Considering UC

[Niniel]

Hi everyone,

I live in the UK and I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child. My first was a hospital delivery (induced for pre-eclampsia at 38 weeks, had prostagladin pessarys, ARM, syntocinon IV, pethidine, entonox, epidual, electronic monitoring, scalp blood pH test on baby, episiotomy and finally ventouse delivery!) It was, as you can imagine, a horribly traumatic experience. I was determined to do things differently when I found out I was pg with my DS so last september I had a home birth. It was a great experience but still not the best it could be. I had a birthing pool but as neither of the midwives who were attending me that night were trained in water birth they made me get out to deliver and it looks like it's going to be the same story this time round.

I've been doing a lot of reading and research into hypnobirthing and UC and as it gets closer to my EDD the feeling that this is the right way for me to do things is getting stronger. There's just a couple of issues, firstly NO ONE around me thinks it's a good idea and my DH isn't behind it and secondly I really felt that I needed entonox when I was birthing my DS and I'm worried about how i'll cope not having access to it. The active stage of my labour with him was pretty short (about 3 hours) so I'm hoping for something similar or shorter this time but i know there's no guarentees.

I don't my DH is ever going to be onside about this so I was thinking I would just try and cope for as long as I could and just not ask him to call the midwife. Does this sound like a really dumb idea?

thanks in advance for your thoughts

[rlmueller]

Hypnobabies

"I'm not ready to call yet honey--I'll let you know" Is the route that I am going to go.

[TanyaR1024]

Ok so a google search tells me entonox is gas pain reliever! lol. We do not use that in the US. Did you have that in your homebirth too? I think it is important to remember that having the option there makes it a lot easier to take it. If there are no drugs there to take, then you will have no choice but to find other coping mechanisms (of which there are many, you should start looking into natural pain relief methods-hypnobirthing, visualizations, waterbirth...). Plus, you are less likely to feel pain if you feel safe and comfortable, which is bound to be more likely without a midwife there, no matter how hands off she is. This will be limited though if your husband is freaking out. If you want him to feel comfortable with UC, you have to first make sure you feel comfortable with it. You won't be able to ease his fears if you haven't eased them in yourself. And while I definately think you should educate and inform him as much as possible, ultimately, it is your body that has to deal with whatever outcome you get. If he wants to debate you about UCing, he needs to be willing to do all the research you have done, as fears and myths do not have the same value as research and fact.

[flapjack]

Hey, another Brit here.

You're going to continue being pregnant until you go into labour. When you do, if you want to call the midwife, do. If you don't, don't. Sometimes, it is that simple- and I think that with the NHS, there's a lot of good things to be said for "whoops, that was fast!"

eta: Despite the fact that entonox makes me sick as a dog and hallucinate, I'd have loved it during my UC. Twas hard going You'll find the solution that works for you. I would say, though, that if you decide to UC in water I would keep a very close eye on the pool temperature and your body temperature, just in case you decide to get a midwife out. I've heard of a few midwives recommending a cautious transfer because mum's temperature was a bit high, when it came down after a few hours out of the water.