Hospital Birth with Midwife

stellasoo · June 2014

DH and I recently found out we're pregnant. I really had my heart set on a home birth for many reasons, but the biggest is because I'm worried I'll essentially have very little say in how the labor progresses in a hospital. My primary care doctor doesn't think a home birth is a good idea because of my advanced age (39) and weight but she said a midwife in a hospital could be a good option. If you used a midwife in a hospital, would you do it this way again again? Were you pressured to have picotin, an epidural, etc. on the hospital's schedule or as you really needed/wanted it?

schmood · June 2014

I used the Riverside Womens Clinic midwives and was happy with them. They deliver at Fairview Riverside. I believe that water births are still an option.

Disclaimer, I went into the whole labor/delivery stage without a set birthplan. I figured that I would likely want an epidural but just wanted to play things by ear. When things came up, they gave me options and their recommendations.

I did end up with an epidural after about 8hrs of labor as I was crying in pain with each contraction and the other pain meds were not doing enough. I was in labor for another 12hrs after the epidural. They did try some pitocin after he was 100% effaced and 10cm dialated for about 3 hrs without much progression. I pushed for almost 3 hrs and they eventually had to use vaccum extraction and an episiotomy. I did end up needing the OB due to the VE.

I don't know if I'm the best example for you because I didn't really have a birthplan, but I will likely use a midwife again if possible.

stellasoo · June 2014

@schmood I don't know anyone who used a midwife in a hospital so that was very helpful. If we choose the hospital route, we'll probably have it at St. Joe's since it's 10 minutes from us and they have a low c-section rate.

NoBeautyQueen · June 2014

St Joe's is great, had both my girls there. I had my primary doctor attend my birth and he was very involved with the whole process. The nurses at St Joe's were wonderful and extremely attentive and helpful through the whole process. A friend of mine sees the midwives at Generations clinic that attended her hospital births. If you do want to explore home birth, my neighbor works with Jeanne Bazille of Peacefully Born and is also good friends with Sara Biermeier with Genea Birth Services. https://peacefullyborn-com.webs.com https://www.geneabirth.com

JGY · June 2014

I delivered at Riverside with the midwives there and would do it again. One thought though, it might be worth meeting with/talking to a home birth midwife to see if THEY think you are a good candidate for home birth. They are not going to take you on as a client if they feel you have high risk factors. I would trust their opinions as home birth experts.

stellasoo · June 2014

@NoBeautyQueen ~ My acupuncturist suggested St. Joe's and said they have an excellent reputation. It's good to get confirmation from someone who has actually delivered there. I keep reading good things about Jeanne and Sara and I've had their websites bookmarked for a while now.

@JGY ~ I completely agree. I feel like I'd do better at home but what do I know - I've never given birth before. Were the midwives with you through the entire labor and birth? Were they good about letting you move around, try without drugs, etc.? Did they consult with an OB?

JGY · June 2014

@stellasoo - I didn't really elaborate on my experience because I know I'm a little out of the norm, but here it is. I have known my Midwife for YEARS. I was a Doula for a while, and attended a birth with him. He was very clear on my desires for my birth and supported me fully. He was "On call" for my birth and came in for us even though he was not officially on call for the clinic. He spent much of the time during my active labor with us. But he also trusted in my labor support team (my wife and my Doula) and gave us space as well.

The nursing staff at Riverside were not known to me prior to arriving at the hospital. They were AMAZING. They were 100% on board with me moving around, eating, drinking, laboring in the tub, etc. One nurse in particular would sit with me for 20-30 minutes at a time, doing fetal heart monitoring via stethascope and wristwatch so that I didn't have to get out of the tub. It was exactly the kind of care I was hoping for.

When the time came that we began to deviate from my original birth plan, the nurses rolled with it. I was incredibly impressed with the way that they clearly were doing everything within their power to preserve the chances of a vaginal birth, even in the face of many things pointing in the other direction. They were cheering for me and walking the path with me, not pushing me in a direction that I didn't want to go.

I had a very long and, in the end, complicated birth. When the time arose to consult an OB, it was handled quickly and professionally, and the OB was fantastic. She came into the room knowing my original hopes for my birth, and it was clear that she understood my overwhelming disappointment at the loss of that desired experience and she respected those feelings.

All of the above being said, and as a (likely) more helpful answer to your questions ... midwives generally spend quite a bit more time with you in labor than OBs. Midwives typically spend some passive time sitting by you, evaluating how you are handling labor, how helpful your support team is, and then stepping in where (if) they see that you need assistance. The nursing staff can be hit or miss, and it's perhaps the case that I really lucked out. But I would hazard a guess to say that I was way more likely to "Luck out" at Riverside than at certain other hospitals.

For the record, I have heard only great things about St. Joe's. I think you will be in great hands there. And I also think that the more unmedicated births a health professional attends (read, nurses), the more it is reinforced to them that it is possible and NORMAL to birth this way. St. Joe's has that going for them.

I hope some of the above rambling is helpful to you. I wish you the best of luck!

JackieB15 · June 2014

I've also heard great things about St. Joe's. I delivered at United and has no issues with being pressured into anything I didn't want. I had a med free delivery and they didn't hook me up to anything or give me an IV so I could change postitions as I wanted. The only person who even slightly questioned me was the on call OB who came in to break my water while my OB stepped out for a funeral. He asked why I hadn't had my epidural yet (mind your own business 70 year old male doctor). Other than that I felt no pressure to do what I didn't want.

And the nursing staff was amazing. Really, it could have been just me and my nurses in the room and I would have been happy.

stellasoo · June 2014

Thank you both for your responses. I know there are great stories and awful stories out there but hearing the positive makes me feel like there is hope that it won't be this awful experience that I imagine it to be.

JessJ222 · June 2014

Congrats on your BFP!

For both of my pregnancies, I used the Midwives at Park Nicollet Methodist St Louis Park. They are wonderful. I know there c-section rate last year was 8% which is amazing. They are very anti-induction, won't even induce you if you wanted until 41 weeks (assuming there is no medical need obviously) and don't pressure an induction until 42 weeks. Overall very supportive of natural childbirth and whatever your personal wishes might be.

JGY · June 2014

stellasoo said:

Thank you both for your responses. I know there are great stories and awful stories out there but hearing the positive makes me feel like there is hope that it won't be this awful experience that I imagine it to be.

I think most of it boils down to this ... educate yourself about the kind of birth experience that you want to have, while understanding that things may change. Surround yourself with a good team to help support you in your birth plan. Most importantly, find a provider (OB/MW) who you trust and who understands your desires for birth and supports them. With that in place, you should truly be able to birth anywhere.

Good luck!

MesmrEwe · June 2014

I know you really want a home birth, but let me say that I had a "white knuckle natural" (that in the end if I wanted to avoid a c/s which there's no question I was heading for I had to stop stressing myself out so my body could relax and needed enough meds to sedate a horse because darnit I was going to have this baby naturally!) and a "DRUGS STAT" delivery - and during BOTH I was strongly encouraged to relax and allow the process to progress naturally without any forms of "intervention" and the second birth I required SO many fewer medications both during L&D and PP - IMO - it's a greater accomplishment to make it PP without the need for meds than the L&D process...

One thing is this, wherever you've heard this notion that (exaggeration) they're going to strap you to the bed and do all sorts of mean things to you and take the baby using force if you deliver in a hospital - DE-hypnotize yourself from those beliefs RIGHT NOW!

As my OB/GYN put it when I asked about the age issue "35 is the new 25!", your age doesn't matter as much as it was once thought when it comes to having a healthy pregnancy! There are SO many wonderful natural birth and delivery hospitals, midwives, Ob/GYN's, here in the cities! As a Doula friend mentioned to me before my first pregnancy - whether the woman intervenes using hypnosis, relaxation, Bradley, breathing, Epidural, or any medications, the purpose is still the same - to get the mother to relax and let her body do its natural born instincts without the mind interfering consciously or subconsciously. Also, one thing to think about is the cleanup! The last thing you want to have to deal with post partum is cleaning up the mess from L&D! Yes, it IS messy! Why ruin your sheets, etc. when you can go to the hospital or birth center and not have to deal with those details when you really want to be bonding with your sweet little one. Monitoring you and LO during L&D but PP (Minnesota requires insurance to cover 48 hours of care post partum for new Moms because many problems FOR THE MOM don't surface until after L&D - Klobachar is who championed this piece of legislation long before her US Senate run) Monitoring during L&D isn't the process it once was with some hospitals switching to remote monitors in some cases. Several hospitals have added birth tubs, Regions offers a birthing pool, etc. Also, don't get afraid of c/s rates! You have to take into account that each woman is unique along with the set of circumstances of her L&D. Yes, I've met women who wanted ZERO zilch nada to do with L&D and they wanted a c/s no matter the circumstances. Breech babies happen, distress happens, but never once during my L&D's did I feel pressured for things to be one way or the other.

The only bad experience I ever had was an idiotic birthing class instructor at Regions who set more myths about the L&D process than she helped the process along. During my second PG we "laughed" about her and her horrible antics that the L&D nurses have to deal with. (things like "meds are bad" was 100% the discussion of the benefits/drawbacks to an epi or c/s)... Or that they're 1960's style when the reality is that they are super-pro non-intervention deliveries whenever humanly possible (and their actions affirmed this IMNSHO).. Do your interviews and give the hospitals and birth centers a chance. As another said, you could talk to a home-birth MW and they may also tell you that you're a better candidate for more monitoring during L&D (which DOES NOT mean intervention!)...

stellasoo · June 2014

Thanks everyone for the responses. We met with a Health Partners midwife and a couple of home birth midwives. We've decided to go the home birth route. They didn't feel that my age or weight should risk me out of a home birth as long as I eat well, exercise and my pregnancy progresses normally.

After doing a ton of reading and talking to people, I keep hearing the same thing @MesmrEwe said about relaxing during labor and letting things happen as they need instead of being stressed. To say hospitals freak me out would be an understatement and I know I will be stressed if I choose a hospital birth. Obviously I would go to a hospital if the need arises, but it's not my first choice.

(Regarding the mess at home.... that was one of my concerns but the MW's we've talked to said they clean up so there is no mess for us to deal with.)

MesmrEwe · June 2014

AWESOME! One thought given what you've mentioned - work with a hypnotherapist for Hypno-Birthing and do a session or two to help with the hospital fears in the unlikely event of anything happening in that direction (complication trip, non-stress test, monitoring, glucose test, induction, etc.), and those things that can also be part of the normal prenatal checks as well - that way any of those potential fears don't sway you from still being able to go med free regardless of where baby decides to be birthed! (I'm a HUGE proponent of doing private sessions rather than big groups just because you can target things easier for you and your pregnancy which saves you time/money).. Knowing their professional credentials and the fact that Rachel was in our wedding, I'd go with Mind Body Hypnosis out of Plymouth if you need a starting point - if they for some unlikely reason can't help, they know who locally will be best to work with you.

stellasoo · June 2014

Hmm. I really don't know anything about hypno-birthing but if it helps with the hospital fears, I'm all for it. I'll look into that just in case I do end up in a hospital. I'd rather be over prepared. Thanks for the suggestion.

MesmrEwe · June 2014

stellasoo said:

Hmm. I really don't know anything about hypno-birthing but if it helps with the hospital fears, I'm all for it. I'll look into that just in case I do end up in a hospital. I'd rather be over prepared. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mickey Mongan is who Trademarked the term - basically it's utilizing hypnosis and the mind-body connection for childbirth to rethink how you interpret L&D. Some use her methods, others their own, and there are spinoffs as well like HypnoBabies but Mickey made it accessible to everyone on the business side, which it should be! The aspect I like about hypnosis in general is that it's incredibly efficient especially when it comes to working with fears/anxieties but endurance activities.. You aren't there for months on end, it's go in and address the issue and find a new alternative behavior instead and lock it in, test it out, adjust, and laugh at how long you had a fear over something so simple, and how relieved you are with the new way of life!

MsMacual · June 2014

Chiming in late- I think it is great that you have found a midwife who will do a home birth with you! I considered going that route for our second and decided against it for a few reasons. I had my first with a midwife at Riverside and will be having my second with a midwife at St Francis. I think the best thing you can do between now and your delivery is educate yourself. Pregnancy and giving birth come with many unknowns and being educated is one of the best ways to end up with a birth that most closely resembles your ideal birth. If you do end up delivering at a hospital (and know this before you are in labor), I recommend laboring at home as long as possible. I followed this advice and walked in the hospital at 10 cm after about 4 hours of labor.

NatesCupcake47 · July 2014

Chiming in late as well! So great you found a midwife that will do a homebirth with you. I've known a few people who did homebirths and they had amazing experiences.

I delivered with a midwife at Woodwinds. Was super happy with my choice, especially since we had some minor complications. I think had my first birth hadn't had issues I would have considered a home birth for our eventual second child, but because of those issues we will stick with a midwife hospital birth :-)

stellasoo · July 2014

Thanks ladies. It's so encouraging to hear positive things about birth in hospitals, just in case we do need to go that route in the end.

I will definitely keep the advice in mind about laboring at home as long as possible if it comes down to a hospital birth. That's so good to know.

Want a personalized experience?

Hospital Birth with Midwife

Re: Hospital Birth with Midwife

Choose Another Board

Search Boards