UCing if midwife doesn't arrive in time?

[morganlefay]

I'm planning a homebirth with a midwife, but I'm trying to envision all possible scenarios since I attempted a homebirth with #1 and ended up transferring to the hopsital at 9 cm because the midwife wasn't there to assess the situation (long story).  I have a new midwife this time and have full confidence in her, but she lives an hour away and has another client with a due date close to mine.  So, I'm wondering if for some reason the birth goes quickly and she's not there yet, should I go ahead and just prepare myself for a possible UC?  I will certainly go to the hospital if something seems wrong, but I'd like to avoid that if possible.  Has anyone planned a homebirth with a midwife and had an accidental UC?  How did it go?

[amaayeh]

This is also what I am thinking I will do so i'm curious of the responses...

[Mamatoabunch]

I had my third at home w/ a midwife present, fourth arrived before the midwives arrived. The thought of going into the hospital or calling 911 never entered our minds. They arrived about an hour after birth. It was easy, dh caught, baby's cord was looped around her neck, dh instinctly knew just what to do.

[Funny Face]

Usually if things are progressing quickly there isn't time to transfer to a hospital or even consider it. 

And if labor was going well, I felt good but we were moving fast there is no way I'd go to the hospital if midwife didn't show. I just don't see the benefit in that.

[possum]

I just did this a couple of weeks ago.  I was totally prepared 3.5 years ago for a birth before the MWs arrived . . . ended up with days of prodromal labor and the MWs made it with plenty of time to spare once "real" labor kicked in. 

This time, I was prepared for the marathon again, but this baby came quickly.  My husband arrived home about an hour before he caught our precious son, and the midwives arrived about 20 minutes afterwards.  I kept insisting my husband get the birth pool set up until I actually felt the baby crowning :o). 

It was wonderful, and I couldn't have planned to time it better.  Baby had the cord 1x around his neck, and daddy slipped him through it.  My body took over, and I only did 1 voluntary push to get his body out after his head was born.  I love that he was born in the dark in our bathroom into Daddy's loving hands and that we got a bit of private time.  I am also glad we had MWs on the way to help with delivering the placenta, cleaning up!, and doing a NB exam as well as PP checks and encapsulating my placenta. 

I think it's reasonable to do a bit of preparation for a quick birth, but I wouldn't worry over it at all.  Your body will know what to do.

M

[laangel]

This happened to us 5 months ago too. We planned to have a midwife, but the labour was so quick (1 hr 10 mins from first contraction to placenta delivered) that our midwife didn't make it. To be honest it was brilliant, I didn't feel very scared or nervous all I kept saying to myself and dp was that my body knows what it is doing and just to listen to my body and my instincts and it was fine. Dp was brilliant, he just talked me through everything telling me what he was seeing and then he caught our darling little boy and passed him through to me. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link to my birth story on my blog but pm me if you'd like to read it) Anway,The midwife arrived about 20 mins later and had a cup of tea and then checked us out.

I think we were so calm and reassured because we knew that she was on her way and that we didn't need to get up and go anywhere.

I suppose my advice would be, relax and enjoy it as much as possible. You can do it!

Have a great birth Laura x

[Skrimpy]

I also had a "midwife didn't make it" birth.  Ironically my midwife lives about 10 minutes away, had come, and gone home again :)  With my first three babes my midwife lived 2 hours away and didn't miss any of them ;)

Anyways, I can honestly say that my UC was the most fantastic birth I've had.  I was a little doubtful at first b/c midwife had come, checked me at 3cm, decided I had "awhile" to go, and left.  So I was doubting what my body was saying (baby was coming... NOW!)... but my hubby was awesome and totally supportive, and told me to listen to my own body.  I had an undeniable urge to get into the tub and 3 contractions later had a baby.  Going to the hospital or calling 911 never entered my mind (though DH did call the midwife after my water broke on the second contraction in the tub).  

But it was an amazing and wonderful experience for us.  We are pg again now and I can honestly say I wouldn't be disappointed to have another UC happen :)

Here's my birth story if you'd like to read it: Galen's Unassisted Birth

[dayiscoming2006]

If I had a midwife, I'd actually possibly attempt to purposely have an UC (call during transition) and say baby came quicker than we expected. 

If insurance covered a homebirth midwife, I'd have one, but since it doesn't, oh well. I feel best at home and I hate hospitals. 

Anyway, prepare for an UC just in case. It's a great idea. It's nice to be well prepared so you can feel comfortable.

[morganlefay]

Thank you for the responses--you all have made me feel more confident about the situation.  Skrimpy, I enjoyed your birth story.  I had a midwife appointment the other day and she said that she actually gives a lesson on what to do if she doesn't arrive in time (it hasn't been an issue with her but she has had several births where she just barely made it) at the home visit at 36 weeks. I don't think I'm ready emotionally for a planned UC, but who knows--after this birth I may be empowered to pursue it if I have another baby (especially since we are paying totally out of pocket for this birth!).

[Skrimpy]

We didn't want to plan a UC either, but I have strong leanings towards it (as you can tell by the fact I lurk around the UC forum, lol).  I really enjoy the pampering and prenatal appts. that come with my miwife, though.

With Galen we had a new midwife because I was in a different state.  I love her so much and she's wonderful, but changing from my first 3 babies' midwife was very hard for me as we were really close.  Because of this I felt a bit conflicted about the birth and couldn't really decide how I wanted my mw to "fit" in... so when I spent time visualizing my birth every day it was just DH and I.  I think this had an influence on what ultimately happened for us :)  I also think that because I had spent so much time imagining just DH and I (though I guess I figured my mw was somewhere out of my line of vision) I was prepared and it went beautifully for us.