Questions about UC

[sosurreal09]

We are TTC #2 here :)

So my first birth was in a birth center and I am or was a very primal type of birther. I did not want anyone there or anyone touching me. Of course they HAD to keep checking the HR and what not which kept throwing me off....anyway 11hrs labor, perfectly healthy 8lb 6 oz baby girl

So the next babe DH and I decided we definitely want a home birth. Now I am just kind of re-thinking the MW...I mean i could find a really hands off MW and pay her $3000 for nothing but her expertise in the rare case something does actually happen that would need her attention...

Anyways on to the questions...

1. Can anything negative come from doing your own prenatal care? (legally, CPS, anything?) or from having a UC?

2. If you wanted pre-natal care how would you go about that since you wouldn't be giving birth with said care provider?

3. What do you need for a UC? Do I have to buy a scale etc?

4. How complicated (and how do you get) any necessary paperwork that needs to be filled out? (IDK what actually needs to be done except social security and a birth certificate)

5. Do you always known when there is a problem and if it goes wrong can you suffer legal problems from it?

6. How do you get educated on the possible complications and signs? (I am mostly worried about if there would be any cord wrapping issues or anything, but I am thinking I would be pushing and pushing and the baby would not be coming so then I could just go to the hospital right?)

7. The baby can''t actually die from "lack of oxygen" or any other reason while it is still actually inside of you and the cord is intact right? (asking b/c I know a lot of people who claim the cord was wrapped around the neck or elsewhere and the baby almost died or now has brain damage from "lack of oxygen")

I will probably have more questions when I think of them LOL TY for reading and TY for taking the time to answer if you do :)

[IwannaBanRN]

1. Can anything negative come from doing your own prenatal care? (legally, CPS, anything?) or from having a UC? No. But it may not be a good idea to tell perfect strangers your plans. Some WILL try to call CPS, but there's nothing CPS can do about it.

2. If you wanted pre-natal care how would you go about that since you wouldn't be giving birth with said care provider? I am receiving prenatal care with an OB and just not telling her that I plan to UC. I will not have someone telling me how to birth my baby. You could get a midwife and tell her your plans and have her on-call as backup. I plan to tell my OB "oops!". lol

3. What do you need for a UC? Do I have to buy a scale etc? You don't have to buy a scale. You can, however, hold your baby, hop on your scale, and subtract you and your baby's weight from your weight. What I am getting for my homebirth is cord clamps, sterile gloves, a drop cloth, feminine pads. Some pads that go under your bottom, during labor and post-partum. That's basically all you NEED. I'm sterilizing scissors for the cord myself. You can buy a birth pool if you like.

4. How complicated (and how do you get) any necessary paperwork that needs to be filled out? (IDK what actually needs to be done except social security and a birth certificate) As far as I understand, you just visit county records(it's at a courthouse here) and request the birth certificate form and fill it out and you should get the social security card in the mail. You may ask records about that though.

5. Do you always known when there is a problem and if it goes wrong can you suffer legal problems from it? There was a case in 2004 where a woman refused a c-section for her 11 lb baby and the doctor had the hospital's lawyers file for custody if she came back there for care. But this was also 7 years ago. Not sure if things have changed or not.

6. How do you get educated on the possible complications and signs? (I am mostly worried about if there would be any cord wrapping issues or anything, but I am thinking I would be pushing and pushing and the baby would not be coming so then I could just go to the hospital right?) For me, this website has helped. You can also look up medical journals online for labor and birth. Always read the birth stories, because some of those stories will have valuable information. I have even read the horror stories to get information.

7.The  baby can''t actually die from "lack of oxygen" or any other reason while it is still actually inside of you and the cord is intact right? (asking b/c I know a lot of people who claim the cord was wrapped around the neck or elsewhere and the baby almost died or now has brain damage from "lack of oxygen")   There is minimal risk as far as a cord around the neck. It is not an emergency per se. If it is wrapped TIGHT which can't be detected until baby is born it can cut circulation, but this is in rare cases. My son's heart rate kept dipping when he was almost born, and the doctor had me convinced that it was the cord, but I'm almost positive that it was the strong contractions from pitocin they were giving me.

I hope this helped a little bit!

[zoebird]

Just answering, haven't read the previous poster. :)

1. Can anything negative come from doing your own prenatal care? (legally, CPS, anything?) or from having a UC?

I think this depends upon your individual circumstance. In most places, UC is not illegal, but a person still can call CPS, and CPS can still choose to come and ask to see your home life, investigate you, etc. So, it may be a good idea to be prepared -- understand your legal rights and responsibilities, and have everything organized.

being that there are people on the interwebs who threaten to do this regularly to UCers, probably a good idea. these folks are getting increasingly bold and meddlesome in real life. not in my life, mind you, but in the lives of others. 

2. If you wanted pre-natal care how would you go about that since you wouldn't be giving birth with said care provider?

In my context, the only option was to lie and "oops." By that I mean, go with the care provider as if you are going with his/her services, then "oops, the baby came too quickly." Anyone to whom I spoke about prenatal care/support for a UC flatly refused to provide care of any sort.

Well, except my family doctor, who was happy to provide back up at the hospital if we needed to go in. 

3. What do you need for a UC? Do I have to buy a scale etc?

I used bath mats (prior used for our rabbit, and yes, clean and sanitized) and clean towels and clean kitchen scissors. that's pretty much it. 

4. How complicated (and how do you get) any necessary paperwork that needs to be filled out? (IDK what actually needs to be done except social security and a birth certificate)

In PA, I had to get two friends to sign a paper in front of a notary that I was pregnant and that they knew I was pregnant, and could verify all the dates. Then I filled out the paperwork, and that was it.

It was ridiculously difficult to get the testing (heel prick, etc). My doctor told me to call the hospital. I called the hospital, who told me that it had already been done at the hospital. I explained that I had the birth at home. They said that the midwife must have done it then. I said that she did not, and that our doctor told us to call the hospital. I asked if i could bring him in for them to do the test. They said no, becuase he wasn't under anyone's care. Then, I called the state health department to ask how to get it. They said my doctor/midwife must have done it. I told them that they did not, which is why I was callign them. They told me only one lab did the test, and that I needed to call that lab to get the papers. I called that lab, and they said that my doctor/midwife already did it. I explained the situation again. They were confused. I explained it again. They told me to call the health department. I called the health department. The health department told me to talk to my doctor/midwife.

my doctor laughed when i told him this, and said "well, seeing as I've seen him 2-3 times a week for the last two weeks, and something would likely be showing up by now, he looks good to me. I wouldn't worry about it at this point." So, we didn't worry about it after that point.

5. Do you always known when there is a problem and if it goes wrong can you suffer legal problems from it?

A person may not know that there will be a problem, but once it arises, you usually know that it has. Most people will seek help immediately, and in the mean time, do what they can to stop the problem -- whatever it is. This is not absolute in any way, shape, or form, just what i've experienced from other UCers.

There can be issues of negligence if something was specific, obvious, etc. Most of the problems that UCers face that end up with major issues are not things that can be foreseen or necessarily managed easily. That is to say that -- just as in the hospital -- things happen.

I think it's relatively safe to say that if a person has a stillbirth, it's unlikely that there will be legal action taken -- it happens. BUT, if the woman has untreated pre-e -- and you had reason to know/believe that you had it, and that you refused medical care or treatment, or sought it and then refused it -- then there is the likelihood of criminal prosecution for negligence, endangerment to a child, etc.

this is jsut off the top of my head, though. 

6. How do you get educated on the possible complications and signs? (I am mostly worried about if there would be any cord wrapping issues or anything, but I am thinking I would be pushing and pushing and the baby would not be coming so then I could just go to the hospital right?)

Pretty much, yeah.

I mean, there are tons of books and articles to read. If you're interested in the various elements of birth, common complications, how to manage them, etc, then you can simple start reading books and articles as you see fit. A lot of UCers have a pretty comprehensive reading list laying around somewhere -- MDC might even have one if you search for it.

7. The baby can''t actually die from "lack of oxygen" or any other reason while it is still actually inside of you and the cord is intact right? (asking b/c I know a lot of people who claim the cord was wrapped around the neck or elsewhere and the baby almost died or now has brain damage from "lack of oxygen")

I'm not going to say that it's impossible, because i cannot know every situation that could arise. I think it may be possible for a child to die due to lack of oxygen, but usually that is not the case.

typically, these descriptions -- and why people need various interventions -- are told by their doctors in a "lay man's terms" which may not be really accurate or be clear. the parents are in a state of shock, and they are hearing what they understand, often not hearing what they are *told*. 

In addition, the nuchal cord (cord wrapped around the neck) is rarely a problem (it is common), but it can be if the cord is particularly short, or if there are other cord-related issues in addiction to it being nuchal.

it is often a common cause given for a problem -- seating the problem on the mother/baby rather than the care provider when a problem arose. the article linked provides a good overview of the situation, and how intervention -- even with a tight, compressed nuchal cord (the kind that would cause a problem) may actually cause even more problems. Definitely worth a read.

A more dangerous cord issue is a prolapsed cord -- when the cord is born ahead of the baby, at which point it could become pinched or compressed when the baby descends into the birth canal, cutting off the pulse and therefore the oxygen to the baby. Thus, the baby doesn't have oxygen and dies. The best way to deal with cord prolapse -- which is not predictable, btw -- is to hold the cord in the body and get to a hospital for a c-section ASAP. 

if i'd had a prolapsed cord (this was in my birth plan), my plan was to get to the car immediately and drive to the hospital while calling the hospital to let them know we were coming and why. i could get to the hospital in less than 15 minutes; it would have taken 15 -20 minutes for an ambulance transport. (homebirth transfer for prolapsed cord, c-section, baby survives-- rixa's blog)

[sosurreal09]

WOW great articles Zoe!

[sosurreal09]

I talked to DH about considering a UC for the next babe and he freaked. I explained to him about how I felt in the birth center with DD and how I hated the monitoring and they made me lie on the bed to push...he says we can try a different birth center (my friend apparently knows of a real small secretive type one) OR just pay the MW for a home birth.

So my thoughts are we may end up just dishing out $3000 for the MW to do pre-natals and PP are basically. I told DH that it would HAVE to be a very hands off MW and that I basically want to do a UC and just have here there *in case* we need her expertise on anything....

The only reason I am really agreeing to this is b/c I have a huge irrational fear of CPS (they were involved in my childhood and did not help me and only made my life more of a hell) and it scares the crap out of me that they might come to my house and check us out. I can think of quite a few people who would call on us if we had a UC. I hate the feeling of not really being free and that I am terrified of what the gov might do to my family if something were to happen...although I fully support UC and if things were different I feel I would have one in a heart beat. Although I think having to dish out the dough for a MW sucks too. Oh well if we only lived in VT!

[sosurreal09]

TY for the help ladies!

[IwannaBanRN]

That's unfortunate. My DP was totally against UC at first and then I educated him and also told him why I wanted it. I'm sure he won't regret his decision to support me in UC. Good luck with everything! :)

[MissMia]

I am scared of CPS too.  But you don't have to let that fear stop you from UC if you really want to have one.  I am planning a UC and to help myself feel "safe" I am getting mainstream prenatal care and keep my house clean and full of food.  Also I have hardly told anyone I know in real life about my plans.  I have only told people who I trust and who understand.  I feel like if CPS were called and investigated my life they would see that my husband and I will provide a good life for a child and also I can deny I am planning a UC and point out that I'm going to the doctor and have registered at the hospital for my birth (both of which are true).  

[purplerose]

CPS did get involved after my UC after the pediatrician called them, but they dropped our case. I was labeled as "no prenatal care", though, even though we took better care of me than with my OB-assisted pregnancies!

I'd think of having the midwife there as a step-down from a birth center, and maybe next time(if there will be one) will be your UC! We are using a midwife this time bc of our experience after my UC plus I feel more comfortable having someone more educated about birth there this time for some reason.

[sosurreal09]

Uh oh I hope that isn't a sign of a complication or something *sending healthy birth vibes your way*

Well I've got 3 HB MW to choose from (what a selection huh?) so hopefully I will like one of them!

[zoebird]

that's great! i hope you find one that you like!

[IwannaBanRN]

Originally Posted by purplerose 

CPS did get involved after my UC after the pediatrician called them, but they dropped our case. I was labeled as "no prenatal care", though, even though we took better care of me than with my OB-assisted pregnancies!

I'd think of having the midwife there as a step-down from a birth center, and maybe next time(if there will be one) will be your UC! We are using a midwife this time bc of our experience after my UC plus I feel more comfortable having someone more educated about birth there this time for some reason.

How terrible that you had CPS called on you just because you had no prenatal care! I'm stopping my prenatal checks at 28 weeks, which is when they do the GD testing and doing my own care from there. I don't know what this world is coming to, running to the authorities just because you trusted yourself and your body to do what it's supposed to. I'm sorry you had a case opened for the route you took that you felt was best for you and your child.