. I was convinced that they would tell me it wasn't my water since I didn't have any other signs of labor. It was my water and I was admitted to the hospital around 10:30 Monday morning. I was 2cm dilated and completely effaced at that point. I went over my birth plan with the nurse and OB which pretty much stated that I wanted to do everything as naturally as possible. They explained that they like to deliver within 24 hours of your water breaking because the risk of infection increases. I walked around and used the birthing ball for a few hours and nothing was changing. The OB (I didn't really like her) suggested pitocin several times and I declined and said I really did not want it. She suggested that I try the Foley Bulb to dilate me so I finally agreed to try that. After about an hour and a half I was 3cm and contractions still were not strong enough to get my labor going. I walked and bounced on the ball some more and then the night shift OB and nurse came in. I was frustrated because it was already over 12 hours from when my water first broke and nothing was happening. The OB was so nice and talked to me about pitcocin and she understood my reasons for not wanting it. I talked to my husband and mom about it for a while and after many tears I agreed to the pitocin. At 8:30pm we started out with 2 units and I continued to rock on the birthing ball. My contractions were getting closer together but still not anything that would lead to labor so it was increased to 4 units then to 6 units. Things got really intense and my contractions were pretty painful. I didn't think they could get any worse but they definitely did. The contractions were back to back and the worst pain I could ever imagine. I really had no concept of time at this point but my back and tailbone were hurting so bad that I was in tears and moaning like crazy. My nurse brought in a bar to hang across the end of the bed so I wasn't on my back. My mom told me that I was using the bar for about 15 minutes and at that point I was feeling so much pressure and I swore I was going to die (my husband kept telling me that you can't die from pain but I swore I could). I felt like I needed to push so I sent my mom to get the nurse but she told me that I probably wasn't at 10cm yet and I needed to wait a half hour before they would check me again. I told her I couldn't wait and I needed to push now. The OB came in a sure enough I was 10cm and ready to push. I pushed for a half and hour and my baby girl was born at 3:45am Tuesday morning. Somehow I didn't tear which I am so happy about but it felt like I was ripping as I pushed her out. We did skin to skin and she latched on right away.I was so upset about needing pitocin but looking back at the situation I feel like I would still be hanging around the hospital waiting for labor to start on it's own if I didn't get it. I am so proud of myself for sticking to my plan and not getting an epidural. It was the most painful thing I could have imagined times 1000 but it was definitely worth it. I'm not sure if it's still considered a natural birth since I received pitocin but at least I was able to work through the pain without an epidural. I definitely plan on trying to go naturally again when we have our next baby.
I wanted to labor at home as long as I thought I could but due to my GBS+ status I decided to get the antibiotics when my water broke. I indeed did have PROM so I went straight to the hospital. If I didn't have PROM, I was going to wait and see how my body felt. I most likely would have lasted 4 or so hours since I very quickly went from active labor to transition. Its different for everyone though.
DS #1 born 05/25/2012
BFP#2: 06/12/2013 ---- loss
DS #2 born 4/08/2014
BPF#4: 2/1/2016 --- 2/23/2016 suspected molar pregnancy--- 3/15/2016 D&E - diagnosis MM
BFP#5 - 9/22/2016
* formally bornmommy
I had a midwife because i had planned a home birth. I ended up with pre E and my doctor wouldn't allow the home birth. I ended up going 3 weeks early so i didn't write a birth plan since I wasn't aware of the chance I'd be in a hospital until a couple days before. Anyhow, it helped that my midwife came to the hospital with me and told them my plan to go natural. I also showed up at the hospital already 7cm dialated and so they never even asked me if I wanted drugs. The difficult part about the hospital was that they wanted me on my back for cervical checks which was the most painful part. They also didn't allow me to labor on the toilet. Otherwise, they left me and my midwife alone and I labored virtually without their help. They didn't even clean up the poo when I was pooping on the bed. They did bring out the bar. Which is a bar that attaches to the bed that I could grasp onto during contractions and use to sit up in bed and push that way.
I got to the hospital during transition so I was wheeled right into the L&D and again, didn't have one nurse suggest intervention. I also chose an OBGYN that was very natural friendly. Even with my blood pressure out the roof, my OB didn't push drugs on me. Well, until after I had him and my blood pressure was still really freakin high. My OB even let me talk him into waiting a half hour to see if my blood pressure would go down. Then eventually they gave me meds for that, but that was probably an hour after having him naturally and med free.
I would suggest getting a doula if you don't want/can't do a homebirth.
^ Stealing this idea. AWESOME.