What is the Homebirth Climate in Hawaii

[fairyandgnome]

Hi mamas. I am looking at a few states, trying to decide where we will move in the next year or so. I am a Midwife apprentice and will be taking my test for CPM within the next year. I will be attending only homebirths and I would like to get a picture for what the climate is there. Are there many CPMs? Is there a need on the big island for a Midwife?

We are looking at the Keaau Area as there is a Waldorf school there that we are thinking about.

Any help/ advice you have to offer would be great. Thanks

[roadfamily6now]

I will bump this for you. I am curious as well.
Good Luck with your move!

Just as a side note, Alaska has a Great Homebirth Climate and a good waldorf school :)

[fairyandgnome]

Thanks! LOL. Yes, I am sure Alaska is lovely.. I do want to visit, but I am a warm weather kind of girl (From GA) and I barely survived Colorado for the 2.5 years I lived there! :)

I am a little sad about the lack of response though. Wondering if there just isnt a good homebirth community there, if its really quiet OR are there just not many HI people on this forum?

[roadfamily6now]

From what I understand the hawaiians are on "hawaii time" which is S L O W!
No offense to any Hawaiian mommas that read this, I'd never get on my computer if I lived in Hawaii! I already told DH that we could live without internet if I could move there!

I just watched a movie tonight (Guerrilla Midwife) that had a blurb in there about Hawaii and it is either illegal or no license available to midwives in Hawaii. So I'm off to do some research on that. I really would love to move there someday but if that is the case, it will be difficult to become a midwife under those circumstances.  :(

[fairyandgnome]

Here, I will make your search easy for you. :) http://mana.org/statechart.html 

The laws there are the same as they are here, basically.. its legal.. but they havent allowed the funding for us to get licensed by the state yet. In other words (In most cases).. its really not a huge deal. Here, they leave you alone as long as you are "keeping your nose clean" so to speak. The law doesnt seek MWs out, but if you have a record of transporting bad cases too late or too often.. then the nurses and OBs are going to report you.

[FiveLittleMonkeys]

We lived in Hawaii for 5 years, and most of the midwives I knew there that did homebirths were actually Naturopaths. There were a few spiritual midwives as well.

Hawaii doesn't really have any rules regarding midwifery, it seems.  There were no CPMs, though - at least on Oahu where I lived.  That was what I looked for first, as that was what I had experience with with my prior homebirth.  We ended up using a Naturopath that we loved, until I had some major complications and ended up in the hospital.

As for a need for midwives - YES, there is a need for midwives.  It will be getting the physician backup (if you want it) that will be difficult and many areas are far from hospitals in case a need for transport arises.

I really, really miss Hawaii - best wishes to you!!

[mama_y_sol]

nm

Edited by mama_y_sol - 5/25/11 at 3:58pm

[Hillary77]

Aloha Fairy,

I live in Hilo and am seeing the most renowned local homebirth midwife,who also is an ND. There are other homebirth midwives on-Island but I've heard mixed reviews. There is a birth center many people like in Waimea, about 1 1/2 hrs. away from Hilo.

My read on the climate is - the homebirth midwives on the BIg Island operate very independently. Whereas, when I lived in Maine and had a homebirth with my DD, I knew my midwife had a decent relationship with the local hospital if I needed to transfer, in Hilo the word on the street is DO NOT go to the hospital. So, If I chose homebirth and needed to transfer, that would mean a 1 1/2 hr. drive to Waimea. Some people go to Waimea for prenatal care and birth at home with a hb midwife. Insurance covers nada as far as a hb is concerned....no labs, ultrasound, etc.

It is more of a bubble here, with not much influx of new knowledge and growth...the energy is a bit stagnant and also lends itself to less "competition" between practices, and therefore (IMHO), less power of choice as far as the clients are concerned. Let me know if any of this isn't making sense to you :)

Feel free to write with more questions! General moving to the Big Island questions too, as it's a big leap!

Be well, Hillary

[cat13]

Hello,

I am also in the Hilo area (just moved from Keaau to Hilo last week) and am seeing a CPM/ND for my homebirth (Hillary77, it might be the same one!). When I first decided to TTC, I started looking into midwives around here and was very discouraged. As PP mentioned, all the homebirth midwives here work independently and are very much frowned upon by the medical community (except for the Waimea Women's Clinic).  I know of women who have been dropped by their OBs when the OB finds out they are planning on a homebirth, so I am keeping my homebirth a secret from my OB.  And if I have to transfer during my birth, my midwife has told me that none of the docs will welcome her in the hospital.  

But that being said, I LOVE my midwife and feel she is very knowledgeable and experienced! There are a few other CPMs on the Big Island that I know of, some who work in tandem with doulas, and a few DEMs as well.  If you are looking to work in a birth center environment, I don't know how much work is available to you, but if you are interested in working privately for homebirths, I imagine that you could get a lot of work, because the HB MWs here book up pretty quickly.

If you want to PM me, I can send you some names of MWs that I know of for you to connect with.

Good luck on your moving decision!

[Hillary77]

Hey Cat13!

Nice to hear from a fellow Hilo Mama!

I have a question for you - I've been having issues with this pregnancy (it's quite early - 6 weeks) spotting, etc. I'm needing to see someone for an ultrasound and don't want to drive all the way to Waimea but I'm not familiar with any OB's in town - who do you see? PM me if you like.

Hope you settle into Hilo nicely :)

Hillary

[cat13]

Originally Posted by Hillary77 

Hey Cat13!

Nice to hear from a fellow Hilo Mama!

I have a question for you - I've been having issues with this pregnancy (it's quite early - 6 weeks) spotting, etc. I'm needing to see someone for an ultrasound and don't want to drive all the way to Waimea but I'm not familiar with any OB's in town - who do you see? PM me if you like.

Hope you settle into Hilo nicely :)

Hillary

Hi Hillary, I'm sorry you have been having some issues... I know how incredibly stressful that can be! Unfortunately I have Kaiser insurance so I only have 1 OB to choose from (Dr. Voit) and I really don't like him at all. Sorry I don't have any recommendations for you! I know driving up to Waimea is kind of a bummer, but everyone I  know who had gone to their clinic absolutely LOVES it, so it might be worthwhile if you can swing it. (and then you can always stop at Tex and get a malasada on the way home!)

You can also contact my doula who has worked with most of the OBs in town. She also does Early Pregnancy classes, Lamaze and Pre Natal Yoga, and she is an amazing woman! She might be able to connect you with someone. 

Sending you happy, sticky baby vibes! 

-Tina-

[amberskyfire]

Sorry I'm late. I live in Kea'au right down the street (walking distance) from that Waldorf school. :)

The home birth movement here is huge. I know several home-birthing mamas and had a UC myself with a midwife-assisted pregnancy. I plan on having another one in the next couple of years. For those who want a natural birth, but not at home, we have a really fantastic birthing center, but it is about 3 hours away - too far for me to labor in the car! LOL! Don't even get me started on Hilo hospital. It surely must be one of the worst hospitals in the country to give birth at. The staff are highly abusive and we only have about 4 or 5 OBs on our island, so you don't get your pick. You get what they give you and shut up about it. :(

As someone said, the OBs here are all rabidly against home birth. My OB even made me sign (illegal) documents saying that I absolutely would not have a home birth or seek a second opinion from ANYONE while under his care. He also did some other things that were illegal. Nice to know our doctors only care about covering their own butts. You can try getting prenatal care from an OB and lie and pretend that you don't know a thing about home birth, but if they even remotely suspect you might be of the "hippie" variety, they are going to fight you at the get-go. I have super long hair past my butt, so that must have been what tipped my doctor off to my possible home-birthin' status. Dunno.

Just be prepared for a fight if you have to go to hospital, but if not, it's easy to get a birth certificate, etc. and we have a pediatrician in Waimea who is pro-home birth and works with the local midwives. He didn't even bat an eye when I told him we were going to delay vaxxing. He's my hero.

Oh, and Sasha (the aforementioned Doula) is a friend of mine! :)

[StacieM]

I just had a friend that had a homebirth with midwives attending this year.  She was actually going to go to waimea but was turned away due to lack of rooms.  Most moms I know that moved from Oahu to the Big Island said it's a little scary to deliver up there even in the hospital especially if they've already delivered at Kapiolani on Oahu which has a NICU on site.  Many women are flown via medivac to Oahu to Kapiolani if complications arise prior to delivery.  One of my friends experienced this.  Her husband had to find a flight to Oahu while his wife went in the medivac.

I would imagine that transfer in case of complications would be more tricky than in other parts of the US when many cases from that island are being transferred to Oahu for emergencies. 

[amberskyfire]

Yes, Hilo Medical can't handle serious problems of any kind. Everyone with a serious situation has to be medivac'd. A friend of mine with severe hyperemesis had to be medivac'd and another friend's daughter who had appendicitis. It's a pretty crummy hospital. The best they can do is stabilize you and then put you on a plane. (They don't even have their own plane or helicopter - they put you on a regular scheduled commercial flight.)

I have had lots of problems at the hospital, mostly with doctors being so overworked and swamped that they tend to dismiss you. I went in a few weeks ago because I couldn't breathe, was passing out, and my heart would stop and start. The doctor insisted I was just having a panic attack and told me from now on just to breathe into a paper bag and sent me home. I was so mad. As it turns out, I was having a severe anaphylactic response to cherries (never knew I was allergic to them and the allergy developed over time) and could have died.

Yeah, do not put much faith in Hilo hospital. I'm so worried about transfer complications because there's little they can do to help anyway.
 

Originally Posted by StacieM 

I just had a friend that had a homebirth with midwives attending this year.  She was actually going to go to waimea but was turned away due to lack of rooms.  Most moms I know that moved from Oahu to the Big Island said it's a little scary to deliver up there even in the hospital especially if they've already delivered at Kapiolani on Oahu which has a NICU on site.  Many women are flown via medivac to Oahu to Kapiolani if complications arise prior to delivery.  One of my friends experienced this.  Her husband had to find a flight to Oahu while his wife went in the medivac.

I would imagine that transfer in case of complications would be more tricky than in other parts of the US when many cases from that island are being transferred to Oahu for emergencies. 

[lindsaygray]

We're about to move to Oahu from the NYC area, where a year ago I had an amazing homebirth experience.  We're planning on having another baby in about 2 years, while living on island, and wouldn't think of birthing our baby any other way than at home.  We're spoiled here in NYC where one has the pick of an insane number of homebirth midwives.  Because of this, I've been disheartened by the lack of homebirth resources in Hawaii.  I had also read in this forum about how most homebirths are assisted by naturopaths.  I'm curious to find out more about this aspect of island homebirthing.

At least, however, it's not outright illegal as it is in Illinois, where my husband also interviewed for a job.

[cat13]

You'll have a lot more options living on Oahu, rather than any of the other islands. Here are some links you can look through, if you are interested. Congrats on your impending move!

[lindsaygray]

Originally Posted by cat13 

You'll have a lot more options living on Oahu, rather than any of the other islands. Here are some links you can look through, if you are interested. Congrats on your impending move!

Fantastic!  Thank you!  I'm super excited about becoming involved in the natural childbirth/natural parenting community on Oahu.

[puahmiracle7]

Do you have any references or webites of midwives in the area? I am looking to study to become  CPM and need to find a midwife to learn under!

[cat13]

It depends on which island you are on. If you are on Oahu, check out the links in Post #16 above.

[beautifulnm]

Semi-off topic I know but since it was brought up... how's the Waldorf school? We're contemplating a move to Big Island in the next year or so.