I know a mama who is 42 weeks plus 2 days. No signs of labor happening. She has tried all the natural methods to induce including castor oil and EPO with no effect. She has her heart set on a homebirth but I don't know how much longer she will be able to wait this out. To be honest I am a little worried for a couple of reasons:
1. I am all for homebirth and have considered it myself, but after this point, I am not sure how much longer she can be under her midwife's care and I know she doesn't want to go unassissted (this is her first baby).
2. Her midwife honestly concerns me. This mama is GBS+ and she doesn't seem concerned. I know that the risk of passing onto baby is very small and antibiotics aren't always necessary but I would at least want a hibeclens or something done to minimize the risk.
3. The midwife has made a number of very unprofessional comments. She basically told this mama's mother to her face that it was her fault that my friend wasn't in labor yet. Completely untrue, my friend WANTS her mom there. I can understand how some women don't / can't go into labor with lots of visitors and interruptions, but I also have met mothers who NEED their own mothers there too.
4. The midwife has made my friend terrified of hospitals. I know not everyone wants a hospital birth and some hospitals are truly awful. However our local hospital is wonderful, natural minded and supportive of the natural birth process. She was so surprised that I was able to do my labor naturally, walk around, use a birthball, wear my own clothes, do skin to skin, have DH cut the cord, ect. She was convinced that she was going to be strapped down and c-sectioned if she set foot in the hospital. I just think that it was really unprofessional (and NOT helpful) to give her so much misinformation about the hospital to the point of making her afraid to go near it even in the event she really had too.
Anyway, I really feel for her. I also want her to have her homebirth but I think she really needs to be open to other options at this point. Any advice for her? How much longer do you think she can safely wait? She has not had any kind of ultrasounds done so I don't know much else as far as fluid levels or anything like that.
1. I am all for homebirth and have considered it myself, but after this point, I am not sure how much longer she can be under her midwife's care and I know she doesn't want to go unassissted (this is her first baby).
2. Her midwife honestly concerns me. This mama is GBS+ and she doesn't seem concerned. I know that the risk of passing onto baby is very small and antibiotics aren't always necessary but I would at least want a hibeclens or something done to minimize the risk.
3. The midwife has made a number of very unprofessional comments. She basically told this mama's mother to her face that it was her fault that my friend wasn't in labor yet. Completely untrue, my friend WANTS her mom there. I can understand how some women don't / can't go into labor with lots of visitors and interruptions, but I also have met mothers who NEED their own mothers there too.
4. The midwife has made my friend terrified of hospitals. I know not everyone wants a hospital birth and some hospitals are truly awful. However our local hospital is wonderful, natural minded and supportive of the natural birth process. She was so surprised that I was able to do my labor naturally, walk around, use a birthball, wear my own clothes, do skin to skin, have DH cut the cord, ect. She was convinced that she was going to be strapped down and c-sectioned if she set foot in the hospital. I just think that it was really unprofessional (and NOT helpful) to give her so much misinformation about the hospital to the point of making her afraid to go near it even in the event she really had too.
Anyway, I really feel for her. I also want her to have her homebirth but I think she really needs to be open to other options at this point. Any advice for her? How much longer do you think she can safely wait? She has not had any kind of ultrasounds done so I don't know much else as far as fluid levels or anything like that.
