At home births and midwives

[Kala]

No matter what you *want*, do what you *need*.

I would love a birth that BBH had (romancing the child out, LOL!) but, I'm high risk. Big babies run in hubbys family, the cord was wrapped around his neck and my mom almost bled to death having me. I'm going to have to chose what's right, something like the midwife section of the hospital.

Yea. That's why I was concerned with how far away the nearest hospital with and OB is if complications were to arise. Think I might start researching midwife hospital options. Home would be nice, but not sure it's plausible.

 

[me&thegals]

I did not enjoy my 2 hospital births. They were safe but very cold and sterile.

My sister had a pool at-home birth and absolutely loved it!

 

[me&thegals]

thanks for so many replies!!

So where did you all find out about your local options? Like the midwife hospital units?

Even in my tiny town (2000 people), we have 2 OB/GYNs and a midwife at our clinic. Otherwise, go online. I have a friend who is a midwife with a website. Or, ask around. Good luck!

 

[big brown horse]

Underwater with a midwife here, room darkened, candlelight and music. Great experience.

My sister had 3 out of 4 babies at home with a midwife. Her very first ended in a c-section at the hospital, but all the rest came out the right way.

An actual VBAC?! I thought they were just a magical myth. Good for her!!!!!!!!

Yeah pretty cool hua? She had a midwife with the first three and gave birth to two of them at home. It was the first one that had to be birthed via emergency c-section. Everyone told her that she couldn't have a vaginal birth after that and would never be able to have a baby at home with a midwife. She was determined though. (She lived in a busy town near a hospital though JIC.)

The last kiddo she had at a hospital b/c she was over 40 (44?) by then and didn't want to take any chances.

Ms. Pony, that is a good way to describe it "romancing the child out". lol My underwater birth was at a midwife's clinic (birthing center) that was part of a "real" hospital which was across the street. I had to have a dr.s visit before delivery JIC.

 

[bibliophile birds]

one of my very good friends, Ayu, had a planned unattended home birth with her first child back in September. she really didn't want to have a hospital birth and, when they looked into it, midwives were way too expensive for them. but since they live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, there was actually a lot of cultural/family history of home births: her mother actually gave birth to Ayu and all 7 of her siblings in Ayu's grandmother's house in their home village, attended only by village midwives who had no medical training but a lifetime of experience.

Ayu saw an OB at the hospital throughout her entire pregnancy and consulted with him on everything. luckily the hospital was only about 5 mins from their house and the doctor felt that everything was fine for a home birth. she labored for 32 hours total but she delivered a healthy baby boy with no complications other than a touch of jaundice. her husband "caught" him so he was the first person to lay hands on the child, something he's still talking about 6 months later. the only other people present were his mother and 2 of Ayu's friends she met at a local home birth get-together.

she says that there is no question in her mind: whenever they have another child, so long as everything seems good, she will birth at home again.

my sister, on the other hand, would NEVER consider a home birth. she wanted the drugs! but she ended up having a very bad experience with a pushy anesthesiologist. she felt like she wanted to wait a bit before getting an epidural and he bullied her into getting it right away because he was going into surgery and didn't "want to hear her complaining when he couldn't get to her in time." turns out that he wasn't very good at his job and her epidural wore off just in time for the actual delivery. really, the moral is that you have to be the boss of you birth, regardless of what kind of birth plan you decide on.

 

[steffpeck]

A home birth is not something I would ever do, I am to big of a wimp, I wanted the epidural. But, if I would have had a home birth with either of my 2 boys, they wouldn't have made it, and maybe I wouldn't have either. I was healthy, great pregnancies, everything seemed perfect, but they were both posterior and would not come out on their own. My first son also had the cord around his neck and these were things that we did not know until it happened during labor. We had to use the vacuum on both of them to turn them and get them out. I would be very careful if you are not near a hospital, because you just never know.

 

[lwheelr]

Homebirth has never been an option for me. I don't go into labor naturally, do not produce enough oxytocin to actually push the baby out.

So first baby, water broke, had to have pitocin to actually move him. Hemorrhaged afterward. Second baby, water broke, pitocin again, she moved fast, was quick and not too bad. Third one, more pitocin, was hell. He was posterior, did NOT turn, had a big head, and tore the cartilage in my pelvis. Fourth one, induced late, was big and very painful, due to previous cartilage tear nearly three years before. Fifth one I had an epidural (honestly could not face the hell of the last two again) and had the best delivery experience ever, in spite of the pitocin. Sixth one I actually dilated to 8 (she was a week late), and then completely stalled in spite of pushing like crazy, so they gave me the pit then. She was posterior, but turned on her own. Seventh one was also good, they used prostin gel, then broke my water, then induced with pit - the easiest of all the births, and the best recovery, even though I hemorrhaged pretty bad afterward. Eighth was also pretty bad - 16" head that would not mold, posterior, no epidural, no anesthesia of any kind, just a brutal difficult birth. Had a wonderful doctor though, who was determined NOT to do a C-Section if it could be avoided, and he worked with me to get her to move.

So I've always figured I had no options - too many risks. Since I don't produce enough oxytocin to push the baby out, I also don't produce enough to properly contract my uterus back down (except while nursing). So I have to be on the pit for hours after labor as well, or I bleed to death.

I've recently learned WHY this happens though - I am low on DHEA. Production of that hormone is supposed to rise at the end of pregnancy, and if it does not, the birth and labor hormones won't work right. So there is a chance I may be able to do this one without the pit, by supplementing with DHEA toward the end of the pregnancy. HOPING, anyway, pitocin is nasty stuff, and I'd rather not have to have it again.

I hoped to use a midwife, but we may be moving again right before the baby is born, so not sure I'll be able to coordinate the things I need, since I'm not sure WHERE exactly we'll be moving. Just got to Texas, not thrilled with having to find a new OB.

I do know that I want to stop them from giving the baby any formula after birth, and that I want to be sure that certain things go differently than previous labors. I've become much more vocal and insistent with hospital personnel in the last few years. A legacy from my last baby.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

When I made my decision to have a home birth, I had to know what sort of complications could happen and what could be done by the midwife, should such a complication arise. Of course, there is always the chance something could come up that the midwife couldn't handle, so I was glad we were within a 20 minute drive to the hospital.

As it turned out, I ended up making the trip to the hospital twice and the second time I stayed until the baby was removed by c-section. He wasn't going to make it out naturally.

The things I was most worried about with the hospital became non-issues. I didn't want my baby whisked away and given treatments without my permission. The staff was very good about respecting my wishes and letting me keep the baby with me and they only forced the eye ointment issue . . . which I'm still a little ticked about, but in the big picture my hospital experience was wonderful.

In the end, you have to make the decision based upon where you will feel the most comfortable, because that will apparently help your labor progress faster.

ETA: I really could not have gone with standard OB/GYN prenatal care. I started that way, but found the experience unpleasant. If I did it all over I would still want to have my prenatal care with a midwife. It made for a much more relaxed experience.

 

[Our7Wonders]

I have given birth 7 times. The first 4 were hospital births, two of which were induced (in hind sight both inductions were un-necessary) one of which I gave birth to by myself despite being in the hospital (they didn't believe me when I said I was getting close - long, long story and the one that motivated me toward homebirths) and the last three babies were born at home with a midwife. Absolutely wonderful experience each time! I got to know my midwife very well, she's been catching babies for 30+ years and I have every confidence in her. I trusted her to know if there was a problem - and if so, I know she wouldn't hesitate to call for a hospital transport.

My only regret was that I didn't have homebirths with the first four.

Don't get me wrong - I love that we have a medical system out there for when there's a need but with a routine healthy pregnancy, there's rarely a need for intervention.

 

[mom2bbjandag]

I did a paper a few weeks ago for my psychology class (Growth and Development), and it was about birthing choices. Nothing in it that each of you won't already know, but I did quite a bit of research for such a short paper, so if you'd like a copy, send me a message... not that the paper itself will give you great insight, but the references might - several web pages, articles, and links.

Paula