Wondering about the midwife and home birth option from other moms?
ByI’m choosing the holistic approach to pregnancy and labor and was wondering if any of you are going that route to or have done it in the past how it went and what it was like? Im 8 weeks and starting to meet with a few midwives any suggestions or questions I should think about?
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6 Comments
April 13th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
NO i haven’t done it but all future births i will. i absolutely HATED birthing in the hospital with doctors. I felt like they were treating my birth like an illness they had to make better. They were bossy and i felt like a prisoner.
i will also say that they pressurred me into a c-srction the whole time because i was “taking too long”. i refused and had him vaginally. to them i was “failing to progress”. but i wasn’t, i was progrssing on my own time
April 13th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
I wish I could, but we have no midwifes within 60 miles of where we live and insurance wont cover it. I hated my hospital birth with my son and all the hospitals in our area suck in my opinion. They don’t offer any form of water birth, squatting bar….NOTHING except old fashioned tradition labor and delivery on your back which i don;t get because its already been proven thats one of the worst ways to deliver. I would try a home birth but seeing as we cant find a midwife it would be risky and i’d never get over the guilt if something happened to my baby. I hope you are able to find a good midwife and have a good experience!
April 13th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
As a paramedic who has been called to the scene too many times for home births gone wrong, I think it’s safe to say that it’s irresponsible to have a home birth.
Please, think more about the safety of your child. I’ve seen too many babies die or end up with permanent brain damage because the parents refused to have a hospital birth.
At least go with a birthing center.
April 13th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
After two horrible hospital births, one of which started in a birthing center, but didn’t progress fast enough for their tastes, I am staying home this time. I refuse to subject myself to another “failure to wait” c-section!
I found great midwives that are supportive, know that I gestate longer (both of my other kids were forced out at 13 “past due”). I am 35 weeks and they have been awesome, are great with my other kids, and have a plan and protocols should something go wrong.
My major concerns were how patient they would be with my body taking it’s own time, avoiding medicalization of my pregnancy and birth, what tests and procedures they required and which were merely suggested and what they considered valid reasons to avoid homebirth or transfer.
I prefer midwives because they have spent 3 years of school dedicated to learning about NORMAL pregnancy and birth, not pathology and how to cut people open.
If I needed a doctor, I would go to one. But, I abhor the treatment of birthing mothers as patients.
April 13th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
I have a friend who does that. Your pregnancy has to be completely normal with no sign of trouble or no midwife will take you. Even then, your home must be near a hospital or they will make you go to a birthing center. The birthing centers are usually very nice and homey. I was not a candidate for either so I had to go to a hospital. My first experience was bad because the hospital was bad. The second experience was fine. I was able to find a doctor that was compatible with the way I wanted things done and didn’t try to pressure me into accepting more help that I wanted. There are medical practices now that do midwifery so you can have a doctor sort of oversee things and the midwife does the actual delivery. Also many hospitals are trying to compete with birthing centers now and aren’t so bad.
As far as choosing a midwife, you want to look for some one that is well connected. You want a person that can work with a hospital if they had to. You want some one that has dealt with some difficult births because if they have any amount of experience at all, it should have come up a few times. Most midwives either feel they are there to deliver a baby or there to teach and help you guys delivery your own baby. I prefer the second type but just ask about her philosophy to get the type you want.
Even though I wasn’t a candidate, I think I would have done fine with just a midwife and I wish I could have gone that way. Then again you never know. If something bad had happened I never would have forgiven myself. The point is you get a baby out of the deal right, however the kid gets here. Just keep your eyes on the prize.
April 13th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Adrian, you said: “As a paramedic who has been called to the scene too many times for home births gone wrong, I think it’s safe to say that it’s irresponsible to have a home birth.”
Research disagrees: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-09-03-midwife-home-birth_N.htm
Your point of view is based on your own anecdotal experiences, which are not a substitute for actual medical research. Studies of homebirths and hospital births show that homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital birth for low risk pregnancies when attended by a trained midwife.
You’re an emergency medical technician. You only visit those homebirths that have an emergency issue – that’s your job. You don’t see the millions of homebirths that go just fine, and you also don’t necessarily see the millions of babies and mothers that die in hospital births. Your experience doesn’t make a case against homebirths. It’s always going to be difficult for you to be completely objective about homebirth because of what you’ve seen. The truth, when you look at the research objectively, is that homebirth is safe for low risk women.
To answer the original question, I would meet with a few midwives in your area and ask them a lot of questions. I gave birth with a midwife in a freestanding birth center, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I loved it. I hope I’m able to give birth either at home or in a FSBC in the future as well. If I’m high risk, I won’t hesitate to have a hospital birth, but homebirth is definitely a good option for low risk women. The issue, in a lot of cases, is what exactly constitutes “high risk”. A good midwife will know it when it’s best to transfer to a hospital.
Here’s some great sites for you to look at as well:
The Unnecesarean: http://www.theunnecesarean.com/ and here: http://www.theunnecesarean.com/avoid-an-unnecesarean/
Pushed Birth: http://www.pushedbirth.com/ You can click on the links throughout the blog to find articles and more information. I would also recommend reading her book, “Pushed”: http://www.amazon.com/Pushed-Painful-Childbirth-Modern-Maternity/dp/0738211664/ref=ed_oe_p
Great blogs:
http://childbirthtoday.blogspot.com/
http://drmomma.blogspot.com/