What are the hospital positives? - Page 2

[wombatclay]

during birth:

--no other kiddos or people I need to think about (I don't "care" what the hospital staff think of me and I'll probably never see them again, and I don't "care" about the mess I might make in the birth suite)

--jacuzzi tub and unlimited hot water, also a/c (my home is a small cabin with a shower stall, a well, and a window a/c unit... not exactly luxury!)

unlimited supplies and staff (my births have ranged from ~4 hours to ~32 hours and it's nice to have "fresh people" around during a really long birth)

--no inhibitions (I know this is sort of the opposite of many women, but I actually find the "neutral" atmosphere of a hospital relaxing and I have no problems with semi-public nudity or with making a LOT of noise in such a setting.  At home I have expectations of what I should do/who I should be/how I should respond but in a hospital?  I can do whatever I want!)

after birth:

--yes, a midwife should clean up and prep a meal, but at the hospital that cleanup/meal service lasts longer (and I have no qualms about ringing for the nurse at 3am to clean my sheets or fetch a sandwich, like I would if I was waking dh or "imposing" on a friend/midwife)

--the freedom to focus on my new babe (no other kiddos or visitors, no overhearing the family routines/smelling food cooking/feeling responsible for home chores, 24/7 support of me and the babe without strings attached... meaning, the nurse isn't going to show up at my home two weeks later and "remind" me about that 3am sandwich before asking if I could watch her pets for the weekend lol)

--that a/c and unlimited hot water thing again!  Also the unlimited clean towels, unlimited mesh panties/pads/chux pads, unlimited time to shower or use the toilet or take a sitz bath, etc.  I know some mamas really hate being interupted by hospital staff/routines but compared to my kiddos the hospital is nothing!  I've never had a nurse want to sit on my lap while I used the toilet, or demand that I get out of the shower right now to settle a dispute over a toy, or fall asleep next to me before wetting the bed and screaming loud enough to wake the dead (let alone the new babe at the breast).  It's nearly heaven!  lol

philosophically:

I know many women experience birth as a rite of passage/change of being no matter where or how that birth happens but I like the actual, physical, journey that hospital birth provides.  Labor begins, I go physically to a different/birth specific spot with attendants and rituals specific to that time/place, and then afterwards I return home with a new baby and as a new being.  While this journey happens in every birth I want/need/enjoy making it an explicitely physical journey/passage as well as a personal/spiritual passage.  I need to go away and come back different and the hospital provides that.  Kind of like a wedding... you could have a minister and a witness in the living room or a destination wedding with a hundred guests.  Both are valid and have the same end result, but they each honor the journey/transformation in different ways.

[SeaBean]

Thanks for your very thoughtful answer. I really appreciated your view on hospital location as part of the rite of passage. I had never considered that and I'm thrilled to have that perspective. I was once really into the importance of ritual and rites and have gotten away from it. This will be something to mentally return to as the journey unfolds!
 

Originally Posted by wombatclay 

philosophically:

I know many women experience birth as a rite of passage/change of being no matter where or how that birth happens but I like the actual, physical, journey that hospital birth provides.  Labor begins, I go physically to a different/birth specific spot with attendants and rituals specific to that time/place, and then afterwards I return home with a new baby and as a new being.  

[Magali]

Originally Posted by wombatclay 

philosophically:

I know many women experience birth as a rite of passage/change of being no matter where or how that birth happens but I like the actual, physical, journey that hospital birth provides.  Labor begins, I go physically to a different/birth specific spot with attendants and rituals specific to that time/place, and then afterwards I return home with a new baby and as a new being.  While this journey happens in every birth I want/need/enjoy making it an explicitely physical journey/passage as well as a personal/spiritual passage.  I need to go away and come back different and the hospital provides that.  Kind of like a wedding... you could have a minister and a witness in the living room or a destination wedding with a hundred guests.  Both are valid and have the same end result, but they each honor the journey/transformation in different ways.

Ummm....this gave me chills.  Love it!  Thank you.  I remember my plan was to labor at home as possible, but as soon as the harder contractions started I wanted to be away from my home.  Like I didn't want to be feeling that much pain in my peaceful bedroom. 

[klemomma]

Another benefit that I didn't see mentioned is that if any complications arise, there is no transfer. You are already where you need to be. 

Like another mama said, most of the time we don't *expect* complications. And yet they happen. When I read stories of emergency homebirth transfers to the hospital, they are usually pretty traumatic for the family.

Now, I'm not saying that emergencies aren't traumatic in the hospital by any means. And I'm not saying that this alone would be a reason not to homebirth. But I am saying that if you are having a hospital birth anyway, for whatever reasons, it is nice to not have to worry about the complications / stress of a transfer on top of an emergent situation.

And I have to jump on the endless hot water bandwagon - that is a HUGE benefit IMO :-)

And wombatclay - you really hit the head on the nail with the philosophy statement you made. I have felt that way but resisted it feeling like I *shouldn't* feel drawn to hospital birth, especially since I could never put my finger on what exactly it was I was drawn to, but your eloquent statement was just a lovely way of describing how I feel about the whole process of things, so thank you!

[phathui5]

I keep seeing the clean-up mentioned. When I had my last baby at home, my house was cleaner when my midwife and her students left than it had been when they'd arrived. There was no cleaning up for me to do.

[wombatclay]

LOL  For me it's not the immediate birth clean up but the "I don't have to clean my house prior to the birth and/or have snacks on hand for birth attendants" on the one side of the birth and the fact that I have no clean up of any kind (laundry, dishes, shower, toilet, trash, etc) on the other side of the birth for 2-3 days.  If I bleed on the sheets at 2am or drip blood around the shower stall/bathroom I can buzz the nurse and tah-dah!  It's cleaned!  It's like being at the spa!  (well, kind of like a spa anyway lol... dd1 and dd2 were born in a rural hospital with institutional green cinderblock walls and a birth tub located in what had been a janitor's closet!  But ds got the fancy schmancy regional birth center which is all jacuzzi tubs, art prints on the walls, and inlaid patterned wood floors and that's where dd3 will be arriving too)

:)

[onetwoten]

Yeah people kept mentioning not having to clean up afterwards, and I kept thinking "don't your midwives do that...?" but then someone mentioned not having to clean up BEFORE the birth either, and I was like hmmm... that's a good point. I like not having to be as worried about having it clean all the time not knowing when I'll go into labor. 

Maybe I'll convince MIL to come over and clean our house during my labor (I plan on signing out pretty soon after the birth AMA if I have to). It'll give her something to focus on, since I don't want anyone coming to the hospital to pace and wait. 

[lamamaloca]

Some of the hospital positives are not having to worry about food and the condition of the house and what chores need to be done afterwards. Even if those are my dh's responsibility I still see them and it can make it hard to relax. It is nice to have other people worry about the laundry and clean up. I like having the security of knowing that help is right there either before or after the birth. 

There are negatives, too, of course. 

[midnightmommy]

Endless ice packs! With my daughter they had the kind you shake to activate. I took like five home to go with my frozen ones I had waiting for me at home. When my home ones were both thawed out they really came in handy. Our hospital also had a program where they will release you pretty early, and have a nurse come to your house for the next couple of days. That was awesome! I felt great, but our daughter had jaundice. We had an order for a recheck, so she did the heal poke right here in the living room. No running to the germ lab or doctor's office! They also did all the stuff a midwife could do PP, so not a huge difference. Just nice to have with a hospital birth instead of still being stuck at the hospital. They are trying!

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by jeninejessica 

Yeah people kept mentioning not having to clean up afterwards, and I kept thinking "don't your midwives do that...?" but then someone mentioned not having to clean up BEFORE the birth either, and I was like hmmm... that's a good point. I like not having to be as worried about having it clean all the time not knowing when I'll go into labor. 

Midwives do cleanup afterwards.  Mine missed a bit, but no biggie.

The cleaning before hand was a biggie.  One midwife I had did not seem overly focused on cleaning before hand, but one wanted the house "clean" before the birth.  I am not the best cleaner at the best of times, and 9 months pregnant with a toddler is hardly the best of times cleaning wise.

[oaktreemama]

Endless ice packs! 

Oh God yes. I had a very bad tear from a compund delivery and those ice packs-man the nurses just kept them coming. No way hubby could have kept up at home. I also remember taking like a half hour shower. BLISS.

You know I hate hospitals and left long before I had to. But, I wasn't disrespected, all of my wishes via eye goop, heel prick, no bottles, no CIRC, hubby being present for procedures were honored without even a raised eyebrow. Especially the circ part-the doctor didn't agree with circ either and he was plenty mainstream.

[Carolyn R]

Originally Posted by klemomma 

And wombatclay - you really hit the head on the nail with the philosophy statement you made. I have felt that way but resisted it feeling like I *shouldn't* feel drawn to hospital birth, especially since I could never put my finger on what exactly it was I was drawn to, but your eloquent statement was just a lovely way of describing how I feel about the whole process of things, so thank you!

I was so excited to stumble across this thread! I actually started a similar one in my DDC a month or so ago but this thread really resonated with me. For a myriad of reasons (which I covered in my original hospital thread) we will be birthing in the hospital. I've had both homebirths and hospital births, and I must confess there were many aspects of our hospital birth that I liked better. Similar to klemomma, I too felt like I 'shouldn't' be drawn to a hospital birth if I was really a natural momma. But the simple truth is, it works for me and it works for my family. I've been lucky to have wonderful hospital experiences with awesome nurses, natural doctor, etc.

Wombatclay, what a neat way to describe the hospital as a rite of passage. That perfectly described how I feel.

Blessings to all!

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by oaktreemama 

You know I hate hospitals and left long before I had to. But, I wasn't disrespected, all of my wishes via eye goop, heel prick, no bottles, no CIRC, hubby being present for procedures were honored without even a raised eyebrow. Especially the circ part-the doctor didn't agree with circ either and he was plenty mainstream.

Nice!  The eye goop is illegal to skip here, so if it is a biggie to you (general you) you might want to check it out.

[littleplum]

I got a massage.  It was awesome and so needed after a day of labor and three days of learning to nurse my baby.

[Viola]

I had one hospital birth in 1999 and a homebirth in 2003.  The thing I enjoyed about my hospital birth was the post partum experience.  People cared for me and I got to stay in bed. I felt like I was celebrated as a woman who just gave birth, and I found that nice.  It wasn't the same at home, because my husband went out the next day, so I just got up, got dressed and went downstairs to sit in the living room.  I liked having all the nurses and people around in the hospital, I felt kind of lonely at home.

[lamamaloca]

I will say that when I mentioned "clean up" I wasn't thinking only of immediately after the birth. Rather, bleeding leaks onto sheets or the floor in the first few days, and basic things like cleaning, straightening, laundry, with no clutter around. In hospital, I didn't have to worry about any of that stuff. At home, even with it officially my husband's responsibility, I still saw 4000 things that needed to be done.

[philomom]

At home, I feel like I have to be the hostess. At the hospital, I can relax and let others worry about all the details. My nurses both times were so good about getting/finding me anything I needed. My CNM was just the right amount of attention for ME. You know, she neither left me on my own nor did she get in my face constantly. The lighting was just perfect for laboring... I couldn't have gotten that soft glow in the room without candles at home. And my hubby the worrier was relaxed because we were in the hospital with a care NICU if anything dire had happened. This reassurance/insurance allowed him to be the best possible birth support for me.

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by A&A 

I loved having access to the oxygen mask.........it really helped me get through a difficult labor. 

I just poted my list of hospital positives in the HB forum, but forgot this one!  Yes, this was marvelous for me, too. 

[savithny]

I agree with both Philomom and Wombatclay:

At the hospital, I was there for a purpose (this ties in with both Philo and Wombat's points).   I was not responsible for anyone's happiness, I was not going to be judged for the state of the floors or the streaks on the windows or whether anyone else was comfortable, because I was in a place where the purpose of being there was to give birth.   I didnt' have to worry about the neighbors upstairs or downstairs getting ticked off if I made noises in the middle of the night, I didn't have to worry about what my kids might think or whether the landlord might object or if tub water was damaging the baseboards...

Some cultures have women go to a special place outside their home to give birth -- either they go off into the bush, or they go to the women's house or a birthing hut or something like that.   I think that that move can, especially if in your culture you grow up with the idea that it is part of birth, help move a woman into the mindset of active, productive, labor.  (Note I say "can," not that it must or that it works for everyone.)

Especially with my second birth, once I'd done it at that hospital and was familiar with things, arriving at the hospital sent a message to my subconscious, "NOW we get down to business."    I woke up in labor that morning, but with a huge grant deadline *that day* at work, labor petered out.   I finished what I had to do (we joked that if the baby was a boy I'd have to name him "Grant," went home and had some dinner, things picked up a bit, we called the midwife and had her meet us at the hospital.   After hours of inconsistent, irregular contractions, I went from 5cm to birth in less than an hour once the tub was full and I was in it.   And it really felt like "Okay, we're here.  Lets go!"   

I'd note, though, that this was a smaller, more rural hospital with a lot of support for natural birth (with my first, this was because they still did not offer labor epidurals as a routine option, so more than half their births were mostly unmedicated, anyway).   Having read descriptions of some people's hospitals, I would not have felt as safe and ready to let go and get on with birthing in those places.  So it is still dependent on 

[StrawberryFields]

Well, I have had two hospital births (one transfer/one planned) and one successful home birth. I am definitely not trying to glamorize hospital birth, but I did have a great experience there. The reason I selected hospital the third time was partially financial, but also partially for my own comfort. We have a 900 sq foot house and had a 4 and 2 year old already. I pictured having the baby in the middle of the night, desperately trying to get some sleep the next morning, with two kids screeching and running around the house. Dh trying his best but serving me overcooked eggs and cold toast while the kids smeared oatmeal into the couch and blasted Dora.

The positives for me were complete privacy and space to bond with the baby with zero interruptions. Space from everyone to rest and lay in bed all day. An amazing walk in shower with full body jets. A deep tub to labor in, rather than my 4x6 foot bathroom here at home. Real, cooked meals ordered from a menu. But I also knew I had an unusually supportive doctor who knew about my past home births and therefore I had zero interventions... No IVs, no monitors, no hospital lights on, no meds, etc. So this would not be the case for everyone, unfortunately.