Have you had a midwife-assisted birth after a planned UC?

[morgainesmama]

My first was born in the hospital, then my 2 boys were born at home, UC. I've hired midwives for this birth -- mostly because if I need support, I'd rather have midwives to give it to me than transfer to the hospital (we had some problems with my last baby's cord and almost ended up in the ER over the unspeakably minor issue of a cord clamp).

I love the midwives we've chosen. They have even offered that if we don't want them here when we have the baby, we can just call them and they can hang out "in the neighborhood" until/in case we want them (they are 90 min away and would like to be nearby in case we want them for the birth).

Yet I still have some concerns about how inviting these women into my house and pregnancy could change or direct the birth of this LO. OTOH, I feel empowered and strong from my two UCs, and confident I will be in control of the birth process (as much as one is ever in control of such a process, lol!).

Has anyone else had a midwife assisted birth after a perfectly lovely UC?

[clovergirl]

i haven't yet, but i have thought about it for if/when we have another baby. when i was PG with my last, i really wanted to have an unassited pregnancy and birth, but my husband was not very comfortable with the idea. so i saw the midwives i had used for my previous homebirth on a very relaxed prental schedule. i worked with my husband so that he could understand why i wanted to birth with just the two of us in attendence. it worked out that while we did call the midwives to let them know i was in labor, we did it later then we "should have" and they arrived about 20min after my son was born. it was a great compromise for us.

i got what i needed out of my UC. like you, i feel like i could now be confident and in control of the process even if there were midwives in attendence. i think for me though, it would be key to find midwives who were 110% on board with what i wanted. last time, i think i skirted around the issue of wanting to have a UC/be alone for the birth when talking to my midwives because i didn't want to lose them as my back-up. and honestly, that's what i thought of them as- my back-up. when i was planning my first homebirth my back-up was the ER. last time, it was the midwives.

all this to say, i think you should go with your gut. if you have found midwives who are willing to work with you knowing that you may not call them for the birth or even after the birth, then what's the harm? and as an added bonus, you would have some awesome women on-call to help clean up afterwards.

[Xiaohua]

I did. Well, almost. My baby #4 was a perfect UC, but dh was not comfortable doing that again so we hired a midwife for #5. I remember having concerns during the pregnancy that she'd be too "hands on" for me, but I thought I was fine with the decision.

I ended up with a long prodromal first stage that lasted three days. My midwife came out (at my request) several times over those three days to make sure we were doing OK, but each time I felt like I wasn't close and needed more privacy in order to get things "going". I ended up delivering alone, without the midwife or dh during the third night that I was in labor. I just never called her (or dh from the other room) and I honestly couldn't even tell you why. I was just so wrapped up in my labor, enjoying the solitude, and concentrating furiously on the job at hand. Obviously, I was subconsiously a lot less comfortable with the idea of the midwife attending than even I had realized during the pregnancy. The birth was perfect, and we did call the midwife shortly after. But the whole thing has left a big disconnect between dh and I, as he feels "cheated" out of the birth experience, not to mention that I "tricked" him into thinking I'd go along with the midwife thing and then changed my mind.

Anyway, since I didn't actually have a midwife attended birth after a UC I probably don't fit the response you are looking for. But I would say that NOW is a good time to examine your feelings about having a midwife. I wish I had really spent more time reflecting; it might have eliminated a lot of conflict in our marriage during the postpartum period.

Hope you have the perfect birth!

Serena

[smokeylo]

The blog Stand and Deliver (rixarixa.blogspot.com) details the author's first birth (planned UC) and second birth (midwife attended). She talks at length about the stuff you're discussing!