Is Bloomington Hospital (Indiana) Natural Birth Friendly?

[Mamma4Peace]

I may not be able to come up with the funds for a home birth, so it looks like I may be birthing at Bloomington Hospital. I had two previous children there, both induced, with a pitocin drip, ruptured membranes and an epidural. I DO NOT want to go through this again. I did my research on natural birth and plan on going that route.

My question is, has anyone had a natural birth at Bloomington Hospital? Did you have any pressure or problems there? I am in the process of interviewing a doula, so she can have my back. My biggest fear is arguing with the nurses about no IV's, monitoring, ruptured membranes or VE's. I am also nervous about being told by my doctor that I HAVE to deliver with my feet in the stirrups. I would love to hear anyone's opinions or advice

[MamaDeTeya]

Hello!
I have not birthed personally at Bloomington hospital, but I have attended a handful of births there. Your particular doctor might have a lot to do with what your experience is like there. Who did you have for the first two kiddos? If you weren't happy with the induction, IVs, pit, epi, etc - you might consider changing your care provider.

Maybe some people could chime in here about their care and Bloomington Hospital?

One woman I know who did have a natural birth at BH said she really had to fight to get the nurses to listen to her about NOT wanting pain meds. My experience there has mostly been non-emergency homebirth transports for women who need/want the tools the hospital can provide, and the nurses have been really great. In my experience the nurses have generally been really wonderful no matter what the situation, they are kind and helpful and understanding of your personal desires. This of course is a generalization and may not be true for all of them.

A lot of people say that if you have a hospital birth, you get the hospital experience - meaning you are setting yourself up for getting all of those things that you don't want. I don't necessarily think that this is true, but if you want a natural birth in a hospital you will need to assert yourself and your beliefs. You should thoroughly educate yourself, read everything you can. BABS has a great childbirth education class that you could consider taking. A doula would be great! BABS can hook you up with that, too. (I also have a lot of experience as a doula if you're interested! )

also to pitch homebirth for a minute - lots of midwives have flexible payment plans!!

[circuitsndaisies]

Chiming in late here. . .

My first question is who is your doc? If you aren't comfortable with your doc, find a new one. Dr. John Labban is awesome. I saw him for the first half of my third pregnancy, before moving away. He was gung-ho about my VBAC.

My only experience at BH was my planned c/s back in 02 with a doc who is no longer doing OB.

Talk to your doctor about your concerns. If you can't get him/her on board, then you probably won't be happy with your experience and you might consider find a new provider if at all possible. With my last birth I was adamant about not having my feet in stirrups, no meds, etc. I managed that in a hospital with a really high intervention rate in Iowa, because my doctor was great.

Good luck!

[veggiesyum]

I know this is an older thread, but I came across it today while searching for veg friendly health care providers for my daughter. Ha, weird. Maybe what I have to say will help someone else who comes across this thread. Anyways, I gave birth to my daughter at Bloomington Hospital in June 2009. I had no IVs, no ruptured anythings, no pain killers, etc. The nurses never pushed me or even asked me if I wanted pain medication. I did sign a paper when I first got there though in case I changed my mind and decided that I wanted the epidural. I had a very quick labor (less than 3 hours), so maybe that had something to do with it? I just feel like the nurses I had were supportive and did not push me to do anything. My doctor did have me in stirrups, but honestly that was perfectly fine with me as I only had to push twice. The only intervention I had was when they broke my water for me, literally 30 seconds before my daughter came out. Oh, and they did have me hooked up to the monitor briefly when I first got there, but it was taken off soon after. For me, it was a fine experience. No complaints.

[bluets]

bumping.

It is as friendly as you want it to be.  It helps very much if you have labor doula support and delay going in as long as possible.  Also, you don't need to sign consent forms if you don't want a procedure.  I believe strongly in informed consent, so always ask questions before you consent.

[jdg]

I ended up going to Bloomington Hospital after pre-eclampsia put an end to my homebirth plans. I have a mixed review.

The good: I told my nurse up front that I was a planned homebirth and wanted no intervention that was not medically necessary. I stated up front that I was aware of all pain med options, did not want any, and would ask if I changed my mind; the nurses never again brought up the subject. I was required to have my blood pressure constantly monitored due to the pre-e and when the numbers would go up, the nurses would give me tips about positioning to help reduce my blood pressure; never did they suggest any medical intervention. The doctor had given an order for pitocin to begin at a certain time, but when I asked for them to call the doctor in the middle of the night to question whether the pitocin could be delayed, they did call and get permission to delay pit and give another dose of Cytotec. The nurse who did most of my care stayed late from her shift because I was near birthing and she wanted to stick it out. After being told to stick to "light food and clear liquids" the nurse still didn't say anything bad about my husband bringing me curry from the Indian restaurant.

The bad: It's a hospital - no comforts of home, no real privacy, machines, etc. My doctor insisted that my water needed broken even though I was doing ok and would have preferred to wait (to be fair, this DID speed up my labor hugely and baby girl was born three hours later). There was unnecessary worry when baby girl didn't move around for several hours even though I told everyone she took really long naps in there. While the delivery nurses were great and willing to do the smallest amount of intervention necessary, the postpartum nurses just didn't get it. They kept stalling when we said we meant to leave ASAP. We were about to walk out AMA when the doctor showed up and cleared me. Postpartum nurses insisted that various tests were "mandatory" that I knew were not and I had to argue with them.

If I were to have another child, I would certainly plan a homebirth. I think the hospital is reasonably willing to do "no meds" and very little monitoring, that's not all I think of when I think of a "natural" birth. I think of it more as being able to be in a fairly natural environment, being free to make all the choices, and just having the entire situation treated as though it is a normal part of life. I don't think any hospital is likely to achieve that.

[Persephone]

I was also induced there for pre-e. And my experience was very much like Jackie's. They knew where I was coming from (I also had Dr Labban, and I think the nurses had seen "my type" before.) Altbough, the nurse that managed my third stage was kind of ignorant of the reasons why not to do cord traction, and let my placenta sit in my body after it had detached, and CAUSED a hemmhorage, which was exactly what I was trying to prevent. However, my overall experience was good there. Not a homebirth, but a decent hospital experience. I went on to have a successful homebirth. :)