prenatal care

[welldone]

what type of prenatal care/birth assistance are you seeking out?

we have had one hospital birth, one homebirth, and one birth center birth. for this baby, we are tentatively planning another homebirth. i'm seeing a hospital-based midwife for the first trimester due to my miscarriage earlier this year, but if all goes well, i'll transfer to my homebirth midwife by the second trimester.

homebirth is tricky for me, as my labors are very fast. my last two were 1.5 hours and just over one hour long. my second daughter ended up as an unassisted homebirth, because the midwives couldn't arrive in time!

what about you?

[carmen358]

I'm definitely drawn to a homebirth but since it's my first, I'm also a bit scared as I have no idea what to expect. And I know DP is not keen on a homebirth because it scares her too. I think I will see GP through first trimester (also a history of m/c) then switch to midwife and plan on a midwife/hospital birth at this point.

[acordio]

I talked to the mw last night and set up my first appt. for June 5th. We are planning a homebirth and I am excited/nervous. My dh is super excited!!

[geo_girl]

I'll (hopefully!) be using the same MW as we had for our DS.

we loved her. She was just the right balance of science, emotion and logic for us :

My first meeting with her is on Thursday.

...and I'll be having a hospital birth again. It felt very private and safe, and it was nice to be able to spend some alone time with DS before returning home.

cheers,
charlene

[ratrodgrl]

this is my first birth in this area. I had a decent water birth with DS in another town (3 hours away) but about a year after I had him, I'd decided my next one would be at home if all went well. We moved down here a year ago and I went to a local midwife who turned out to the the m/w who had caught my hubby many years ago! It just seemed like fate. I loved the care I had with her through my m/c and I hope she'll be spending new year's day with us in 2010... break out the champagne! I'll be seeing her around 10 weeks to see if we can find the heartbeat that soon

[petit_bleuet]

I've been seeing an ob/gyn for abnormal paps the past couple years and he is such a lovely person, I just really like him. However, I'm a little nervous about an ob versus a m/w (I had a m/w with my son). I have my first appointment on the 18th and I want to talk to him about birthing philosophies. If he's fine without continuously monitoring me and letting me get up and do whatever I need to help birth my baby, then I'll definitely continue seeing him.

I plan on another hospital birth, philosophically I like the idea of a homebirth, but my DH wouldn't, I don't really want my DS around while I'm delivering (he'd never understand me howling like a trapped animal, for instance), and I had enough minor complications (3rd degree tears, DS swallowed meconium, cord had to be cut before the placenta was delivered) the first time that I just wouldn't want to face those kinds of possibilities at home.

[Keeta]

We've moved to a new state since DS was born, so I'm going to have to go on a midwife hunt. I had a midwife assisted birth center-in-a-hospital birth (natural, labor in tub, etc). It was a good compromise at the time, but this time I'm definitely interested in either a homebirth or a standalone birth center. I have to admit that I'm kind of leaning toward birth center just so I don't have to be the one to clean (before and after!) We'll see though.

[moondiapers]

I would love a homebirth but I'm highrisk and a MW won't touch me with a ten foot pole However, I'm very demanding and will get the birth I want in the hospital. My OB can't fire me, he's the only one here and that would get him in serious trouble So I'm going for an as natural as possible hospital birth.

[merrywearer]

I'm seeing midwives in the hospital. THey're wonderful! I'd love to have a homebirth, with the midwife I work with (as her assistant), but my first birth tramatized my husband so much, that he needs one more good birth, before I can have a homebirth.
If there's one thing I can tell the first timers - RESEARCH!!! Don't let people do things to you just because they're the "doctor, midwife" etc.

[Bubblette]

Originally Posted by merrywearer

snip
If there's one thing I can tell the first timers - RESEARCH!!! Don't let people do things to you just because they're the "doctor, midwife" etc.

Do you have any recommendations on how or where to research? this is a surprise baby and I am having trouble even starting to figure out HOW to get what I want...

[merrywearer]

http://www.motherfriendly.org/
http://www.motherfriendly.org/downloads.php check out Having a Baby? 10 Questions to Ask

If you get a bad vibe about your provider, DON'T stay with them. Alot of women have provider loyalty, and won't switch, even when the provider continues to do things that are against what the mother wants, or just plain out of date. The provider probably won't even know if you switch, and your birth experience is SOOO important, that you need to make sure to protect it and have the best one you can.
I HIGHLY recommend midwives. They are usually alot more woman care, hands off oriented. And even more highly recommend homebirth midwives

Some books to read are
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
and some others, I'll think of and post

[Bubblette]

Thank you so much Merrywearer!!

[fromMontreal]

Hi !
My caregiver will be a midwife, but I don't get to choose since I'm from Québec, Canada. Here midwifes are free (OBs and Dr too) but they have long waiting lists. I can't beleive I have a place already, this is too good to be true. But I'll meet her at 12 weeks. I'll be touring the birth center next week. I wish I'll have a homebirth, but 1) my man is not sure about it 2) we will move to our new place in june so I'll see from then how I feel about it, If not a homebirth I would go to the birth center: and really from pictures I've seen is a home, not just mine.

Bublette: It will be my first too so really I'm not an expert but may I suggest 2 books for you : Ina May Gaskin Guide to childbirth and Sara Buckley Gentle Birth Gentle Mothering. It thinks those two are a very good place to start from.

[themamamama]

I have no idea! We've moved since baby #1 and health care in my new location leaves much to be desired. I'm going to have to do some serious research. I'm kinda scared and I already miss my old group of midwives.

[Mimi37]

If all goes well, I'll be at a birth center that offers water birth. DC1 was born at a birth center and it was fantastic, but it has since closed. I'm excited that water birth is an option at this new place (the last place I went offered water labor, but I had to get out of the tub to deliver -- this time I want the option to stay in!)

I've never visited this new birth center, however, and they can't see me for my first appt/orientation until I'm 10.5 weeks. I've heard SUCH good things about it from so many people, so I'm expecting that I'll really like it. But it makes me nervous to not know until 10.5 weeks:
1) whether I like it, because just in case I hate it, it will be much harder to transfer at that point -- midwives and esp birth centers fill up so fast around here, and
2) whether there's a heartbeat and thus less m/c risk. For some reason, I am more worried this time that I'll m/c. Not worried, exactly, just not convinced it will all go well -- last time I was, and it did, but since then I've had so many friends go through m/c that my perspective has changed. At this early stage I don't feel like it would be too heartbreaking for me personally, but after 5.5 more weeks of getting used to the idea... well, I would just rather know sooner than later.

Anyway. Thoughts on the above are welcome -- have been stewing about those for a few days and it felt good to sort it out in writing! Thanks!

[marinak1977]

I'm meeting with an OB at the University clinic on tuesday, I liked her at my post-loss appointment, so I'll see what her mindset is. I'm quite demanding as well, so I'm hoping for a hospital birth that is family friendly. I'm going to explore all my options and see. I'm probably going to look for a good doula once I get a bit further along.

[Lizbiz]

No idea! I'm in China for this birth - and don't plan to come home to the US to deliver... so maybe a birth in Thailand, maybe here in China. Prenatal care - once again, no idea!

I had a homebirth with DS, so I'd love to do that again. Probably won't be possible here though.

[fascha]

I had a horrible midwife with my DS, who abandoned me at the hospital because of having to "transfer care" to an OB. If it wasn't for my wonderful Doula I think I would have run off to have the baby in the parking lot LOL (inhindsight I probably should have :P)

Anyways, this time around I'm dreaming of a homebirth in water, DH is a little hesitant, but I have some really good suggestions from another thread on MDC on how to approach him about this and I'm pretty confident that we are still going with a midwife. (obviously a different one)

As soon as I got my BFP (and it was eeearly) I called the midwives that I didn't get last time, so cross everything. Here in Ontario, we don't have to pay for midwifery care, so it'e HARD to get in with a particular midwife/midwives because the demand is so much higher than the amount of midwives available.

[nummies]

We are having a homebirth! I recently met with two midwives (they work as a team) in February and they are awesome! I can't wait to call them on Monday!

For now, I am still under my RE's (fertility doc) care. I will have an early ultrasound to rule out twins (I had two eggs) and to make sure that the baby or babies aren't in my tubes. Then I will be transferred to my midwives!

[Vespertina]

Homebirth/CPM. I met with my midwife and her assistant a few days after getting my BFP. My first appt. is June 1st.