Advice on Autonomous Birthing - 1st child

[Earth-Muffin]

I have a couple concerns about birthing on my own without a midwife & would like suggestions from women who have experienced this themselves.

A little information on my pregnancy:

I saw an OBGYN for the first 32 weeks of my pregnancy, because my insurance paid for it, with the intention of seeing a midwife for the last 8 weeks prenatal, the birth, & the postnatal care. I have talked with the midwife from the beginning. At 32 weeks, I was informed by the midwife that she didnt feel comfortable taking over my care because the doctors office would not fax over my medical records, & this being a small town, she didnt want a bad name for "stealing patients". This just showed me a little more in depth on her personality. There are no other midwives in the area.

I immediatly began searching for other options. If there was ONE thing for sure, it was that my child is not going to be born in a hospital, unless there is an emergency. I began browsing the web, that being the largest source for imformation, & I came across Laura Shanleys sight "Bornfree", and another websight Unhindered Living. I knew that this is what I wanted to do. It was as if everything My heart felt, and everything my soul wanted, was being written out by another women. Since then, I have spent 20 + hours on the web gathering information on birth.

So here we are. I am planning an Autonumous Childbirth for the birth of my first child with the support from my husband, & critisism and discouragment from everybody else. I am 38 weeks pregnant today, so the date is nearing. I would love to talk to other women have birthed this way. and their suggestions and gentle advice.

My two main concerns are these:

One; Are you an experienced meditator? How intune with yourself were you when you had your birth?

Two; What did your emergency kit consist of?

[MissMia]

I too am planning a UC for my first birth :-)  I am due in mid September.

I am not an experienced meditator.  I do meditate sometimes but it is very difficult for me.  What works best for me is to say positive affirmations and I plan on doing this during my labor and delivery.

My emergency kit is a printed copy of emergency childbirth and going to the hospital.  Not much lol.  I also have some shephards purse for after the placenta comes out.  

[MissMia]

Oh and I feel like I am pretty in tune with myself and my body.  But sometimes I totally miss things, that's when my husband steps in and supports me :-)

[zoebird]

Hiya!

I birthed my first UC, but my situation was different. I "discovered" UC 5 years before getting pregnant, knowing it was the way I wanted to go. During that time, I got to learn and work through a lot of stuff, and really feel comfortable and confident with the information that I needed to go forward. 

I don't know what information you need, and you may already have it, so it shouldn't deter you per se. I just find that some people go in "less prepared" and end up transferring needlessly. But, that's ok too, everyone has their journey.

Insofar as your questions go, I am an experienced meditator, though I dn't think that's necessary to be in tune with your body. I do think it can help on any number of levels, though, too. I think the real question is whether or not you trust yourself and feel confident in your ability to UC.

I also didn't have an emergency kit. I'm not sure what you think it should consist of, but I know a lot of people have things set aside like an oxygen tank or herbs to help with PPH. I didn't have either of these, and everything went fine. I trusted my intuition to tell me what I needed to collect ahead of time, and it was surprisingly little. 

End of the day, my "birth kit" were things I had around -- clean bath mats, clean towels, clean kitchen scissors, clean large mixing bowl for the placenta. Yeah, that was it as far as I know. I don't know why people need so much other stuff, but that's cool. Whatever floats the boat as they say. :)

Read Emergency Childbirth, too. It's a helpful text.

[katterpiller]

I UC'd my 3rd baby.  I also came to this through another avenue. My second was born at home with a midwife.  When we moved to AZ I could not find a midwife that would work with me financially.  I was about 20 or so weeks along with only 1 midwifery center in town.  Like you, I was NOT bearing my baby in a hospital.  I remembered someone that shared her UC story in another group and I started researching. I felt that UC fit what I wanted and that I was capable of doing.  My first was born in the hospital and despite a few things I would change, all of my pregnancies and deliveries have been "uneventful."

I had a birth kit: Chux, scissors, towels, measuring tape, simple scale (for weighing baby), iodine (to clean my bath tub), large but light weight blankets (Thrown in the dryer to take the chill off), and my partner!

I purchased my birth kit on-line from a medical supply company.  There are a few out there, a simple internet search should come up with some good ones for you.

All the best,

~K

[katterpiller]

1cascade.com is where i bought my kit. 

[Earth-Muffin]

Thank You all for your information and suggestions. I would have loved to discover that UC was a safe option long before I did, as I am the planner type, but have the utmost confidence in myself to be able to naturally birth a child. I can not "meditate" persay, but I definatly feel in tune with my higher being. Until my little one arrives, I will continue to gather knowlegde and information from as many sources as I can! Thanks again! Happy parenting all!