Quick labourer homebirthers

[JorgieGirl]

How much do you prepare for an accidental UC? I do love my midwives and want their care. I wouldn't intentionally UC, though I do support the cause for any woman who does feel up to it.

My first labour was very fast for a first time (4 hrs) and this time I live an extra 45min away from my midwives as we moved over the summer. I'm not worried about delivering the baby alone, since I know that they'll eventually get here. But how much do I need to know, to prepare, for unassissted in this instance?

How do you plan?

[turnquia]

With my 2nd we had thought about the idea of accidental UC however my midwife agreed at any sign of labor she'd be on her way. There would be no waiting to see if I was in labor etc.

My first was 3.5 hours. HAha my 2nd was 9 hours. Double nuchal hands So while we all thought it would be super fast my MW showed up and ended up sleeping for a while as I went about my buisness in early labor solo.

[chrissy]

My labors are very fast, and get faster each time. This last one wasn't much more than an hour from when I realized I was really in labor and when she was born! This time and last time, only my midwife's assistants were there for the births.

I didn't really do anything to prepare actually. I mean, I read a lot about birth b/c it is interesting to me, so I guess I did know a good bit. I knew what signs meant something could be wrong (lots of blood, prolapsed cord...). Usually though, there is nothing wrong in a fast labor.

My biggest worry was after the birth, b/c I did have a hemmhorage after my 2nd baby's birth. My plan was always to nurse as soon as possible, and as much as possible after the birth. The midwives always made it in time to help. I know there are herbs you can take as well as eating a bit of placenta. I never did the placenta thing, but I did take herbs both times, and ended up needing meds this last time too. If I had felt like I was bleeding too much and the midwife wasn't there, or about to be there, I'd have called 911.

[RedPony]

Our third baby was an unplanned unattended birth. My husband sat on the end of our bed ans skimmed the midwife's sheet entitled, "What to do if the baby arrives before the midwife", about half an hour before I gave birth. It worked out fantastically for us. The mw was 45 minutes late. As for prep, we'd had two nat'l births before this, one at home, and one in the hosp w/ DH as my only labor support. i felt extremely confident w/ him there (not to mention blessed and greatful!).

My first labor (attended) was 7 1/2 hours. The third was under three. Our midwife is an hour and 15 minutes away... I guess I just assumed it could happen - and it did!

[wbg]

My labours were 8hrs, then 4 hours, then 2hrs, then back up to about 3 hours.

I just prepared for the possibility, by researching early warning signs and how to handle minor issues. We looked at natural remedies for any things that might crop up such as SD, like changing positions etc, and taking a bite of placenta for bleeding etc. DH and I talked through situations and I read lots of Ina May and other wise women's books!

At the end of the day, I feel that we would have just got in the car and headed for the hospital or called 911 if things seemed horribly wrong.

My MW knew my history so when I first thought this "might" be it, she just headed on over to avoid the possibility.

[broodymama]

My last two labors were just over 2 hours. And that was from "hmmm, maybe was that possibly a contraction?", by the time I was sure I was in labor it was only about an hour. I don't do much to prepare for UC. I know I can catch the baby, I know I would reach down to check for a cord around the neck to see if it needed to be unlooped. My body is good about telling me what position I need to be in (last time I knew I needed to flip over to hands and knees). I have cord clamps if for some reason I needed them, though I wait until the cord is stopped pulsing and the placenta has been birthed. I have some shepherd's purse on hand in case I need it. With DD1 my midwife got there 15 minutes before she was born, then 20 minutes before DD2 was born.

[mamalink4]

5th baby, but 1st homebirth. I read a ton of information and my midwife discussed it with me on two separate ocassions before the birth. I also went over the major pointers with my DH a couple times and then just sat back and waited. Needless to say water broke at 11:04 and he was born at 12:26, so it was by far my quickest delivery. Make sure you are expecting a mess, and then if it's not you'll be surprised.

[LittleBlackBug]

Our midwife gave us a sheet with what to do if baby comes before the midwives arrive. We both read it over at 36 weeks and kept it on the fridge. Thankfully we had both read it because baby arrived after 1.5 hours of labor. The umbilical cord broke as baby came out which I knew wasn't ideal. We did our best to keep baby warm until the midwives arrived minutes later. I would just be sure to have all of your birthing stuff ready, which we didn't because we thought things would go much slower.

[jenfl]

Another 4-hour first labor here, pregnant with #2. We actually switched from a midwife an hour away to one 5 minutes away partially for this reason.

You might want to get this:
http://www.1cascade.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=3288

I love that it's laminated!

[mcgee]

Our midwife was a good 45 minutes or so away from us. We called as soon as my water broke, and DS was born just under 3 hours later. It was much faster than we thought it would be.

The midwife had given us a form on what to do if the baby arrived before she did, and she went over it with both of us. I had it tacked to the bulletin board where DH could easily find it, and I showed it to my mother as well, when she arrived several days before I went into labor. Our midwife also has an apprentice who happens to live much closer to us, so as soon as we called the midwife, she called her apprentice and asked her to come right over. So we weren't alone for very long.

I think we could have handled the birth itself if we had to, but DS needed immediate care because he was in shock, and we were NOT in any way equipped to do that. If we have another baby, I will most definitely be taking a course in infant CPR. And when I say that we could have handled the birth itself, I mean that we would have made do out of necessity, but it would have majorly sucked. It was my first homebirth, and I really did need the emotional support from our birth team.

[Ilaria]

My last baby was my first homebirth and unplanned UC. My MW had told us to keep baby warm in case that happened. That's just what we did. They are arrived 15 min later.

[MsBlack]

I know a lot of UC families who really benefitted from the little book Emergency Childbirth. As I understand it, this may be available online.

[Vespertina]

We prepared for a UC as a 'just in case' measure with DS1 because my labor with my second was 47 minutes. My midwife lived an hour from us.

My midwife this time lives only 30 minutes away. I don't think she'll miss it, though. I will be preparing for a UC much like we did last time.