Anyone else planning a natural birth (hospital, birthing center or home)?

CupcakecutieRN · December 2014

Ideally I would like to go Med
Free this time. Last time I was induced (for med necessity, had pre-e)and was fine until my water broke. I think being stuck in bed with all the monitoring made it hard to deal with the contractions. Obviously my end goal is a healthy baby and I would love not to hemorrhage again (ug) but if my labor goes my way at all I will be trying my Bradley method again.

SwivelChair5 · December 2014

I want to be in a hospital with all the meds.

Home birth sounds really....messy.

hcook321 · December 2014

We'll hopefully be having our baby at our midwife center's birth center, naturally and med free of course. They have like 5 or 6 birthing suites. My transfer hospital is also just 1 mile up the road if we need to head up there. Feeling pretty good about our decision but we'll see what baby decides

mrspiatt · December 2014

My 1st 2 were med free... I've thought about it a lot and I'm not doing it this time. After 14 and 16 hours of hard labor, I was completely exhausted afterward. It's really hard to enjoy your new baby when you are physically, mentally and emotionally drained. I'm not planning to do an epidural, but I will have a little some thing in the IV once things get bad. Even if it's just for an hour or 2 so I can get some rest.

mamaZbo · December 2014

I really wanted a med free birth with the first. I did Bradley classes, had my birth plan ready and then nothing went according to plan. I went 14 hours med free, but ended up with put pitocen for lack of progress and an epidural. After 21 hours I had an emergency c-section. It took me a little while to get over it, so this time I am going in with the attitude that I would like a med free vbac, but whatever happens happens and I will not invest as much time into planning because stuff happens.

cubberss · December 2014

I planned a homebirth with #1, but ended up being transferred after 26 hours because I was so exhausted and not progressing. Ended up with a 34 hour labour including 4 hours of pushing. Had pit, epi, nitrous oxide, and fentanyl. I hated every second of the hospital/medical experience.

For #2 and #3 I had planned homebirths, and loooooved it. Recovery was easier, I bonded faster, and nursing came easier. I will be planning a homebirth again. My kids loved being part of the process, too. DD was such a sweet little doula while I laboured, and she cut DS#2's cord. It was really special!

thesportsgal · December 2014

stahlop said:

Another home birth...wow. You're really brave. I'm much too frightened that the lack of monitoring and support could leave my baby brain-damaged. Is your HCP a CNM?
There is still monitoring, just not continuous. They use the Doppler to check the heartbeat about once an hour (more when in the pushing phase). A good midwife can see when a baby is in trouble early enough to get mommy and baby to the hospital if need be. My midwife is not a CNM. They are not allowed to do home births in my state, only hospital births. We do have very strict rules and regulations thought the state health department though for our midwives.

Curious: how does a good mid wife "see" when a baby is in trouble?

SVas1020 · December 2014

I would love to have another med-fre birth. My experience with DD was amazing and I'm hoping it is just as good this time! My water broke as I was on my way out of an appointment on my due date, and she was born 2.5 hours later with 3 pushes! I'm not planning a home birth, but if the 2nd labor really is shorter, I may not have time to get to the hospital. Fingers crossed!!

cubberss · December 2014

KirianaTi said:
No. Home birth sounds too messy for my house. Also, I need drugs. I'm much more concerned about what goes into me for 9 months than the last 12 hours my baby is in me.

Also, I don't like pain.

Also, I want monitoring.

Also, I don't want to clean up...

Totally not for everyone, but the midwives and doula clean everything up. They don't leave any type of mess, start laundry, and even made me breakfast and did dishes before they left. My place was cleaner when they left then before they got there!

cubberss · December 2014

KirianaTi said:

cubberss said:

KirianaTi said:
No. Home birth sounds too messy for my house. Also, I need drugs. I'm much more concerned about what goes into me for 9 months than the last 12 hours my baby is in me.

Also, I don't like pain.

Also, I want monitoring.

Also, I don't want to clean up...
Totally not for everyone, but the midwives and doula clean everything up. They don't leave any type of mess, start laundry, and even made me breakfast and did dishes before they left. My place was cleaner when they left then before they got there!

Sounds fine, it's just not for me. I've had so many close relatives die I'm happy to now associate a hospital with new life. Also, I have one or two small health issues, have seen a RE for getting pregnant, and just feel better with my doctor who has known me forever and being in the hospital and taking care of everything.

Also - DRUGS!!!!!! :-P

Haha, yes, it's definitely not for everyone!

stahlop · December 2014

thesportsgal said:

stahlop said:

kcebeling said:
Another home birth...wow. You're really brave. I'm much too frightened that the lack of monitoring and support could leave my baby brain-damaged. Is your HCP a CNM?
There is still monitoring, just not continuous. They use the Doppler to check the heartbeat about once an hour (more when in the pushing phase). A good midwife can see when a baby is in trouble early enough to get mommy and baby to the hospital if need be. My midwife is not a CNM. They are not allowed to do home births in my state, only hospital births. We do have very strict rules and regulations thought the state health department though for our midwives.

Curious: how does a good mid wife "see" when a baby is in trouble?

Midwives here are trained to look for any signs of danger, just like an OB or nurse. For instance, my midwife has had to deal with cord prolapse (hospital transfer), babies getting stuck or not breathing right away (call to 911 and/or oxygen and/or CPR needed), retained placentas and excessive bleeding (she is allowed to carry pitocin for this reason). Because she has to report her numbers every year, I know she has zero maternal or fetal deaths. Her hospital transfer rate is, if I recall correctly, 5%.

flightview · December 2014

.

thesportsgal · December 2014

stahlop said:

stahlop said:

Another home birth...wow. You're really brave. I'm much too frightened that the lack of monitoring and support could leave my baby brain-damaged. Is your HCP a CNM?
There is still monitoring, just not continuous. They use the Doppler to check the heartbeat about once an hour (more when in the pushing phase). A good midwife can see when a baby is in trouble early enough to get mommy and baby to the hospital if need be. My midwife is not a CNM. They are not allowed to do home births in my state, only hospital births. We do have very strict rules and regulations thought the state health department though for our midwives.

Curious: how does a good mid wife "see" when a baby is in trouble?
Midwives here are trained to look for any signs of danger, just like an OB or nurse. For instance, my midwife has had to deal with cord prolapse (hospital transfer), babies getting stuck or not breathing right away (call to 911 and/or oxygen and/or CPR needed), retained placentas and excessive bleeding (she is allowed to carry pitocin for this reason). Because she has to report her numbers every year, I know she has zero maternal or fetal deaths. Her hospital transfer rate is, if I recall correctly, 5%.

Oh, I see. I don't know much about it TBH! I was just grateful for my doc being able to see through an U/S that I was out of fluid at 40W3D - something a doppler wouldn't pick up.

cubberss · December 2014

thesportsgal said:

stahlop said:

thesportsgal said:

stahlop said:

kcebeling said:
Another home birth...wow. You're really brave. I'm much too frightened that the lack of monitoring and support could leave my baby brain-damaged. Is your HCP a CNM?
There is still monitoring, just not continuous. They use the Doppler to check the heartbeat about once an hour (more when in the pushing phase). A good midwife can see when a baby is in trouble early enough to get mommy and baby to the hospital if need be. My midwife is not a CNM. They are not allowed to do home births in my state, only hospital births. We do have very strict rules and regulations thought the state health department though for our midwives.

Curious: how does a good mid wife "see" when a baby is in trouble?
Midwives here are trained to look for any signs of danger, just like an OB or nurse. For instance, my midwife has had to deal with cord prolapse (hospital transfer), babies getting stuck or not breathing right away (call to 911 and/or oxygen and/or CPR needed), retained placentas and excessive bleeding (she is allowed to carry pitocin for this reason). Because she has to report her numbers every year, I know she has zero maternal or fetal deaths. Her hospital transfer rate is, if I recall correctly, 5%.

Oh, I see. I don't know much about it TBH! I was just grateful for my doc being able to see through an U/S that I was out of fluid at 40W3D - something a doppler wouldn't pick up.

If MWs think anything might be wrong, they would order an u/s, but like an OB would.

thesportsgal · December 2014

@cubberss That's what I was curious about...how they come to the conclusion that something "might" be wrong.

cubberss · December 2014

In the same way a Dr would. They're highly trained to spot warning signs/symptoms and monitor their patients in the same way Drs do. Around here Drs don't do u/s at each appointment, and would order one if they suspected something was off. Same as a MW. I'm having so much trouble understanding what's confusing you about this.

thesportsgal · December 2014

cubberss said:

In the same way a Dr would. They're highly trained to spot warning signs/symptoms and monitor their patients in the same way Drs do. Around here Drs don't do u/s at each appointment, and would order one if they suspected something was off. Same as a MW. I'm having so much trouble understanding what's confusing you about this.

I was mostly curious, that's all. There is no warning sign nor any symptoms for a loss of fluid so there wouldn't be a suspicion that something is off. But I'm not a Dr. so I'm only speaking from experience. They don't do U/S at each appointment here either.

cubberss · December 2014

thesportsgal said:

cubberss said:

In the same way a Dr would. They're highly trained to spot warning signs/symptoms and monitor their patients in the same way Drs do. Around here Drs don't do u/s at each appointment, and would order one if they suspected something was off. Same as a MW. I'm having so much trouble understanding what's confusing you about this.

I was mostly curious, that's all. There is no warning sign nor any symptoms for a loss of fluid so there wouldn't be a suspicion that something is off. But I'm not a Dr. so I'm only speaking from experience. They don't do U/S at each appointment here either.

Of course there are. Fundal height measurements would be different, mom might have a slight leak and think it's just sweat or pee. What made your Dr do an u/s for your fluid loss?

thesportsgal · December 2014

cubberss said:

Of course there are. Fundal height measurements would be different, mom might have a slight leak and think it's just sweat or pee. What made your Dr do an u/s for your fluid loss?

That is how she monitors after 40W. No fundal height difference, no leak.

laurasuzanne2006 · December 2014

Planning an hbac

LauraJeanHill · December 2014

I have to have it in a hospital because I LOVE my family doc and want her to deliver this LO, too. But I'm hoping for something more natural this time! Last time it was cytotec, pitocin, and an epi. NOT ideal, but at lease DS is healthy...

xsarahbethx · December 2014

I had surgery to correct my scoliosis a while back. They used Harrington rods and stated "no epidurals." Doctors are almost pushy now with me to GET an epidural. The first two came just fine without. I was able to get up and do whatever I wanted right before pushing and right after. I think I'll keep it epi-free this time, too.

stahlop · December 2014

Here in AZ, midwives are very highly trained. They go through at least 3-4 years of apprenticeship with a midwife before testing to become a midwife. There are also tests and boards they have to take to be certified (ours have to be state and nationally certified). We also have very strict rules and regulations regarding who they can take as clients and so forth. I think part of what helps though is that they actually talk to you for the whole appointment, not just 5 minutes at the end of your appointment. They really get to know you and your pregnancy so that's another way they can get a sense that things might not be right. I went to an OB for the first half of my first pregnancy and was very dissatisfied with the experience.

lebradford · December 2014

I don't really have any interest in a med-free birth, and personally I would never even consider a home birth. I'll take all the doctors and drugs, please!

On the flip side I don't really care what other people are doing! You want to give birth on your kitchen counter or something? Go for it. ;-)

RaMe88 · December 2014

Yes!! This is my first time being pregnant and my DH and I are planning on having a med free waterbirth in the comfort of our home with both a midwife and a doula.

buggurl84 · December 2014

lindy27 said:

buggurl84 said:

I would love to have a water birth, ive been wanting to have one for years! But there is nowhere anywhere near me for that and cant seem to find someone any where near me, plus my hubby thinks im crazy and told me no. So i plan (fingers crossed) on a med free birth at our local hospital. The thought of epidural freaks me out!

Have you looked into the hospitals? The one I delivered at had tubs you could use attached to each birthing room. The only requirement is you had to get out once an hour for a check of baby's heart rate.

I have. The closest one that does it is more than 45 mins away down an extremely busy and dangerous highway, the other is over a bridge into the next state and god forbid if it would happen anytime during rush hour! Our local hospital is 10 minutes away in traffic and ranks highest in the nation with private rooms and its only 3 years old. So it would be stupid to try anything else. And i cant seem to find any midwives who would do a homebirth near me. As i get farther along and am comfortable with letting my pregnancy be known im going to put it out on facebook and see if any of my friends can point me in the possible right direction. My ob told me the closest im going to get to a waterbirth is taking a shower before labor begins and pretending! She sounds like my husband!

katehenton623 · December 2014

We are planning for a birth center! I started researching it before my miscarriage 2 years ago and just kept up the research after. I am not interested in being bullied in a hospital and around doctors I am very bad at sticking to what I want. My hubby was a little skeptical at first but at our tour he got to ask all the questions he wanted and ended up feeling a lot better about it. I'm a big wimp but I figure millions of women for thousands of years have delivered babies without meds so I can too! But we are pretty laid back so if something were to happen and we got transferred I would be disappointed but ok with it.

numb3rMel · December 2014

I had to be induced last time due to my water leaking. I had so many painful contractions, one on top of the other. I did the drugs. It wasn't planned but it was necessary. Unfortunately, I was already at 10cm when I got the epi. (Fast progression) and had to wait another 2 hours before I was given the go to push. TG for the epi so I couldn't feel anything. Then the quack gave me 30 mins to push before he was just going with a C/S. Challenge accepted! Pushed DD out in 3 pushed. I then hemoraged a lot of blood.

So yea. Not ideal for me. I wanted a med-free birth. But. It is what it is. She's here, happy, healthy. I went in with a "what happens, happens" attitude so I wasn't too disappointed.

This go around, I'll go at it the same way. Because of my bad experience with that quack, my OB promised, he won't be delivering this kid.

brittnilangley · December 2014

I actually would love to do natural hospital birth or birthing center but I am new to my town and have no idea where to even start to look for a mid wife or obgyn I am so lost at this point so I have only been to the local pregnancy clinic to double check I was pg any advice so welcome this is my first and have no idea where to start

melsner · December 2014

brittnilangley said:
I actually would love to do natural hospital birth or birthing center but I am new to my town and have no idea where to even start to look for a mid wife or obgyn I am so lost at this point so I have only been to the local pregnancy clinic to double check I was pg any advice so welcome this is my first and have no idea where to start

Google. That's how I found all the local midwives and birth centers.

knp2015 · December 2014

We are in the early stages of considering it because we have optimal circumstances in terms of how close we are to the hospital...by "we" I mean that I want a home birth and dh is promising an open mind. The hospital I would deliver at has the highest level NICU and is a 3 minute drive. Dh is a pediatric surgeon and routinely makes it from our house to his patient's bedside in under 5 minutes in an emergency, it's why we live where we do. We would have a midwife monitoring me and dh would be monitoring baby and me as well. Dh works at a different hospital, which is across the street, but has surgical privileges at the hospital I would deliver at so we know a lot of the OBs and several are personal friends. So, it would be a very different type of home birth with a surgeon, midwife, and probably OB friends popping in and out....so probably even more medical professionals then at a hospital birth which might defeat the purpose haha...but mostly I'm in it for access to a tub. Water is what calms me and my best form of pain relief. Whether it's stress, grief, a headache, the flu, or any other ailment my first response is that I NEED to take a bath...even for things that a bath wouldn't help it still makes me feel better. I can't imagine going through labor without unrestricted access to bath/shower...so hope I don't have to.

aliska · December 2014

DD was born at an out of hospital birth center. We loved it there. She was born in the water, and my friend said, "it sounded like they have you drugs." Unfortunately the birth center is closed. We are investigating a midwife group at the hospital before looking at home birth (since home birth won't be covered by my insurance).

stahlop · December 2014

Depending on the insurance you have, you might be able to get a percentage back of what you pay your midwife if you use them as an out of network provider. We got 60% of money back last time. Of course, I had to hit my deductible first.

jenverret · December 2014

Our birthing center just closed this month:( so I have no choice but to either have a hospital or home birth. I'll hopefully have a med free birth in our local hospital. I'll also have a doula to help with my birth plan and for support

Knottie48258666 · January 2015

I am a first time mom, planning my first med free birth in a hospital. Any advice on staying strong on this decision? Having a hard time finding supportive people to talk to and get advice from.

Heavenwhip · January 2015

I had my first in a hospital and it was med free.

My advice for mama's planning to go med free is remember the contractions only last a minute or so, you only have to make through the contraction that is happening. Don't worry about the contraction that is coming next, just focus on what you are doing in the moment.

Yellow1998 · January 2015

For my first, I went into it knowing that I would most likely be getting the epidural, which was totally fine with me. I went as long as I could before getting it. Once they gave me the epidural I felt like a new woman! I was able to truly enjoy my experience pain free and have plenty of energy to focus on baby afterwards. It was an amazing experience and I plan to get an epidural again this time around. When the epidural wore off, it felt like I had been hit by a truck down there. I was not prepared for the soreness, but I can't complain! For moms who do it all med free, you rock. I can't even imagine it.

4foxsake · January 2015

I plan on having a homebirth. Luckily where I live its totally legal, and I've found a CNM to attend mine, so I know I'll be in good hands.

4foxsake · January 2015

SwivelChair5 said:

I want to be in a hospital with all the meds.

Home birth sounds really....messy.

Part of the midwifes job is cleaning up after the birth while mom and baby bond.

4foxsake · January 2015

stahlop said:

stahlop said:

Another home birth...wow. You're really brave. I'm much too frightened that the lack of monitoring and support could leave my baby brain-damaged. Is your HCP a CNM?
There is still monitoring, just not continuous. They use the Doppler to check the heartbeat about once an hour (more when in the pushing phase). A good midwife can see when a baby is in trouble early enough to get mommy and baby to the hospital if need be. My midwife is not a CNM. They are not allowed to do home births in my state, only hospital births. We do have very strict rules and regulations thought the state health department though for our midwives.

Curious: how does a good mid wife "see" when a baby is in trouble?
Midwives here are trained to look for any signs of danger, just like an OB or nurse. For instance, my midwife has had to deal with cord prolapse (hospital transfer), babies getting stuck or not breathing right away (call to 911 and/or oxygen and/or CPR needed), retained placentas and excessive bleeding (she is allowed to carry pitocin for this reason). Because she has to report her numbers every year, I know she has zero maternal or fetal deaths. Her hospital transfer rate is, if I recall correctly, 5%.

Sounds like your midwife rocks!

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone else planning a natural birth (hospital, birthing center or home)?

Re: Anyone else planning a natural birth (hospital, birthing center or home)?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards