first time mom to be..

EMERALDS23 · June 2013

okay so here goes... I am a first time mom to be and I really want to do a natural birth. my insurance doesn't cover birth centers or anything of the sort. so it looks like I will have to do so in a hospital. I do not have a whole lot of resources at this point. I was just wondering if anyone can give me any advise as to an unassisted hospital birth? Anything will be of help. I am sort of alone in all of this so I would love a place to start. Thank you

bornmommy · June 2013

Welcome and congrats on your decision to research! First of all, unassisted=/=natural. In a hospital setting, you will be hard pressed to find a situation where you can have an unassisted birth. There will be medical professionals. Most likely you can choose your provider, and that is where I would start.

Find a midwife who works out of a hospital, look into birthing classes, hire a doula if you can. I had a natural hospital birth and will do so again the next time around. In attendance at my son's birth was my midwife, my DH, and a nurse. They helped me through labor and I was able to "catch" DS. It was great. Good luck!

aylafsu88 · June 2013

I had a natural intervention free birth in the hospital. It can be done. Find a supportive provider and educate yourself on L&D. Your provider makes a lot of decisions during you L&D so you want someone who is supportive and will try to respect your wishes. Also labor at home as long as possible. I labored for many hours at home and only went to the hospital when I "knew" LO was going to be here soon. I was holding LO within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital. The less time you spend in the hospital the less interventions they can suggest. GL!

ETA: My labor was assisted though, the OB did come in to catch the baby.

erb82 · June 2013

I recommend reading the book "Natural Hospital Birth" by Cynthia Gabriel. I've had two low intervention, unmediated hospital births and found this very helpful. I also took a birth class, just to make sure I was informed on the basic process of birth. It wasn't geared towards natural birth. A hospital tour is also great, because then you'll be aware of hospital policies and you can discuss them with your OB/midwife. All of those things, plus a supportive partner, were enough for me. Good luck!

April! · June 2013

I also had an unmedicated hospital birth with a midwife, and agree with the above. It's definitely possible! Check out the hospitals near you to find out if they are friendly to unmedicated birth, and then find out which doctors and midwives have privileges there.

Good luck!